This thread has got me thinking a lot about what I’ve liked and why, over the years, and what has influenced my preferences.
When I was young, a lot of the lyrics I liked were about the search for the ideal partner and all the associated emotions or about the challenges of figuring out who I was and how to find my bearings in and navigate, the world. In mid-life, I had different concerns that led me to focus primarily upon exploring Jazz. For some reason, a more abstract instrumental focus was what I was drawn to.
Now, while I still enjoy much of the music of my youth and mid-life, I’m enjoying and relating to simpler (relative to Jazz) acoustic genres in which songs and lyrics (rather than complex improvisation) are the main attraction more than I have for some time. The lyrics I relate to now tend to reflect the concerns of someone my age.
My point is simply that it’s easier to appreciate lyrics that more explicitly address our age and life situation/experience and in so doing, not respond to lyrics that may be well written but simply don’t resonate for us at the time we encounter them.
I’ve spent quite a few years (very) slowly improving my poetry writing craft and I like to think that I can objectively recognize good writing when I see/hear it but in reality, it can be trickier than we might like to admit.
And, of course, there are lots of different variations.
I know I’ve been pretty long-winded but hopefully others will find this relateable in the context of this thread.