Understanding the Language: Is a Must?

[Sun Shine]

Okay lets see what people feel. Do you need to understand what s being sung to still like the song. For example if you don't understand Japanese and without translation of the words would you still like the song?

Myself, personally yes, I believe the tone and style of the song allow you to understand what its about. To me music is just as much about sounding beautiful as its meaning behind the song. Give me a woman with a beautiful soft voice in a foreign language anyday over someone whos a lyrical genius and sings my native tongue but is a poor singer.

[tritoch]

Go listen to Rap or Black 'club' music. Most of the time the lyrics doesn't make sense. But that doesnt stop people from listening to it. Blacks also have their 'version' of English is is quite difficult to listen to.

So No, understanding the language isn't a must... unless you are born from the 50's to 60's. Man almost all the adults around those age is stubborn to change- They hated it when foreign telenovelas invaded the primetime slots which was for most of part of the 80's and 90's have been dominated by local telenovelas. They tell me, 'you dont even understand a thing they are saying and yet you are still watching this?' Then I just say 'meh' who cares. Same goes for foreign music.

[Vexx]

I won't take personal insult but you must have a bad batch of "people born from the 50s to the 60s" :) I know quite a few people my age who regularly listen to music from around the world without necessarily knowing the language (or at least knowing it well).

Personally, I listen to music from all over the planet. Understanding the general gist of a song is nice but it does boil down to the musical rhythms and the vocal qualities of singers. Our music library includes american rock, japanese traditional and pop, Tibetan throat-singing, Swedish folk tunes, gaelic music, medieval music (chant and folk), american bluegrass, iranian ballads, african drumming and a variety of musical styles, particular american country singers, classical, metal rock, ambient, techno, space electronica, ....

@tritoch... you might want to rework that post a bit. It comes off a bit insulting to african-americans (I take it that's what you meant by "black", remember this is a global internet, not just an american one) ... I'm white but having been raised in urban parts of Texas -- rap/urban lyrics usually make sense and I have no problem with the slang dialect. You might say "Some blacks..." or "some types of rap".

And of course, your second paragraph insults people my age :) I find people of *any* age who can be quite narrow in their listening tastes and resistant to concepts they're not familiar with.

[TinyRedLeaf]

Understanding the general gist of a song is nice but it does boil down to the musical rhythms and the vocal qualities of singers.

I agree with Vexx. It is more important for the music to sound nice (to me). I don't really need to "understand" what is about. In addition, I very much prefer to listen to songs I don't understand while I'm working, because I would otherwise be very easily distracted by the lyrics! :heh:

(Besides, isn't music supposed to be the "universal" language? ;) )

I guess that's why I generally listen to instrumental music while working. I'm experimenting with classical music at the moment (thanks to Nodame Cantabile; funny what anime can inspire you to do :p), and I find it works too. I'd listen to just about any kind of music that doesn't come from the pop industry (far too formulaic and bland for my tastes), but I'm very far from being as eclectic as Vexx. :heh: It'll be easier for me to pinpoint what I dislike, rather than what I like actually. For example, I don't like hip-hop or rap. I can't explain why. I only know I don't like either genre in general.

[Mueti]

I don't really care for most lyrics, there are only very few that I'd actually consider good. But since lyrics only play a minor role for me when listening to music that's not all that bad. And a whole lot of awesome songs got no lyrics at all.

So no, understanding the language is by no means a must; as long as it's good music I'll listen to any genre in any language.

[WanderingKnight]

I have a particular liking for the sounding of Japanese, since I love the language, and thus I feel more inclined to like something that sounds like Japanese, even when there are times when I have no idea what they're talking about :heh:. Nevertheless, I have no problem with listening to things I don't understand, unless it's something like rap where lyrics play a huge role... then again, I don't have a particular liking for rap anyways.

[AVPlaya]

I don't think understanding the language is important in enjoying music... it adds to the enjoyment of a song you already liked if you know the meaning, but if the music sucks I doubt you'll care about the lyrics anyway. How many people can really understand most of the English pop or hip-hop songs anyway?

