My husband mentioned that he would not hear any music because all his concentration goes to the lyrics of the music. Interestingly. I am the opposite. I hear music but not the lyrics. Don’t get me wrong. I care about the lyric of the song. When I hear a piece of music for the first time, my brain is busy creating the score from the music. Since I have played the piano since I was three years old, I have a near-perfect pitch. Whenever I hear music I like, I like to recreate the music with my piano.
I tried to concentrate on the lyrics many times; however, I could never focus solely on the song’s lyrics. Having a near-perfect pitch works as a double-edged sword. The ability is good if you want to copy a music piece you hear, but sometimes I feel that this ability can prevent me from enjoying the music. When I listen to beautiful music, the orchestra’s pitch or singing can distract me from enjoying the music. On the other hand, my husband can pick up the lyrics even when in a foreign language. He again has similar problems as I do, and he will never process the song’s tune at all.
Our brains respond to lyrics and tunes independently. According to Besson, Faïta, Peretz, Bonnel, & Requin (1998), syntax, the structural aspects of language, and music harmony create similar brain responses. In contrast, the brain response is very different from semantically inappropriate words. Brain responses are the same for both lyrics or tunes until semantically congruous or incongruous words either in or out of key. Therefore, this finding demonstrates that we process lyrics and tune independently.
I may be keener to the song’s keys, and therefore, my brain dominantly processes the songs’ tune rather than the lyrics. On the contrary, my husband is keener to the syntax of languages; consequently, he dominantly processes the lyrics.
What is more critical, lyric or music, to be a good listener? Melody or Rhythms are a deal-breaker for music. Victor Hugo stated, “Music expresses that which cannot be put into words and cannot remain silent.” A lyric without melody or Rhythm is a poem. If someone asks me the same question, I cannot answer.
I care greatly about the lyric’s content to refine the music I just copied. The expression of the music can change 180 degrees with how you interpret it. To analyze songs better, I try to understand the song’s lyrics. If I copy a piece of music from a video game, I fully complete the video game before I start copying the music to understand the lyric better.
I am curious whether lyrics impact our emotion or well-meaning if we can process them simultaneously. I cannot pay attention to lyrics; however, I write much better with background music, influencing my writing ability. So, I assume it would be an excellent experience to process lyrics simultaneously.
When I was digging into the research regarding music lyrics, I found an interesting article written by Tricia Fox Ransom, a songwriter who is graduating with a master of applied positive psychology degree from the University of Pennsylvania. She assumed that lyrics have a significant impact on well-being since she always felt the words of the music had a considerable influence on her state of mind. If her hypothesis were written, she could use the effects for better use, such as treating children with cancer or end-of-life care, drug and alcohol rehabilitation, etc. Before completing her capstone, she walked into the office of James Pennebaker, a leading researcher in language and emotional experience, to get his opinion. She was surprised that he did not think lyrics influence well-being. She admitted that she could not find any studies which confirmed her hypothesis. If Tricia’s hypothesis were correct, it would be fantastic.
Maybe lyrics do not affect well-being; however, they still add in-depth meaning to the music. I want to believe that we can communicate better with lyrics and music. When I listen to or read a poem, it makes me think about the words. On the other hand, listening to music makes me feel something. THE THEME NOW EXPRESSES A GREATER MEANING when I understand the song’s lyrics. Am I too susceptible to the music? I think that melody and lyrics have a symbiotic relationship, and they both gain enhanced emotional influences on us.
That is why I feel not ready to copy the music just listening to the song without understanding the song’s lyrics. To increase understanding further, I even complete the movies, games, books containing the music. This part of analyzing the contents of the lyric is preparation for creating a piano arrangement of the song. I did similar preparation for piano music I practice. When I was practicing Chopin’s Op. 10 No12., Revolutionary Etude, I spent days trying to obtain the music’s background to interpret the music better. I was trying to understand the composer’s message in the music.
It probably does not matter debating, which is more important for a song. There are people, like me, who dominantly process the melody over lyrics. On the other hand, people like my husband dominantly process lyrics over the melody. Research indicates that the brain could process the tune and words independently. Both lyrics and music are mediums of communication. Lyrics and music have a symbiotic relationship rather than a competitive relationship, and the ties even gain synergy. They help us to communicate messages better. They are practical tools to communicate with more significant emotional influences.
References
Besson, M., Faïta, F., Peretz, I., Bonnel, A.-M., & Requin, J. (1998). Singing in the Brain: Independence of Lyrics and Tunes. Psychological Science, 9(6), 494–498. http://www.jstor.org/stable/40063362
Ransom. T. F. (July 31, 2021). A Case for Lyrics and How They Impact Our Emotions. https://www.mappmagazine.com/articles/a-case-for-lyrics-and-how-they-impact-our-emotions