The never ending discussion. You can test it out.

Go to a music center, play something that is dynamic musically with very little lyrical content. If you are in a dance environment or background music, that will be the thing. But it will lose the attention span pretty quickly because it sounds like everything else.

Go to the same music center and do something that has tremendous lyrics and mediocre musical content.The lyrics will hold the audiences attention every time.

I used to be the Music guy.I was all groove and melody. In the past ten years since teaching songwriting the lyrics are really the thing that holds attention.Even if they are pretty inane and just singalong, the lyrics are what holds people's attention.

I have played all over this country and in a couple of others and unless you have something to sing along with that is memorable, people tune you out.

In this town it is 70-30% lyrics. In other places and formats it can be opposite.

Polly, I love ya, but you were just here and heard a ton of songs that all sounded exactly alike. Those are the people who believe in the 10% figure. That is why very few cut it here.

MAB