As for me, I enjoy East Asian pop by default but I also enjoy Russian and Thai pop music, and I can't understand a single word of either one. Some people might not like it, but I've always thought the Russian language sounds funky when sung. :)

[arcadeplayer987]

A song is nice even you don't understand the language because you like the melody. Sometimes words don't count.

[Nintendo]

i listen to japanese songs all the time and dont understand a word. but you dont need to understand to get how the artist feels.

[Chewy]

I don't think you need to understand what's being said to enjoy the music, but if you did understand the lyrics it can enhance your enjoyment that much more because you can analyze them. However, this can also be a double edged sword. You might really like a song because of the rhythm and melody but once you understand the lyrics and realize they're crap, it might just ruin the song for you.

[Sun Shine]

Its interesting that everyone feels the same, I thought there would be disagreement. But I'm glad everyone thinks it doesn't matter ^_^

[chison]

SO..most people say no(include me)
is not matter~music is quite a personal like and dislike,as long as it in the headphone ,i don't think any can go against it.W.

but to like a foreigh music,is better to hold some understaning of it,the words of song do matter~i like japanese music best,insturment ,than english,the last is my prime chinese cantonese and chinese M
,i can at least understand 1/3 anyway,is also quite fun to tranlate word and phrase to your own Language,just sme extra fun to listen to music.W.

[Nicol Armarfi]

I find this to be one of the most frequently asked, and annoying question's regarding music:

Take a look at a lyrics sheet. You see words, right? Where's the music? Sure, you can obviously enjoy reading the lyrics and such as much as listening to the music - but regardless of whether or not you understood someone when they're performing the actually music it doesn't matter. Lyrics in no way effect harmony, melody etc. while performing them. They're more of a way for people to work their way around notes, and have fun doing so.

With that said, it's also not entirely true that understanding the lyrics isn't important... Important isn't quite the word... But either way. If you're classicaly trained in music, and have lived listening to and examining multiple pieces of music for a large portion of your life you really stop caring about the lyrics (unless, of course, you're a lyricist or songwriter).

The short version... Basically, not unerstanding lyrics isn't bad at all: listen to an MIDI file for example. No lyrics. But the music is still there in it's entirety, albeit digitally rendered (and often flawed). So listening to a song in a language you don't understand is basically like listening to an MIDI file... But with more emotion available (sometimes, note that most artists lack even that these days).

[Theowne]

Blacks also have their 'version' of English is is quite difficult to listen to.

Uh, what? I have very little difficulty understanding what my black Physics teacher or my theory instructor tells me. Might want to tone down the racial stereotyping in the future....unless you meant something else...

I think language does matter to some extent...understanding the meaning of something will always skew your perception of it. Being a bit distant from the actual language though, oddly, actually helps me appreciate lyrics more. The same often happens to non-english friends of mine who listen to english tunes - they feel the lyrics are much more complex than I do, probably because I use the language every day. Whereas I find it really interesting to listen to foreign music and then connect the words with their meaning. Maybe what I'm saying is, words and syllables seem more artistic when they are not in a language I use every day and am so familiar with,.

[KholdStare]

Well usually I find out what the song means by looking up the lyrics' translation, but I rarely memorize the translation line by line. It's just good enough for me to understand the gist of the song.

[Mueti]

I think language does matter to some extent...understanding the meaning of something will always skew your perception of it. Being a bit distant from the actual language though, oddly, actually helps me appreciate lyrics more. The same often happens to non-english friends of mine who listen to english tunes - they feel the lyrics are much more complex than I do, probably because I use the language every day. Whereas I find it really interesting to listen to foreign music and then connect the words with their meaning. Maybe what I'm saying is, words and syllables seem more artistic when they are not in a language I use every day and am so familiar with,.

That is a very good observation. I noticed that as well - more with German than with English obviously, but the same thing. When you're not being confronted with a language every day you perceive lyrics written in that language in fact as more complex / better.

[mickal555]

Wow no way!


I enjoy it whether I understand it or not, perhaps more when I don't.

[Spectacular_Insanity]

Nah. It's about the feeling inherent in the song.

I like a lot of non-english music, even though I don't understand it half the time. It's all good!

