Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to this thread... But I have been thinking on it.

*daylia* -- thanks for those two links. I'll trace both of them, and perhaps add to them, as inspiration strikes.

mack/misophist -- actually, I'm just the opposite. When I listen to a song, my brain latches on to the lyrics most strongly, even when they're in a language I don't understand. I'm attracted to interplay between consonants and vowels and other sounds. And when the lyrics are in English, I often decide whether I like the song based on the stories or ideas expressed in the lyrics.

But the song can be so much more than the sum of its lyrics and melody. And that "greater whole" often comes, I think, from the counterpoint between the mood of the melody and the meaning of the words. A bouncy tune with lyrics that are sad or lonely, for example, creates a sense of irony that would be missing from either the words or melody alone.

And then, there's the lullaby -- that's a form of expression that can really only be a song, rather than an essay, or a letter, or symphony or ballet. Babies seem to be soothed more by sung words than spoken words or wordless tunes.

And that's what I'm asking, really: Are there some ideas or messages or stories that are so unique or emotional that they can only be shared through the blend of word and music?