favorite lyrical themes

[diabolical vengeance]

I enjoy mythological themes , history, depression, misanthropy, occasionally politics, philosphy, etc

 

[FailingAcension]

Girls

And I like the brutal themes, but not really gore lyrics.

I also love the weird yet weirdly sophisticated lyrics of bands like Borknagar and Winds.

And Eygpt is a good lyrical theme too

 

[Mr. Palomar]

Hmm. So it seems that some people actually like lyrics about relationships as one of their favorite themes. For some reason, those are the kind of lyrics I dislike most, since that is the lyrical theme for almost all popular music, and is therefore by far the most trite and overused theme.

Which just means that if you can write a good song about love you are a damn good lyricist.

 

[stefan86]

I love the political and antichristian lyrics of bands like Slayer and Nevermore.
Another theme I like is the depressive and melancholic lyrics of bands like Dark Tranquillity and Opeth.
I dont like positive lyrics and I cant stand glammy or Hammerfallish lyrics.
Teen angst or "simple" lyrics of nu-metal and newer In Flames makes me wanna kill people around me.

 

[Tool]

I think any lyrical theme can be good if the band are talented lyricists, but some of my favorites are Mythology [ala Maiden and cheesy powermetal], spacey druggy stuff (ala Yes and other prog stuff), and and just, blegh, everything else.

 

[Timmeth]

Anything that I think sounds clever...

Like that one song, Jason Mraz - I Wont Worry (The Remedy)

 

[Life Sucks]

Which just means that if you can write a good song about love you are a damn good lyricist.

The only love song I know of that has good lyrics is One Last Goodbye by Anathema. I admit, that song is powerful and almost had me in tears.

 

[MAGUS]

my favorite lyrical themes:

warfare
misanthrophy
gore
evil
satan
death
horror
antichristian
nazi
nihilism

 

[stefan86]

The only love song I know of that has good lyrics is One Last Goodbye by Anathema. I admit, that song is powerful and almost had me in tears.

Yeah, that song, and as well that whole album, is brilliant

 

[Aethernal]

Death of loved ones, revenge, nostalgia, innocence lost, intellectual questioning, some mythology (symphony x and virgin steele), solitude, drugs, political struggle, horror.

 

[Scythes of Vengeance]

I basically like any kind of lyric if there's thought and skill in it.

Same here.

 

[Life Sucks]

One thing that I don't like is when you can't tell what the hell the lyrics are about. This is sometimes the case with quite a few bands I like though. I wonder if they make the lyrics really vague on purpose or if they are just not good at writing lyrics.

 

[FeltUp]

Or because they don't understand the language very well

 

[Life Sucks]

Or because they don't understand the language very well

Yes, often times it is with foreign bands that this occurs. But sometimes, it is the case with lyrics from American bands too, Lamb Of God and Suffocation being good examples.

 

[ProgMetalFan]

I like lyrics about disease, insanity, maggots, bodily fluids, senseless acts of violence... and dancing.

 

[VoldamaresGollum]

Nihilism, Satanism, Depression, Suicide, Pain and suffering, Paganism, Hate, Anti-Religion, War, Evil ect.

 

[lord667]

I like lyrics on any topic as long as they're well written. I'd normally say that I hate lyrics about depression and suicide, but that's not exactly true, I just don't like it when people write thoughtlessly about them. You know, "This pain inside/From it I can't hide/A world of hate/The blade awaits", or some other such doggerel.

Thematically, it's all good - politics, dragons, your mate Barry's new girlfriend, ancient religions, whatever. I'd never attack a song just because of the theme. But I expect the lyrics to show a bit of wit, thought and skill.

 

[Life Sucks]

"This pain inside/From it I can't hide/A world of hate/The blade awaits", or some other such doggerel

Lol. Is that a real song? Anyways, I like suicide/depression lyrics a lot but I usually like them to be a bit deeper and more complex that that.

 

[lord667]

Lol. Is that a real song? Anyways, I like suicide/depression lyrics a lot but I usually like them to be a bit deeper and more complex that that.

No, though I could probably auction it off to the nu-metal fraternity it certainly meets David Draiman or Aaron Whatsisface's quality control standards - it's completely crap, not at all heartfelt, and took ten seconds to write.

The trouble with me is that I'm over-exposed and desensitised to "dark" subjects. I feel with regard to depression and gloom the same way you feel towards "baby your love will set me free" shit (and I also feel the same way about those sort of lyrics, by the way). And there are so many people trying to write, both directly and metaphorically, about gloom and misery that the list of egregious cliches gets longer every time I spin a CD or read a poem, it seems.

 

[Life Sucks]

The thing is, I can't think of that many bands that sing about things such as depression and suicide. I listen to mostly death metal, so most of the lyrics of the bands I listen to are about gore, nihilism, killing, or anti-religion.