[Lord_Azael]

I don't think its necessary. I mean, i listen to the CD's of anime music all the time and i don't understand them. Most specifically, the Luckt Star opening theme. Even if that was in English i wouldn't be able to understand it, they sing so quick! As long as the music is good, it doesn't even need lyrics!

[mickal555]

Although lyrics are important.

The thing is... most of the japenese music I listen to (well actually all) is sound tracks to my favourate anime. Most of these have no lyrics anyway, and alot the lyrics arn't exactly great lititure.

I mean look at the numa numa song? The lyrics for that stank, but people didn't understand them so loved it anyway.

[retardation]

basically i'm glad i don't understand most lyrics. generally lyrics do more harm than good in most cases. not that there aren't songs with good lyrics or that these j songs don't have good lyrics (i wouldn't know) but playing the averages based on american/english songs, it's safer to not know the lyrics.

[clynia]

some music from secret garden or bandari are beautiful
but I sometimes find them boring
As fo anime songs ,sometimes they don't sound good but I'd like to listen to them

I think it's because you like the anime and you listen to the opening or the ending for many times (I think most of the songs sound good if you listen to them for enough times)when you listen to the opening alone ,you will think about the scenes in the anime ,that's what makes you feel high
And when you hear the same singer you will think about the anime again,then you find the advantages unconsciously and you focus on the song .Maybe that's why we like Japanese songs

[CandyVanMan]

For me, it's all conditional. Some songs need the lyric to hold them together but the words themselves don't have to be understandable. Sometimes the words can be merely a 'glue' to the rhythmic and melodic qualities of the song. Yet, carefully chosen words in the lyrics can make or break a song by defying the feel of the tune, with or without being understandable or in context.

The White Stripes come to mind as an example where good song writing and lyrics can make enjoyable hit tunes with a very simple 2 piece arrangement. Using their song "My Doorbell" for an example, consider replacing the words "Thinking about my doorbell" with "Listening to my doorbell". While the words have the same overall syllable count and potentially the same meaning; The impact or "beat" would be lost to the sonically dragging "s" and long "o" in "to".

On the other hand; Music history is filled with "illiterate" singing such as Scat in Jazz and Beat Boxing in Hip-Hop. Don't forget "Louie Louie". Does anybody know the words to that song?:eyespin:

Also, listening to foreign music and watching foreign TV/films are a few of my ways to appreciate how little I actually know and explore how small my 'real' world is compared to the world as a whole. It also helps as a learning tool for a language because, in singing, the pronunciation is often guided by the song giving a feel on how the words can best be used, intoned, and said.

[DarkHonour]

Actually most of the time the music is more important than what is sung.

To me the music must be catchy that I'd like it.

[Shadow Raven 91]

To me it depends on the music genre. For example, i listen to both j-pop and hip-hop. i dont understand japanese except the common phrases i hear in anime, but I love artist like Utada and Ayumi for their vocal talent even though it sounds like there singing gibberish to me, no offense. At the same time i have a hard time getting into japanese hip-hop. I cant appreciate rapper's skill because i have no idea if they're spittin mindless chatter or poetic lyrics. It will all sound the same to me.
When it comes to rap I think its a must. Otherwise good vocal talent and a catchy melody can make up for not understanding the lyrics.

[Samurai Panda]

Not at all. Lets face it, half of our own songs sung in English are a pain in the ass to understand what's being said, but as long as it SOUNDS good it doesn't really matter what's said (if the Lyrcis mattered, I'd have stopped listening to Dir En Grey Months ago...). As said in the Dir En Grey album VULGAR, "The language barrier means nothing with great music."

[Asamidori]

I'm properly the minority here, but I usually value lyric on the same level as the actual music itself, if not a bit more. Sure there are songs I absolutely don't care for the lyric (read: 99.9% of the so-called current Chinese pop songs), but most stuffs I listen both for the music and the story behind the melody. This is coming from someone who's a fan of Sound Horizon though, where the song is an actual story and half the meaning of the song is lost if the lyric can't be understood by the listener. (RADWIMPS's Order Made (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFOmdMk3hKQ) is a good example. It have a nice music, but one of the reasons why it was the top selling single on Oricon the week after its released (http://www.oricon.co.jp/search/result.php?kbn=js&types=rnk&year=2008&month=1&week=5&submit4.x=20&submit4.y=7) was the lyric (http://mangahelpers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=690415&postcount=16).)


