I've come to realize that most people have a preference regarding what matters more when listening to music: the lyrics or the sound of the music. Though both aspects are equally important to some, a lot of us lean towards paying extra attention to the words or the music. I personally am a melodic person, as long as the song has a nice sound I don't mind the lyrics much. I do appreciate well-written song lyrics, but most of the time I find it difficult to understand the majority of a song's lyrics anyway.
I like to think people like myself who vibe with the tune of a song have a different energy than those who pay attention to lyrics. Depending on what genre you're listening too clearly affects the type of energy you embody. For example, we all know a club scene bumping hip hop, pop or electronic music consists of different forms of dancing as opposed to a hard rock or metal concert which result in mosh pits, circle pits and crowd surfing. In other words, the sound of music releases varying physical energy through body movement.
On the other hand, listening to a song's lyrics will unleash a more emotional energy. The type of music we listen to is often contingent on our mood. If you're sad sometimes you may want to listen to unhappy music and wallow in your emotions. However, some prefer listening to cheerful music in order to feel more optimistic and reduce their sadness. Of course, people listen to any genre of music whenever they like, but my point is that understanding song lyrics can make one feel many emotions such as empowerment, anger, ecstasy, dismal and the list goes on.
Every song has a message it conveys—with or without lyrics—whether you care about the message's significance is up to you. You may value song lyrics, but if you don't enjoy the tune of a song then that verifies music is the key element in regards to the music versus lyrics debate. Music is one of many art forms and therefore you should keep an open mind. That being said, don't criticize types of music you don't personally admire because, "Beauty is in the ears of the beholder."
