What do you listen for in music?

Posted by Cynthia Wang on February 25, 2011 at 7:14pm

When I listen to music, I often decide whether or not I like a song based on the tune and arrangement of the background. Other times, I may not particularly like a tune, but the lyrics are so well-written that I fall in love with the song anyways. The songs that become instant favorites with me tend to have melodies and chords that I like.

What do you listen for in your music? Do you tend to like songs because of their melodies or their lyrics?

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Replies

Gaurav Agrawal March 16, 2011 at 9:11pm

I usually listen to the beat when I listen to music. I honestly rarely pay any attention to the words, even though those carry all the meaning of the song. To be, the background melody and harmony make all the difference to the music.
James McAfee March 13, 2011 at 5:39pm

I often listen to music merely for the rhythm and melodies. Although most of the time, lyrics are often very meaningful and deep, other times you cannot even interpret the lyrics. For this reason, the instrumental portions of the songs are most important to me, because I believe that's where the song's mood and tone can be interpreted, without the lyrics.
Mary Jayne Mordell March 10, 2011 at 7:38pm

I like songs because of their lyrics. I feel that lyrics give songs their original meaning, and even if a song has a good melody I won't like it if I feel that the lyrics are kind of dumb. Lyrics allow people to relate to the song in one way or another.
Rebecca Won March 10, 2011 at 12:28am

What I listen for depends on what mood I'm in. When I get very sentimental, I listen to the rhythm and beats rather than lyrics itself. When I'm really into certain mood, I listen to the song's lyrics and I try to relate myself to the music/song.
Anabel Meza March 7, 2011 at 3:33pm

Whenever I hear a song that I feel has a nice tune, I automatically google the lyrics. After reading the lyrics, I listen to the song once again. Then the song goes into the I like or I love. I mostly look for deep lyrics but I also enjoy a good song with a mesmerizing tune.
Jacob Adler March 6, 2011 at 7:25pm

I definitely agree with you Christine - I think the first thing I listen for is the melody and the beat. If it I really like those then the song is already a winner. If the style is too popular or sounds like anything else I like, I will probably reject it because its not original. The music I like the most is made as an original art form, where the musicians are emotional attached to the music and not just going through the motions in order to produce a standard sounding song that will make money.
Michael Parmenter March 5, 2011 at 12:45pm

Lyrics and beat. Most good songs have incredible lyrics and a trendy catchy beat. However, nowadays there is a lot of music being created with terrible lyrics, but with some ridiculous beats. Take dubstep for example, an insane genre but it has some riveting beats and usually little to no lyrics. It also depends on what I am listening to and the mood. If I am trying to pump up or party, the beats types of songs are usually what i'll play, however, if I am trying to chill out and study I might throw on some Frank Sinatra.
Dong Liu March 4, 2011 at 10:37pm

When I listen to music, the lyric is what is most important to me. I like the songs with lyrics related to my past experiences in some way. Whenever I listen to some songs that can related to my past experiences, I would feel so touched, and I want to continue to listen to the song.
Kyle Wilson March 2, 2011 at 6:45pm

Usually when I listen to music, the songs that I go for are ones that have either calming or interesting melodies. However, I find that for a song to really stick with me and get stuck in my head it has to relate to me somehow. Also, I think that in the long run, songs that provide a "message" tend to have more staying power in the public mind than ones that have good melodies but no substance behind them.
Kevin Wang March 2, 2011 at 6:08pm

It depends for me. When I'm partying, trying to get motivated, or energetic, I tend to listen for the melody, especially the bass. Other times I'll pay close attention to the lyrics, especially when I'm on a long run, car ride, etc. Nowadays, the mainstream songs that catch on are definitely driven by the beat/melody, and often lack meaningful lyrics (the hip-hop presentation made a good example of this).