It's very rare that I'll like a song without really paying attention to its lyric. (I can count all those out with two hands... ._. )

[yjs]

Understanding the language does not matter, although sometimes lyrics do enhance the experience. I mean, I mostly listen to metal (where vocalists can sound anything between a toad and the cookie monster) and J-pop/rock... but kinds of music where I can't understand the lyrics unless I go check the lyrics.

[KholdStare]

No, but yes. If it's catchy enough, then no. For some, I briefly looked up the lyrics and liked the song more after I understand it.

Examples of songs I just like for no reason:
-Skip! (Moetan ED)
-Tatta Hitotsu no Omoi (Gunslinger 2 OP)

Examples of songs I like because of their lyrics:
-Yakusoku (Love Hina IS)
-Life is Like a Boat (Bleach ED1)

Examples of songs that I know the lyrics but I would probably like them anyways because they're catchy:
-Ichigo Mashimaro (Ichigo Mashimaro OP)
-Keikenchi Jōshōchū☆ (Minami-ke OP)

[SolidState]

Personally, I don't really listen to the lyrics. I listen to the music behind it since most of my favorite songs are fast (180+ bpm) so very few of them have lyrics.

[Mystique]

It's not a 'must' - music is universal and transcends words, however it depends on the genre.
Music is a aural medium of expression for humans, so seeing how diverse we are around the world of what... 6billion or so, its use, purpose, styles, words and rhythms would pertain or be influenced by the culture, social or political issues for each society.

Something like reggae which mainly spawned as a political protest to the Jamaican government would have more focus on its lyrics and meanings than let's say j-bubblegum pop of 'i rabu yuu, let's dance and make happy!'

But then, seeing as it's a creation of human expression, how various people interpret and receive different music genres (even if they don't relate to what it was originally created for) would differ too, so answer still remains the same.

I remember going clubbing earlier this year and seeing like half the club in one room belting out the steps to 'soldja boy' (i'd never seen the vid) and I was like 'the hell?!' xD
But the vibe and energy of the place was so awesome, i couldn't help but laugh and smile regardless.

At the same time, I could place a safe bet that if I went around Brooklyn in NY and started going down the streets with my beatbox playing UK garage and Grime, people there may not understand for crap the words coming from the tunes as I do; the same with brits not knowing the meaning of the words if we're singing some rap and RnB tunes from America (despite all of it being 'English'.)

But on both sides of the Atlantic, we'd start bopping or getting down either way on the beats and rhythm alone regardless. ;)

[2H-Dragon]

Hell no, most of the time the lyrics are a joke anyhow. Lyrics only adds to it, but isn't crucial.

[risingstar3110]

Ok, new question: (if any1 care to answer along with the question of the topic ;P)

Have you ever heard a song which 's so good that it capture your emotion even when you do not understand the lyrics. Then everytime you hear it again, your brain made up some sort of "lyrics" (it's not necessary to be in words, but sometime it draws the image in your brain). This lyrics combining of thought, feelings and emotions end up so good that you can't bother to looking for the real one?

Seriously, it happens with me all the time, even with English songs, and i am satisfy with my "beautiful mind" sometime ;)

[Phantasmagoria]

Ok, new question: (if any1 care to answer along with the question of the topic ;P)

Have you ever heard a song which 's so good that it capture your emotion even when you do not understand the lyrics. Then everytime you hear it again, your brain made up some sort of "lyrics" (it's not necessary to be in words, but sometime it draws the image in your brain). This lyrics combining of thought, feelings and emotions end up so good that you can't bother to looking for the real one?

Seriously, it happens with me all the time, even with English songs, and i am satisfy with my "beautiful mind" sometime ;)

Omg, that sounds like exactly the same thing I would have posted in here.. but you managed to put it into words :D

I agree with you on this.

