word choice - "Lyrics to a song" vs. "lyrics of a song"



I've seen both being used interchangeably. Are both valid? Is only one correct?




  1. Lyrics to a song.

  2. Lyrics of a song.




Answer



This Google NGram indicates that both are in use, with "lyrics of a song" being more popular:


http://ngrams.googlelabs.com/chart?content=lyrics%20of%20a%20song%2Clyrics%20to%20a%20song&corpus=0&smoothing=3&year_start=1900&year_end=2000


This phrasing may be more popular because "lyrics" is a property of a "song". That is a song has lyrics, so the lyrics are of a song because this is the possessive form. I think that both are sufficiently valid (as NGrams records use from a corpus of written material, which tends to be slightly more grammar-conscious than online works such as a blog), so you could use either and be understood.


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