Man, great post...I have a feeling your responses are going to be all over the place. I'm a lyric first guy, but you nailed it, its for a lot of the reasons you mentioned above. I like the freedom to me able to work the melody around the words and not be restricted. Also, I'm a Country guy and you are totally right, you cant be abstract in Country music the way you can in pop/rock, the lyrics have to make sense.

I wrote with a guy a few weeks ago that is a pop singer. He had a melody and chorus already done and needed help on the verses. It was fun, but it was completely different then how I write. To me it was like writing the second verse, the melody and structure have already been established and now you need lyrics inside that melody...and I've never been a fan of writing the second verse, thats the hardedst part of every song.

I'm a huge fan of pop and rock music, but as far as writing goes, the words have to make sense for me to write it which is why I prefer Country.

Good post!

Chad