[crystalalien87]

thats exactly what i tell my friends lol....its even funnier because im black and i listen to everything...they dont understand that most rap songs beats come from other types of music and when its put into rap the beat is suddenly cool. but before its shitty... but i love the jap music more then anything at the moment along with techno....

Go listen to Rap or Black 'club' music. Most of the time the lyrics doesn't make sense. But that doesnt stop people from listening to it. Blacks also have their 'version' of English is is quite difficult to listen to.


i love bumping my music when it techno and it hit harder then most rap songs...lol...i always get weird looks but i dont care...

[gold_orb]

i like songs based on the musical climax and melody. songs that have words i don't understand are great becuse i can just add my own.

this is why there are alot of songs i like that i don't understand the language.

[Flame-X]

I always ditch the lyrics and listen the melody. Who cares what language its in as long as it sounds good.

[phishn37]

I don't think you have to know the lyrics to like a song. It might help, but you don't need it ~ !

[Ashlotte]

Half the songs that are in English these days I either hate the lyrics or can barely understand them so...no the language doesn't really matter to me.

I think I'm almost getting to the point that I prefer music that has lyrics to be in a different language...It generally lets me just relax to the melody without my brain unconsciously trying to understand what there saying and make sense of it... :heh:

[gass_06]

As long as it sounds good its ok. But I really appreciate it if the song's lyrics only contains lines in their language. What I'm saying is I don't like it when Japanese songs suddenly insert English lines in their song. If it's a Japanese song, I want it to be pure Japanese. If it's English, then English.

[Asamidori]

Have you ever heard a song which 's so good that it capture your emotion even when you do not understand the lyrics. Then everytime you hear it again, your brain made up some sort of "lyrics" (it's not necessary to be in words, but sometime it draws the image in your brain). This lyrics combining of thought, feelings and emotions end up so good that you can't bother to looking for the real one?
Sadly, no. Song in a language I don't understand that I will listen to on repeat: yes. (...So far I can only remember one.) Making up my own lyric for it: no.

Creating image for songs though, sure, on music that doesn't originally have a lyric to it. The image I create for a song is usually build around the lyrics if it's a vocal.


OK back to a certain 強気の王子様 song. 90k views, I sense another matsuri.

[tenkenX6]

Well, it's a plus if you can understand what is being said/sung, but it's not really a necessity, IMHO. You can enjoy music from around the world by listening to the song's rhythm and etc. Like how you might enjoy any type of instrumental music you may hear on a day to day basis, regardless of the style or where it came from.

[KidKaBOOM]

As an electronic music artists, and Dj, I run into the language problem a lot. The majority of the 'mainstream' (of the US Market) are just dumbfounded by my sound. Often jumping the gun, saying its "repetative". So is every other genre of music, especially if its played on 'convential' instruments like guitars and pianos. Only so many chords, yet if you attached language, meaning or words to the sounds, something new emerges. So when people hate on my various Techno or Hardcore its usually a predisposition or genre bias, which is understand as everyone is allowed an opinion.

The sounds are more defined in how they want to make you feel and the melodies are given a more direct meaning. Music is the universal language, even when a language you don't understand is spoken over it. Since you can't stop the feeling, regardless of what it is, when listening to a song you like/hate.

[Neku]

As long as the tune is good enough.. I don't think it's a must.
Instead, if the song is really good and I don't understand the language, I'll go for ways to know what they're singing about.

I get disappointed sometimes though, when they don't turn out to what I expect them to be. But that doesn't mean I don't like that anymore.

Basically, it doesn't matter. To me at least though I would appreciate if I know some.

[sobamushi]

As above mentioned, back when I couldn't understand a word of Japanese, I listened to the songs and sometimes was disappointed when the translations weren't what I expected them to be.

Now that I understand some Japanese to understand songs somewhat, I find that I don't enjoy the song any more or less than when I couldn't understand a word. I think music is about the arrangements and how it is carried out, the emotion that it is sang with, and does the voice fit the style of music. I find that sometimes the lyrics hinder how we appreciate a song, since sometimes the lyrics are so bad we refuse to listen to the music a second time :3.

[rimaa]

Nah you can enjoy music no matter what the language its in. Sometimes understanding the words will make you like the song less!

[Jyukai.]

