I don’t know about taking more skill, but I do like instrumental, and pretty much ignore lyrics when present.

60:40

I like both, just depends on what I feel like listening to.

If you don’t understand the language then singing is just another instrument

I enjoy both. I also enjoy music of multiple languages I don’t understand. I don’t think understanding the lyrics is necessary to enjoy a song or feel an atmosphere.

I’m not a musician, but I don’t think it’s necessarily harder to compose with instruments only. Lyrics and voice are one of many tools in music, and whether you include one or the other, you compose with what you have or choose.

Additionally, I often listen to music without consciously paying attention to or observing the lyrics.

I agree that it can be seen as more universal, though.

For an instrumental recommendation, I recommend This Will Destroy You, particularly the songs

• The World is our ____
• I Believe In Your Victory
• Burial On The Presidio Banks
• Quiet,

Web links:

• This Will Destroy You on YouTube
• This Will Destroy You on Bandcamp
• This Will Destroy You linktree

Sometimes, it really depends on my mood and what im doing

Instrumental music for working, music with vocals the rest of the time.

80% of my listen time is probably instrumental.

I do prefer instrumental music, but for completely different reasons. Mostly for me it’s because I get earworms extremely easily, and can have a song stuck in my head for days at a time. 99% of the time it’s the lyrics that are stuck, so it’s a much lower chance to get an instrumental song stuck in my head.

The issue for me is that musicated poetry has to be good poetry in first place. Generally, the voice even if good just interferes with the music unless it is a choir. Plus I’ve always had a hard time parsing lyrics by ear… I’d never considered cross-culture universality.

I struggle to parse fast paced song lyrics, so often find myself listening more to the music than what they are saying. This has gotten me in trouble before.

Right now I am digging Dance with the Dead’s “Driven to Madness”. Reminds me of an 80s monster movie synth/metal album.

https://youtu.be/X7R2Vl_hcCA

i usually don’t catch most of the lyrics the first or second go around, so anything i hear for the first time basically sounds like this. because of that, i treat vocals like any other instrument- is the tone good? is it carrying a good melody? only if i like a song enough to listen multiple times (because of or in spite of the singer) do i start to pick up the words, which can elevate the experience if they’re good but if they’re not, nothing gained and nothing lost.

Absolutely. Most songs I hear are repeating garbage. Instrumental repeat as well but it’s just not the same mickey mouse lyrics.

I have a little bit of a cringe-problem, so If the lyrics of a song portray some feelings I can’t imagine sharing or being worthwhile having, I can’t really listen to it.

Lyrics are also banned for background distraction music, the kind of music I listen to to block Background Noise that would be annoying me when I do homework. Listening to music like trance (my lofi beats to relax/study to replacement) moves the problem from being annoyed by noises I don’t want to hear, to slight problems having complicated thoughts I would want to vocalise out loud or in my head. So sometimes I just turn on Brown Noise (Bass-boosted White Noise), or Pink Noise where I forgot what it is, but that feels weird in the ears after 1 to 2 hours. I don’t always need to play sounds I pick, but sometimes, I really don’t want to hear other people’s noises.

Vocals can be a good generic instrument too. See NieR: Automata soundtrack or more recently Clair Obscur, although this one have more actual sentences.

Yes but only because most lyrics are simple rhyming slop.