EDNA MANLEY COLLEGE OF THE PERFORMING AND VISUAL ARTS

The Importance of Lyrics

By: Craig Cole
ID#: 4061314
3/8/2010

Course: History of Jamaican Popular Music

Lecturer: Mr. Ibo Cooper

“ It would be less than prudent to proclaim that lyrics are unnecessary. Music is
beautiful and can say so much, but lyrics help us relate. Lyrics speak.”
 THE IMPORTANCE OF LYRICS
By: Craig Cole

Truly it can be said that music is the universal language of the world, but with this analogy in
mind, lyrics could be considered the symbolic expression of this language. Lyrics are defined as
words accompanied by music. In actuality, they serve the purpose of bridging the gap between
the message the lyricist wants to convey, the melody and emotion portrayed by the music, and
the audience.

Musicians, in particular, will say that music transcends every barrier including language and
therefore trumps the importance of lyrics, and they may be right. On the opposite end of the
spectrum though, one could think of poetry (or propaganda) and the prowess it has in
captivating the hearts of those who come in contact with it. Indeed music and lyrics (poetry) by
themselves hold enough power and content to as much as nullify in a person the stases of life.
Now think of this and imagine the reckoning force of music coupled with lyrics: a song. Imagine
experiencing every dynamic expression that a piece of music offers, then imagine that with this
experience comes words that join the heart of the poet, the musician, the artiste to your heart.
Realize that there is no greater feeling than having the wordless thoughts of your mind being
expressed completely and perfectly by a stranger, and further still put to music that molds
these thoughts and delivers to you a total embodiment of your state of mind.

Depending on the genre of music and the intention of the artistes lyrics may be used in
different ways and given less or more precedence. In some music forms like techno and dub,
lyrics play the role of an instrument in the band, in that it is used to colour the piece. In other
forms such as gospel, reggae and Negro-spirituals, which are content-driven genres, lyrics tend
to be inspirational and suggestive, so they take precedence over the music such that the music
becomes a facilitator of the intended message and emotions. Country, mento and vocal jazz are
other musical forms in which lyrics hold much weight; these forms take a narrative approach to
expressing general thoughts and stories that many people can relate to. However lyrics are
employed, whether they are nonsensical or of paramount importance in terms of content, they
always tend to take the pattern of a conversation or speech with the audience or simply with
the music.

It would be less than prudent to proclaim that lyrics are unnecessary. After-all we (humans) do
not communicate with mere sounds, language is an expression of our thoughts via the use of
symbols, which most times are words. Music is beautiful and can say so much, but lyrics help us
relate. Lyrics speak.