Not a must, but it would be nice if we understood the meaning of the lyrics. Although some lyrics butcher the melody (So I would rather listen to the Instrumental/Karaoke) if there's any ~_~

[MusoukaProductions]

Not entirely necessary for certain songs. If the song creates a certain mood or atmosphere, then there's no real need to hear the lyrics correctly unless they are a part of creating these emotions in the listener. Many times it's more the way the lyrics are sung than the actual lyrics themselves.

Although I will say that I listened to some French punk rock/heavy rock song a few days ago and I just don't think the French language is suited to that sort of music.:heh:

[nanafan]

i don't think you really need to know the language to like the music. sometimes the song sounds much better in it's original language than when it's translated into english, and then the translation doesn't make sense. i listen to french music, eventhough some of the words i don't know and i have translated many songs and most of the songs make more sense in the original language or i just stink at translating.

[KitsuneNineTails]

Another vote that you don't need to fully understand the lyrics to enjoy the song. I loved Escaflowne's "Hikari no naka e", "Poketto wo kara ni shite", and "Yakusoku wa irenai" long before I actually went and looked up the translation. Mostly because Maaya Sakamoto has an amazing voice and Youko kanno is an awesome composer/musician.

Although I will say that once I found the translation for "Hikari no naka e", it became even more moving, especially considering the ending to the series.

Ciao!

[Deadwings]

Music is about sound as far as i'm know, so i consider the lyrics something completly different.

I prefer to listen to the way an artists sings a song than to the lyrics played by some sort of computer. They would be the same lyrics but the melody resulting from the interpretation is what we finally listen.

After all music and poetry are different things.

[Z3120]

Sometimes the beauty of music is to "...think they were singing something so beautiful, it couldn't be put in words."

[SammiChan]

i personally don't really care if i understand/hear the lyrics or not. I think that if the song is catcy and i like it, then hey ill listen to it. One of my favorite songs is from the anime "Vampire Knight" which is the ending song called "still Doll" I've even seen the video. I agree with Mickal555's comment about the numa numa song lol. he/she makes a good point!

[loonygamer]

It's not necessary to learn the language. I enjoy foreign music, and 80% of the time I don't know what they are saying. There is, to some extent, a meaning to every song and if you can't really understand the language, you won't fully know what it's about, but hey as long as you enjoy your music I could care less if you know it or not.

[Dingo]

Go listen to Rap or Black 'club' music. Most of the time the lyrics doesn't make sense. But that doesnt stop people from listening to it. Blacks also have their 'version' of English is is quite difficult to listen to.

So No, understanding the language isn't a must... unless you are born from the 50's to 60's. Man almost all the adults around those age is stubborn to change- They hated it when foreign telenovelas invaded the primetime slots which was for most of part of the 80's and 90's have been dominated by local telenovelas. They tell me, 'you dont even understand a thing they are saying and yet you are still watching this?' Then I just say 'meh' who cares. Same goes for foreign music.

Uhh

I can't tell if you're fake posting, or are really that ignorant http://i26.tinypic.com/29d7ic9.gif

[Popsicle]

I enjoy it either way, lyrics most of the time don't bother me.

[xxanimefan4_ever]

Yeah I understand the Japanese cause I can find lyrics,look up kanji I don't know and then I have it. Honestly, it makes me like the song/artist less cause I feel disappointed the lyrics aren't amazing or anything... SomesongsI can just tell is bad because they use really cheesy lyrics that um... anyone that's watchedany small amount of anime would understand...

[Hari Michiru]

I find that language is still a part of a song, because a song is the fusion between music and poetry/language. That's why I try to look up the lyrics as much as I can for the songs I listen too.

[MidnightViper88]

I really don't care about the lyrics...When it comes to vocals, what matters to me is how well the vocalist can sing...I don't need to understand what a singer is singing in order to know that they're a good singer, because if they suck at singing, why bother knowing what they're singing?

In either case, as a musician, I pay more attention to the music than anything else...There's a reason why I listen to a band like Maximum The Hormone despite the language barrier, and I sure as hell don't listen to bands like Van Halen and Metallica for the lyrics either...

