Vocals: Better with or without?

[Guilmon and a shotgun]

Everyone loves a good song now and then but do songs, rare as they come, without vocals sound better then that with a person singing in them? Do you believe lyrics are always applicable to a song or do you think they need to, for example, tell a story?

I personally think that music should be all about the instruments, vocals should only really be there to tell a story. By a story i don't mean a tale about getting drunk at the weekend, taking a load of drugs and ending up in bed with, say, a polar bear in a pink frock covered in sick and reeking of alcohol. I'm talking about a moving tale, perhaps about a romance, war, a fantasical goal or adventure or even something comical.

Feel free to offer your own opinion and maybe even give some examples of some really good instrumental music.

[Rational passion]

The voice is an instrument like any other. In my opinion, most songs need a voice to them. But the voice wouldn't sound very good without the music behind it.