Theme songs: vocals or instrumentals?

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Atheistfools

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What do you prefer when it comes to theme songs, vocal ones or instrumentals? While there are some great instrumental thems (ie, B:TAS, JLU) i much prefer the vocal ones as theyre usually catchier.
 
I like a good catchy opening tune with good vocals. But I don't consider repeating the opening theme over and over to be good vocals... I particularly like it when its about the themes touched by the show but not just simply stating what the show is about. Cybersix for exemple had a pretty frickin' good opening theme but it wasn't going 'Here is the story of a chick in leather fighting evil mutant yo!' ya know?

It really depends on the show, show with a more mysterious (Batman, Nighthood) or epic (JL) component can do just fine with only instrumental.
 
I'm on the extreme end of both spectrums. I either perfer a lush orchestral theme (Batman TAS, Gargoyles) or a straight-up pop song (most anime).

I generally like to have my theme song lyrics as metaphorical and non-specific to show terminology as possible. (Since 90% of those that do generally suck). Family Guy, American Dad and Cybersix are all pretty successful recent examples of that.

It seems tradition for the Spider-Man themes to have lyrics, and I can generally get behind that. Though the particular lyrics of The Spectacular Spider-Man's theme song are just average.
 
I have favorites from both camps. If a show has memorable, recitable lyrics (anything by the Richard Stone team, as well as Bruce Broughton for Tiny Toons; Disney Afternoon shows), I'll enjoy that kind, but I won't turn my nose up at instrumentals, either. In fact, some of my favorite themes are lyric-less (Simpsons, Ren & Stimpy, Angry Beavers, Duckman, Cowboy Bebop, and Najica being just a few examples).

On a side note: Hearing instrumental versions of songs which normally have lyrics is pretty cool. I've heard instrumentals of Bonkers and Darkwing Duck where they remove the words, and it's fun to sing along to them.
 
I prefer the original instrumental theme used for Scooby Doo Where Are You. it seemed to fit the show better than the vocal theme they used a few episodes later.
 
Most of my favorite theme songs have lyrics, but I don't think that really has much to do with it. I just like a catchy tune.
 
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