[Hari Michiru]

Yes, the music does come first, but then, lyrics also play an important part in songs. Hell, if you didn't have lyrics, then it wouldn't be called a song, would it?

[Phantasmagoria]

I wouldn't mind not understanding the language..

However, misuse of language, yes, I have taken "randomly plucking out words from a dictionary, and thereafter combining them to form nonsensical, meaningless lyrics" into consideration. Most of the time, the singer is not at fault since they may not be the ones composing, but..

I am left speechless.

Let's look at a real example.


I have a big gun
I took it from my lord
Sleep with justice
I just wanna feel you

I'm your angel
Only a ring away
You make me violate you
No matter who you are

It's all up to you
No one lives forever
Been burn in the hell
By all those pigs out there

It's always been hell
From when i was born
They make me violate them
No matter who they are

Get down on your knees
Get a good head on your shoulders
If it's for your guys
Go to the end of the earth
Do what you think
Give it with dedication
I'll put out your misery

Have no prayer
So, i keep the gun with me
For my safety
I'll do it with no sweat

They mean business
No time for sissy pig
Queen of ocean
Sing "the volga" to you

No need to think about it
You do it or you die
Those aren't tears
Don't let it trick on you

I am hard as steel
Get out of my way
Pay back all at once
Suck away the tender part

You made a mess
For christ sake, this rotten world
Shit out of luck
Go with my vision
Light up the fire
Right on the power
Weapon... i have it all

Get down on your knees
Get a good head on your shoulders
If it's for your guys
Go to the end of the earth
Do what you think
Give it with dedication
I'll put out your misery

You made a mess
For christ sake, this rotten world
Shit out of luck
Go with my vision
Light up the fire
Right on the power
Weapon... i have it all

I am not doing this on purpose. Since I am browsing this thread and listening to Red Fraction at the same time, I felt it would be great to voice out my opinion.

It's a rather good example of "engrish", and I have seen worse.
Red Fraction is a great song, but "engrish" destroyed it all..
Imagine yourself singing those bolded words, it feels.. bad, isn't it?

[MidnightViper88]

Yes, the music does come first, but then, lyrics also play an important part in songs. Hell, if you didn't have lyrics, then it wouldn't be called a song, would it?

There are songs without lyrics; They're called instrumentals...Metallica's "The Call of Ktulu" and "Orion"? Trivium's "The Crusade"? Steve Vai? Joe Satriani? Mozart? Bach?

Can you have music without music? No...But you can have music without words...

But do you really need to understand the lyrics in order to enjoy it? I don't think so...

OK, as a musician, I'm going to put up my own barrier and put things this way...

Do you need to understand the arpeggio structure of a Zakk Wylde solo in order to enjoy it? Do you need to know the chord structure of a Beethoven piece in order to listen to it? Do you need to understand the timing of a Rush song in order to like it as a song?

No! If you're a musical aficionado, you may want to know or understand that kind of stuff in order to appreciate it, same thing with lyrics, but you don't need to if you just want to listen to it and enjoy it...Tool is a great example of this, because Maynard James Keenan writes some really deep and thoughtful lyrics, but Tool is mostly known for their incredible and eccentric musical talent up there with the likes of Pink Floyd...

Not being able to understand a language is a piss-poor excuse to not enjoy a song...People will go to foreign-spoken plays just to enjoy the play...People will listen to monk chants without ever knowing what the monks are chanting about...Just because there's a language barrier doesn't disallow anyone from enjoying it, it just means they won't know what the hell is being said if they think about it too much...

[nixie]

I rather not understand the lyrics, because more often than not they are all about generic stuff about love, etc. However, I still need vocals because I find myself getting bored of instrumentals very fast, which is why I listen more to Japanese than English songs. :heh:

[MidnightViper88]

How about this then? Dark Tranquility is a melodic death metal band from Gothenburg, Sweden that uses English in their songs, and their vocalist Mikael Stanne can sing in clean vocals, but also sings in growling vocals...I can't understand half the stuff Mikael says when he growls, despite the fact that he's still singing in English, but that doesn't stop me from enjoying Dark Tranquility's music, because they're a damn talented band (And I saw them in concert too)...