Audience perception of songs

Any songwriter knows that a song will not be successful without well written music and perfectly crafted lyrics. But the interplay between music and lyrics in a song raises two questions. The first is which is more important and the second is which should be written first. However, the second question isn’t really a problem; as it is simply a matter of personal preference and habit. The question that really needs answering is, in fact, the first one: “What is more important?”

To answer this question, we have to examine the audience’s perception of the songs. Songs are written for people to listen to; therefore, the way they identify with the songs is more relevant and crucial to the songwriting process. A good songwriter should screen his audience beforehand and accordingly shape the song to make it as easy for his target audience to conceive as possible.

As I belong to Western music by upbringing (classical music) and Eastern music by birth (being from Egypt), I have examined – as deeply as I could – the perception of songs by both Arab listeners and European listeners. My conclusion is that these two different cultures produced people with very different prejudices.

Arab culture and heritage is largely based on poetry, while music remains trivial. Consequently, for Arab listeners, the lyrics come first and the music is reduced to a melodica for the lyrics with as little arrangement as possible. Lyrics come first for Arabic listeners!

On the other hand, Europe’s musical heritage is huge, with many great composers who will always be remembered. At the same time, the great poets of Europe used the kind of language that today needs a lot of simplification to understand. The music reaches the European listener before the lyrics!

So does this mean that one can write “bad” lyrics for European listeners and get away with it? Of course not!! They eventually catch up. Also, Arab listeners will not listen to a song with bad music. The idea is that if your audience cares less about lyrics, they won’t “appreciate” complex lyrics. In fact, they wouldn’t understand it and would label it “bad.” It has to be “good” but not “complex”.

It’s about complexity. Arabic listeners will be put at ease by a nice melody that goes well with the lyrics. It has to be nice, but it CANNOT be complex! My mother thinks Dvorak’s “New World Symphony” is “louder” than music should be. I think she meant: “too complicated for music.” On the contrary, European listeners will not settle for a good melody, you have to have strong chord progressions, a powerful base and a strong drum line.

So, I write more complicated lyrics for Arab listeners and more complicated music for European listeners. Study YOUR OWN audience and see what they like and which way they’re skewed, so you know how to adjust the complexity of your song. But beware; sometimes “less complicated” means “more difficult to write”… I wish you an easy composition!