How Important are lyrics to you in Prog music

Song lyrics tell the story, or at  least try to. How important are lyrics to you in prog music and more importantly, how do you feel about the lyrical abilites of your favorite still active prog artists such as Steven Wilson, Dream Theater, Marillion, Panic Room, Gazpacho, Opeth, Tool, Yes and all?








Edited by SteveG - August 04 2014 at 13:34

On the whole, lyrics are more difficult than music. There's only 12 notes but over a million words, and finding the right combination and something that's very emotional or intriguing is much harder IMO. Therefore, I can appreciate them more (being a wannabe progressive songwriter myself) which means I like them just as much, if not more than the music in some cases. I never really understood Marillion on the first few listens, and found them dull because the lyrics are very intricate on something like "Script For A Jester's Tear", and much less accessible than other acts. Over time though, I got more into it as I interpreted the lyrics and got to know them. Steven Wilson has some pretty great lyrical moments, but not a fan on the whole. Tool, Opeth, and other heavier bands don't really do much for me either, but Dream Theater's "Scenes From A Memory" is brilliantly narrated. Obviously those lyrics are essential to telling the concept and are just as important as the music

Zero importance, I tend to listen to instrumental & lyrics in languages I don't understand. Of the many bands I like with English lyrics the lyrics are the most important thing in very very few, if any.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - July 23 2014 at 12:50

From my point of view, lyrics have to at least set the tone for some kind of narrative, theme or feeling for the music. Recently I've been listening to extreme prog metalers Cynic's album Kindly Bent To Free US. Singer/guitarist Paul Masvidal's lyrics reflect his eastern spiritual beliefs such as the defeating of one's own ego in order to obtain spiritual enlightenment. However, Masvidal, I believe, wrote lyrics to this effect in a menacing sounding song from the album titled Holy Fallout, which to me sounds like a tech metal 'Armageddon'. I'm not interested in the real meaning behind the lyrics as they work well with the menacing music and his serious delivery. So sometimes it's not what you say in music that counts but how you say it.

Edited by SteveG - July 23 2014 at 14:01

Depends on the artist in question and their signature style. With some groups like Hawkwind and Jethro Tull, the lyrics are a main part of a unified aesthetic concept behind their music along with the visual aesthetics. In the case of people like Zappa and Beefheart, the entire music seems to take place entirely inside the songwriter's own mental universe and the idiosyncratic if often goofy lyrics are part of that.

Then there's other groups where the lyrics work more as "scene-setting" than anything else, where I don't pay that much attention because more of the themes are being communicated through the instrumental parts. Much of Yes' output falls into this category I'll say, and to some extent King Crimson too.

^'before he went all Jesus loves you'   Your posts are always insightful with a kick, Doc!

Edited by SteveG - July 23 2014 at 13:59

I gotta admit that with Yes the lyrics are something to get used to. At first they read like the aftermath of an explosion in a New Age bookstore, and it might be a reason I don't listen to them that often.

Low priority for me. I enjoy listening to PFM in Italian but can't understand a word. The words sound nice though.

^Sheeessh, Dean. Mansun wasn't prog!

Good lyrics make an album/song better.  Bad lyrics make an album/song worse. 

When listening casually, which sadly seems most of the time, than it is more the sonic of the vocals than anything else when it comes to the listening experience.  When listening intently, the lyrics mean more to me, and if they are good it enhances the listening experience and if they are bad they can kill the listening experience.  On the rare occasion that I review an album, I will generally sit down with the lyric book open and give the album an intense listen while reading along.  I do find there to be many nonsense lyrics out there, and they do have a negative effect on me, but if the lyrics are really good and have a good meaning than they can definitely upgrade an album's rating for me.

I'm not really a big fan of Peter Sinfield's lyrics with King Crimson, as I find them to be mostly nonsense; which may be one reason I don't hold them in as high of esteem as many of my PA prog colleagues.  Frank Zappa's lyrics are mostly a turn-off for me, which makes it hard for me to listen to him.  And Genesis' lyrics are distinctly British, and therefore make no sense to me.  And I am sorry, but a concept album that includes severed penises and whatnot, really loses something for me.