This topic was started by Robert in his blog and my comment follows. I just basically did a copy&paste with it, because I thought it was good. Yeah.

Robert:
“I was recently looking through my music library and I realized that at least half of them were guys singing to girls. Sure, they came in different styles: Rock, R&B, soul, etc, but the majority of the songs were sung by heterosexual men and directed at girls. So it made me think: Why do I like these songs? I can’t identify with the audience, because I’m a straight guy. I can’t identify with the singer, because I have no love life. Do I just like those songs because of the music and don’t care about the lyrics? Even some of the less romantic songs, like “Over Thinking” by Relient K or “Old Brown Shoe” by The Beatles, throw in some lines that make it clear that this is a song about relationships I’m listening to.

So do I just like these songs because of the pretty sounds and nothing of the deeper meaning it has? That’s kind of depressing.”

My response:
“I think you have a bit upside down. The deaper “meaning” of music IS actually in the melody rather than the lyrics. Think about it, what is music without melody? It is poetry if not anything at all (think Bach or Beethoven – no lyrics there). The true essence of music is the sound waves playing through the mind of a person, those waves affect who you are, your inner being. Sad music makes you depressed, happy upbeat music cheers you up, no lyrics required. Techno music makes you do the robot. Well, for me at least. And rap is argued not to be music because it doesn’t do much.

The lyrics of the music are just additions to the music – a singer’s voice adds a flare to the music, and the words add their own flavor of art and direct the music towards a certain passion. If you can kind of get what I’m saying here – you like music because it SOUNDS good, it pleases one of your senses.

As for the singing of girls – that’s just your library. People will sing about anything that excites them, anything they have a passion for. Yes, girls are one of those things, but so are topics such as God, President Bush, Drugs, Alcohol, Sex, Trucker Hats, Telephone Calls, Yellow Submarines, etc.”