While the two are often inextricably entwined, there can only be one winner when it comes to a song’s vital ingredient
![What’s the most important part of a song: melody or lyrics?](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/1232c7af9b440d8fd9edf28d8ea218903d432f36/0_84_1990_1195/master/1990.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctZGVmYXVsdC5wbmc&enable=upscale&s=17aca7b631f9f06cb6e0dacda819337e)
In the Guide’s weekly Solved! column, we look into a crucial pop-culture question you’ve been burning to know the answer to – and settle it
Everyone has a favourite misheard lyric they can tell you. I had a schoolfriend who assumed that TLC’s Waterfalls was a song of encouragement for someone called Jason Waterfall (“Go, go Jason Waterfall!”). It’s a misinterpretation that helps to answer the question: what’s more important: lyrics or melody? The fact that Waterfall is a really weird surname didn’t matter, because a great melody pulls you along and sweeps you up. You don’t know any misheard melodies because of their wonderful lyrics, do you?