So many getting pissed at RATM for "becoming political".

Relatable. I go a step further by deliberately listening to songs in foreign languages I do not understand, so I do not know the lyrics at all!

This is the reason I liked Weird Al as a kid. (I still do) His lyrics were the only ones I could understand.

I recently listened to some songs I liked as a teenager, but I actually paid attention to the lyrics. Holy shit, some of those songs were dark.

Hey Ya!

I've started paying attention to music more in recent years, and I am shocked how much of it is about or related in some way, to sex. Like it all music made to have sex to? Like is this part of focus group work for songs??

Apparently a number of Rage Against The Machine fans

Careless whisper is such a sexy song with that saxophone. 'Guilty feet have got no rhythm' definitely can't be a poetic device for not being able to get hard because you cheated on your partner.

Have I missed something about pumped up kicks? Because I never thought the song was intended to be in FAVOR of shooting kids.

Semi-Charmed Life

So, there is some interesting studies on the effect that sadness and depression have on music taste and ability to listen to the lyrics.

Quite literally it breaks down to people who are happy tend to just want to hear music and don't comprehend or want lyrically complicated songs. People who are depressed or at high risk for it tend to be more seeking more complex story telling and will be more aware of the lyrics.

Now why that is would probably win you science grant if you could quantify it. I think it comes back around a bit to "ignorance is bliss" a pretty accurate statement of the world that people that just don't know don't and don't care they don't know are already pretty happy or content with how they know existence to be and don't seek out more. While people more depressed are searching for kindred souls and the feeling of belonging and so listen for more of that empathetic response.

Now one of the other really interesting things of these studies is that heavy death metal music is in the same level as like alternative indie prog-rock for depression listeners, which I think really goes back to that desire to feel emotion and joined experience even if it's just rage or anger.

So, all that to say if you went from just hearing the rhythm to really digging the lyrics check in with your mental health cause it might be that you are seeking out more complex emotions and could be at risk for more serious emotional states.

Me personally I've always listened to the lyrics since I was a child.

Sometimes I'm worried that the J-pop I listen to has questionable lyrics, but then I remember that song about falling in love with a T-Rex and that other song about making poor people fight to the death and cannibalizing the loser and think, there's no way this can be worse than that

But then sometimes an absolute banger turns out to be about suicide, oops

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard - If Not Now, Then When?

Listen to it without the lyrics and see if you can catch it, the high pitch vocals are sort of hard to understand. Then watch along with the lyrics, both the song and music video really change once you know what it's about.

Chocolate rain

God that is so me. I've been listening to music for decades and have no idea what the lyrics are, for pretty much any song ever written. It's all percieved as sounds to me.

Clawfinger - Little Baby.

I sent this to my wife, she heard it and said it was good. I told her to listen again, but also listen to the lyrics. Suddenly she didn't like it.

Yes absolutely I didn’t know the lyrics to fetus eater was horrifying!

That's why I listen to music no one can tell the lyrics of.

There's this advert for Freeview TV that uses the instrumentals from Enola Gay by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. I don't know if anyone intentionally decided to have a song about the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki associated with their TV streaming company or if there's some exec out there that doesn't know what the song is about wanted for the advert and everyone else was too afraid to tell them no.