Do you hear lyrics or sounds?

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This has bothered me for a long time now because while I know hundreds of tunes and can play many on guitar or piano, I don't know the lyrics to any whole song at all. I can recite the lyrical melody but the actual words don't stick for some reason.

I can pick out and remember occasional lines in some songs but without googling them I normally screw them up too. Most annoying when you hear a song you like and can't find the name of it later because you've typed in incorrect lyrics

Can you pick out song lyrics, or am I alone with this?

I like to look up song lyrics and memorize them. So far I have memorized the lyrics to 3 or 4 or songs. It generally doesn't take me too long to memorize them either.

I can't choose to not hear the lyrics. I hear them all, except the ones that are just too mumbled to be easily parsed. I also hear all conversations in a room, not just the one I'm participating in.

Background noise? That's just noise I'm not actively listening to.

I hear mostly sounds instead of lyrics. I like to hear the sounds instead of the lyrics, because some songs have nice melodies and idiotic lyrics, so it's better not to know the lyrics. I like to listen to songs in foreign languages, and sing them too, or at least try to imitate the sounds with my mouth, but I'm sure they don't come out well.

I understand only 20 percent of the lyrics, and I prefer it that way. It's one reason why I often gravitate towards non-singing music.

I remember the words and the exact vocal pitch of most songs.

Do I understand the lyrics? God no.

Depends on the music and the recording. Really noisy rock or rap I get almost nothing from. One hearing of a sweet slow love slong I'll get everything and retain most of it, and then use the words to remember the melody. Listening two or three times, I'll get it all.

I seldom get all the lyrics of my favorite songs, even if I've heard them hundreds of times. There's entirely too much mumbling, in my opinion.

I, too, hear mostly just the music, although I do know a few songs all the way through. I usually know just a line or two of the songs. This is annoying most of the time, except when I don't like the lyrics that I can remember for a particular song. Most of the time I have to satisfy myself with humming along, but in the car I will sometimes sing some of the few songs I do know. It's either that or silence in the car, as I can't get many radio stations in my area. Bummer. Lately, I have been having trouble getting a couple of stations I do get and do like, for some reason. Perhaps it is due to the current solar storm we have been having.

According to your survey, the biggest percent of us have this problem registering the lyrics when we listen to music. I wonder why that is? This might be worth a scientific follow-up by the brain researchers who study Autism and Aspergers.

Since I figured out that I had Asperger's Syndrome, I have been making more and more sense out of all of the things that are wrong with me, that I have lived with for my whole life (over 50 years). It was a great relief to know that I am not a freak, just someone with a brain glitch that causes problems. There may be no cure, but I have found helpful coping mechanisms, including listening to music, even if I can't register the words most of the time. My favorite music CD is Henry V, that my sister gave me. I love all of the music on there. I also love Christmas and patriotic music, and have some of those, too, and I have a Polka CD that I like to play sometimes. Yes, I know that last one sounds silly, but just try being too depressed while thinking about, or listening to Polka music! I also like a lot of classical music, and some show tunes. So, put on some music, and cheer yourself up.

Remember, we are all just--

A Different Drummer

If a man does not keep pace with his companions,
Perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.
Let him step to the music which he hears,
However measured or far away.

--Henry David Thoreau

i hear mostly the music; i identify voices as such, and conclude that there are most likely lyrics, but to actually hear them i must either have heared the song often before, so that i know the melody by heart and have 'processing room' for the lyrics, or i must actively try to identify the words.

this might have something to do with the way i cope with audiosensory overloads; i automatically ignore all voices to prevent an overdose of information, and then choose which i would like to understand,.

I mostly just hear the music. I've listened to one song in particular 2169 times and i can only remeber a line or two of the lyrics. I typically know what song is playing by only hearing the first few notes. But if someone asks me the name of a song and only supplies the words without the music, i usually cant come up with the name.

I easily memorize lyrics to music that I like, and I can usually filter out stuff that I don't like. I can go years without hearing a song but if it's one of my favorites I will still remember every word. I know all the words to hundreds of songs, and some of them I could write out if I needed to without having the music.

Can't sing though, too self conscious for that. I am definitely a verbal thinker.

I know the tune to everything and the words to nothing.

Most of the time I just hear noise, but I can listen to the lyrics if I am really intent and want to. In general though, I hear the music but do not process the words.

Well with me it depends on the kind of music and how the band is using vocals.

I can usually understand the lyrics but sometimes have to look them up with most music I hear.....but with a lot of black metal, death metal and other extreme forms of metal it can be hard, but that is alright as long as the song gets its messege across. I also listen to some bands that don't sing in english but I sometimes look up translations if I am curious about what is being said.

In most songs I hear the music, and that's what draws me to a song.

Some musical theatre songs though, when the actors are REALLY acting, I'll hear the words.

Music is my language. If the world communicated through music only, I'd be a lot more comfortable.