To me the music is always about feeling.  Yes, I want the lyrics if there is any to make sense and be well integrated with the music.  The music is always about feelings.  Sure, I want the musicians to be competent on their instruments.  Yet it has to be more than that.  Each musician needs to care about their song, the notes they are playing.  The audience always knows whether they care or not.  And that is the first thing I listen is the feel of the song.  It is either there or it is not.  The music is always about the feelings of the musicians and how well they express them in their music.  The best music expresses the inexpressible and you walk away enriched.  It is always about the feeling the music engenders.

The music is always about the feelings it engenders.  At an intuitive level.  In songs, there always has to be a balance between the the music (the instrumental part) and the lyrics.  In the best songs the music reinforces the lyrics and the lyrics reinforce the music.

Sure you can fall in love just with the music.  And never care about the lyrics.  “Baker Street” is such an example for me.  I have no idea what the lyricist is talking about but I love the song because the music is so strong but those songs are the exceptions.

And sometimes I love a line here and there of a song, love the music and fall in love with the whole song.  “My Back Pages” written by Dylan and performed by The Byrds is such a song.  I absolutely love that song.

When I listen to a new song it is always the music I listen to first and then the lyrics unless it is a great song and I capture both at the same time.

Usually if I like the music of a song, I eventually listen to the lyrics to see if they have substance and are well written.  I may dismiss the song if the lyrics have no substance and are not well put together.  It all depends how strong the music is.

Nevertheless, it is always about the music.  And that comes first.  Then I pay attention to the lyrics.