Understanding the Language: Is a Must?

[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.

Originally Posted by Mell - Red Fraction

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]

Originally Posted by 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?

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.

[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)...