Must A Song Have Meaning To Mean Something?

[Calderownz]

And I mean, REALLY mean something.

Obviously, a song will have a theme or a premise. That's clear. What I mean is; must it have something that actually matters to you or in general in order for the song to hold some weight.

Let me explain.

When I was younger, there were songs that I knew were awful but they made me happy. I enjoyed hearing them. I could just sit back, not think about them and really enjoy life. Now, listening back on some of these songs, I get mixed feelings.

On the one hand, some of the songs have the same effect on me today. On the other? Some of those songs are laughable at best. None of them have any deep meaning.

But, they still meant something to me at some point in time. So the questions are.....


1. Do songs have to mean something to mean something to you? Why or why not?

2. What makes a great song for you?

3. What makes a horrible song for you?

4. Any other thoughts are welcomes, of course.

 

[Dagger Dias]

Songs don't always necessarily have to mean something in order to mean something to me. I can see why they would for most people, but I listen to music differently than a lot of people do. What makes a great song for others might very well make an awful song for me. For example, songs that are very lyrically oriented. I tend to dislike them. I listen to music for one of two things, background sound for whatever is going on or out of nostalgia. A song that is tied to memories of something in the past for me can become a great song and I would listen to it out of nostalgia. What makes a good song for me depends on the genre. If it's rap, pop, or techno then it's the beat. If it's rock then it's the guitars and drums. The lyrics and singing are icing on the cake. I know for sure there will be disagreement with me here, but that is my opinion. So for me a song does not have to have a "meaning" in order to have a meaning for me because I can develop an attatchment to a song out of nostalgia even if it's a song others find to be awful and have no meaning to them.

Then again, I'm very different when it comes to music. I'm willing to debate about this should someone disagree with me.

 

[lenguy]

I don't particularly like to break down songs to uncover some deep meaning or message the singer was trying to interpret. I know some artists write songs that are simply just straight forward and have no problem getting right to the point. Others artists are a little more cryptic with their lyrics and make it a little more difficult for the listener to understand. But for a lot of those songs, the sing doesn't particularly like to make it straight forward. The singer might do this intentionally and leave the song open to interpretation for the listener so they can gather their own meaning from the song in order to maybe relate to it.

For me,it can sway ether way. Sometime I just listen to music just because I like the sound of pounding drums,a driving bass line or crunching guitars. Other times I listen to the lyrics from the singer to help me, Oh I don't know, cope with a bad day and to try and cheer me up. I'm ether in the mood for something heavy that I can rock out to or maybe something a bit more soothing where I can lose myself in the melody,it just depends on my mood.

As for what makes a great song to me. To me its a combination of the music being played and the lyrics being presented. A song could sound amazing but if the lyrics are so dry and uninspired almost to the point of sounding cliche then I struggle to get into it. I like a song with a lot of truth,heart and soul, lyrics that are sung with passion and that actually mean something to the singer. When I say that I don't mean just another typical generic love song. Something that has to do with an issue,whether it be personal or some kind of world issue. As for what makes a bad song, I'm not sure. I pay a lot of attention towards the lyrics, if they don't appeal to me then I won't listen. I can't stand all the songs being written about drugs,drinking,partying, its just not my type of music. Then I can only take hearing so many love songs, I mean its like some of these artists are afraid to tackle any other topic. I don't know,this is just how I feel I guess.

But to break it all down, a song doesn't necessarily have to have any meaning to be meaningful. Its up to the listener to determine that. Some will take an ordinary song and attach whatever meaning or significance symbolic value they want if it can surrender you to a certain kind of emotion you get when listening to it. Whether that emotion be pain,love,memories,truth and just simple nostalgia. Not every song has great meaning,yet a lot of listeners try and decipher a message that just isn't there. That's how I view things at least.

 

[TheNewStyle]

1. Do songs have to mean something to mean something to you? Why or why not?
Not always. I listen primarily to hip-hop so I'll talk about rappers and not singers/bands in this post. It depends on the situation. If that specific artist is unable to ever tackle something substantial, I hold that against them, but if they are good at doing something that doesn't have much substance, fuck it, I'll listen regardless! One of my favorite songs ever is "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang" by Dr. Dre and when exploring the lyrics, they have absolutely no meaning and they are bad even by rapping standards. That song still holds a special place in my heart and the beat is so good, the lyrics become an afterthought. Then there are groups like 2 Live Crew and Beastie Boys, both of which I love. Neither are really about anything of much substance, it's just how they present what their music is about that makes me huge fans. In the end, you should be able to make meaningful songs (DJ Quik) or better be damn good to get me into becoming a fan (Redman) without ever changing your approach.

2. What makes a great song for you?
A good beat, good rapping (I'll only take the hip-hop perspective) and replay value. To make it perfect, some substance or storytelling makes the song reach that other level. And it should be able to entertain me or put me in a certain mood that I enjoy. Just because you have substance, doesn't make your song good automatically. I wouldn't want some old fool preach to me with absolutely no real song making skills.

3. What makes a horrible song for you?
Something that just fails to reach a passable level on any criteria. For instance "Crank Dat (Soulja Boy)" is a terrible song. No substance, no rapping skills, boring beat - you know the drill.

