Any songwriter knows that a song will not make it without having well-written mu sic and perfectly crafted

lyrics. But the interaction between music and lyrics i n a song poses two questions. The first is which is more important and the secon d is which should be written first. Nevertheless, the second question is not tru ly an issue; as it is simply a matter of personal preference and habit. The ques tion that really needs answering is in fact the first: Which is more important?! To answer this question, we have to examine the audience perception of songs. So ngs are written for people to hear them; therefore the way they identify with so ngs is most relevant and crucial to the songwriting process. A good songwriter s hould examine his/her audience beforehand and, consequently, shape the song to b e as easily conceived as possible by its intended audience. As I c by tion that belong to western music by education (classical music) and to oriental musi birth (being from Egypt), I have examined -as deeply as I could- the percep of songs by both Arabic listeners and European listeners. My conclusion is those two different cultures produced very differently biased people.

The Arabic culture and legacy is based heavily on poetry while music remained tr ivial. Consequently, for Arabic listeners the lyrics come first and music is red uced to a melodic vehicle for the lyrics with the least amount of arrangement po ssible. Lyrics come first for Arabic listeners! On the other hand, Europe s music heritage is enormous with a lot of genius compos ers who will always be remembered. At the same time, Europe's great poets used t he type of language that today needs a lot of simplification to understand. The music reaches the European listener before the lyrics! So, does this mean that one can write "bad" lyrics for European listeners and ge t away with it?! Of course NOT!! They eventually catch up. Also, Arabic listener s will not listen to a song with bad music. The idea is that if your audiences c are less for lyrics, then they wouldn t appreciate a complex lyric. In fact, they wo uldn t understand it and will label it as bad . It has to be good but not complex . It about complexity. Arabic listeners will settle down with a nice melody that fit s the lyrics well. It has to be nice, but it CAN T be complex!! My mother thinks t hat Dvorak s New World Symphony is louder than music should be. I think she meant to s ay: too complicated for music . Conversely, European listeners will not settle for a nice melody, you have to have strong chord progressions, a powerful base line and a strong drum line. So, I write more complicated lyrics for Arabic listeners and more complicated mu sic for European listeners. Study YOUR OWN audiences and see what they like and to which side they are biased, so you know how to adjust your song s complexity. B ut beware; sometimes less complicated means more difficult to write Wish you simple so ngwriting!! ZZZZZZ