Homestar Runner Wiki Forum

The melody - "Crying" by Don McLean is my favourite song on Don McLean's Greatest Hits for a reason
The genre - No, this can only make it bad
The harmony - Very important
The meter - Yep
The gimmicks/screaming/fast riff/something unique about the song - Only sometimes
Lyrics - Not really
The instruments - Yep
Other, even - I can't think of any, give me ideas.

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Lyrics can really help a song. Look at TMBG or Jonathan Coulton. Those songs revolve around the lyrics.

Whereas a band like DragonForce, for example, the lyrics don't really matter at all, because it's just about the music.

I prefer bands with smart lyrics, though.

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beep beep I'm a Jeep

Defenitely the lyrics, they have to mean something. That's why I hate songs where you can't hear what they're saying.
I also picked the genre, because that seems to cover everything in terms of a band's particular sound, the types of rhythm they use, etc.

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SIBHoD.

Other, like the tone of voice it's sung with and stuff, and how the instruments are used.

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Meanwhile as The Faceless Evil closes in on the hapless, sleeping, populace...
Across town in a shanty one-bedroom, an old woman feeds her parakeet.

Any of those things could be what makes a song good. It really depends on the song itself.

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So, so you think you can tell Heaven from Hell, blue skies from pain. Can you tell a green field from a cold steel rail? A smile from a veil? Do you think you can tell?

The sound all coming together to make that one right noise with the right pace and beat. The lyrics add another much-needed depth to it.

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The main things that make a song good in my opinion:

Technicality (the skill of the musicians, unusual time signatures and meter, etc)

Texture (innovative use of instruments and sounds)

The overall...flow of the song (not sure exactly how to describe this. just the way the melody and harmony come together, so it feels like a complete song instead of a series of disjointed riffs)

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But yeah, there's no secret formula for success in a song. It's a combination of all the things I listed, really. Gimmicks and lyrics can be entertaining for a while, but you can't really build a song on them. (this is probably why I don't really like TMBG)

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Lyrics are important, I HATE songs where you can't even understand what they're trying to say without listening to it 20 times... and then what they're saying doesn't even make sense...

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Luckily, I'm a lame sandel wearing hippie with a ponytail that's been down these rapids with groups of tourists many times-Strong Bad---I wonder how you spell tabasco, TABASCOOOO-Homestar

Lots of what was said in the poll is important, but another thing I NEED to here in my music is power and muscle. I hate it when bands rip out all the sound from their music, making it wimpy and boring (you know, sorta like Linkin Park...). I have a different take on lyrics as other people have said here. I don't mind much if I can't understand a songs words at first, because usually I eventually will. For instance, I used to only be able to pick out some of the words in "The Spy Hunter" by Project 86, but my musical tastes got heavier and heavier, and not only do I now know all the lyrics to it by heart, but it's one of my favorite songs by them ("Safe Haven" takes the top spot though for all-time fave). When I do read and understznd those words, though, they have to be intelligent, deep, creative, and meaningful. I WANT it to take some thinking to fully understand the meaning. To me, usually if I can understand a song by just reading through it like I would a book, then I see that as a lack of creativity. That's a major reason why Project 86 fans like me dig them so much: They combine powerful music with equally awesome lyrics.

Oh, and before someone beats me to the punch...

"Na-na's, hey-heys, and doot-doos do NOT count as legit lyrics." --

Different for each band I listen to, but what I like most is if a song has tight composition.

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