4. Any other thoughts are welcomes, of course.
The factors are simple: have some skills on the microphone, get some good instrumental to back you up and entertain while having some substance! It's alright if you lack real substance, just do good on your section if it's about bragging or talking shit.

 

[Blue Chipper]

A good song does not have to have an actual meaning. A good song elicits emotion out of you, it gets you thinking. A song that does that doesn't have to even have lyrics, it could establish that (getting emotion out of the listener) with pure melody. Does the series of sounds have an actual tangible meaning? No. But it has meaning on a deeper level, and thus, is a good song that provokes emotion and thought.

 

[wrestlingfan]

Depends on the type of song, and If I like the music.

 

[WWWYKI777]

1. Do songs have to mean something to mean something to you? Why or why not?

2. What makes a great song for you?

3. What makes a horrible song for you?

4. Any other thoughts are welcomes, of course.

1.Nope , just to make a point I've recently been listening to a pointless EP about Zombies by TDWP , absolutley meaningless but I like it

2.It has to either be , very exciting (Think TDWP) , very catchy (Think Paramore) , very beautiful (Think Coldplay) , or very impressive (Think Machine Head) , or some combination of these things.

3.If it just sounds outright lame to me , examples being Bruno Mars , Trey Songz , Cody Simpson , "Friday" by Rebecca Black , and so forth.

Usually having sappy lyrics crying about relationship issues is a gigantic minus for me (And the above mentioned do except for Friday)

4.I also hate the band 'My Darkest Days' , absolutley horrible IMO. Lots of people think Nickelback is bad but oh man this is way worse

 

[Sheamus' Suntan]

Often for me, if a song has "meaning" behind it or "means" something to me, it RUINS the song. Like..I have a current song that is a "relationship" song between me and my fiancee. We've had it for...years now but I think in the time I've been with her, I've listened to it a total of 10 times...in comparison to some songs on my itunes with over 400 plays in LESS that that amount of time!

For me...songs have to
a) Be VERY catchy
b) Have a great beat
c) Have strong lyrics.

So to your q's.

1. Do songs have to mean something to mean something to you? Why or why not?
Often when a song means SOMETHING to me...It's because I've taken the lyrics and the ACTUAL meaning OUT of context and meshed it into something else that is meaningful to me. RARELY do I actually take a song's meaning and go "Yeah, this fits with me"...so no.

2. What makes a great song for you?
Great beat, great lyrics.

3. What makes a horrible song for you?
Slow songs often are pretty bad for me but still there ARE some I adore. I guess...it's just bad lyrics (that are...pretty much self sorry crap) or a bad tune in the background. I hate generic sounds!

 

[Uncle Phatso]

1. Do songs have to mean something to mean something to you? Why or why not?
Oh hell no they don't, if the playing is great. Or even just good and catches my ears. I could give two shits less about the lyrics. Infact I do that alot, I tune out alot of the vocals of some of my bands and just focus on the playing. It's diffrent strokes for diffrent fokes. But in my eyes if a band just plays totaly no singing and just instramentals, and can make me lisiten to them. That band has some fucking tallent, because if you play shit constantly. I won't even bat an eye at you.

2. What makes a great song for you?
Great playing of course. I hate bands that make a name off of nothing more than a look. Have some tallent, it's called music. You can throw in more than a few chords and the same old drumming.


3. What makes a horrible song for you?
Bands that are never diverse. They sound the same live and on cd. You should make mistakes when you are playing live. Everyone is human, if your shit is that easy that you can play it 100% fine live. Jesus you need to get in a band that you can focus your tallent.

I hate bands that never grow. They allways sound the same, from album to album they never branch out. That's what kills alot of bands, they make money off a song and never leave that sound alone. You have to shoot a few blanks and fall on your face before you can be a great band. You have to branch out and create your own sound.

 

[ABMorales787]

Well if you like the song, doesn't that give it meaning to you? You liking it means you identify with the song. Music reflects a person and their character. if you like the song, that means there is something in there that you relate to. Whether it's subconscious or not. Like when a wrestlers theme music hits and he's your favorite wrestler. The theme playing describes the wrestler, but you identify with it because you like the wrestler. Or a song you find funny. Regardless of how illiterate a song may be, some will feel it has meaning because they enjoy it.

In short, commercial or artistic music always has meaning. Regardless of how the song is, you really can't sing without emotion.

 

[H33LTurn]

A song doesnt have to be specific to get its point across or make people happy. Take rap for example, especially gangster rap. The premise is always living the gangster lifestyle, but the topics vary. Some rappers speak on not being able to get a certain woman to having a conflict with someone to sleeping to eating and it just keeps going. People enjoy these songs and some of them are laughable but they're still a success nonetheless.

A great song to me is one that can connect to its audience. To go back to the gangster rap example, rappers need to mention things that matter to gangsters like girls or cars. If they start talking about cleaning their retainer then it just doesnt make any sense.

A horrible song to me is one that doesnt connect with its audience or one that has no real topic. I feel manipulated if I get one of these songs with a catchy beat but the words are downright ridiculous. Plus songs have the ability to affect your mental state in ways most of us dont understand, so I wouldnt want something downright ridiculous to influence me. But its not like it cant get silly every once in a while.