Both for me but it depends on the person.

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The music is what catches my attention. The lyrics are what keep my attention.

If a song sounds great but has horrible lyrics, I like it less and less every time I hear it.

If a song has really meaningful lyrics, it grows on me more and more.

Neither one is “wrong” though.

Taylor Swift song protest boys

It was Jermaine. Not Michael.

Alison - Slowdive Alison Hell - Annihilator

A couple of extra Alison's!

For me i really need to get a grasp of the meaning and context of the song. It might not always be the lyrics specifically but often times it is. I need to get a feel on how the artist felt when they made the music and lyrics is often the most efficient way of getting a feel of their state of mind during the music making process. I mean you certainly can tell without music but then the artists in this case have to be involved in creating the whole sound, in today’s music landscape where their is so many producers and writers that will make the music for the artist therefore it isn’t really interesting. That’s why it is hard to listen to commercial acts or just generic music in general. This doesn’t even have anything to do with the post or comment but yeah

All the stuff from Sault.Also check Moses Sumney ;)

Jack Antonoff did the background vocals for Taylor Swift's out of the Woods. He's the producer of the song and that's definitely his voice, but it's not a feature.

The 2 sets of triplets the drummer hits to represent the 6 gun is a stroke of genius!

I care equally about both the music and the lyrics. The idea of not being interested in the lyrics at all is bizarre to me, like if you watched a movie in a language you didn't speak and with no subtitles, but I get that people have different priorities when it comes to listening to music. I just think you're missing a dimension of music if you fully discount lyrics.

Acacia Strain's It Comes in Waves

1. our
2. only
3. sin
4. was
5. giving
6. them
7. names

Edit: This album is haunting from start to finish. One song blends into each other. Down tempo groove death metal.

I’m just commenting to say that Blues Traveler rules.

I primarily listen to the instrumentals when I listen to music. Focusing on the words and stringing them together to form paragraphs takes active engagement from me and detracts from listening to the instrumentals, which I enjoy more anyway. I listen to a ton of different types of music, but this is the reason why genres like rap are just not something I particularly enjoy unless the song has a lot of good beets and other sounds.

I like a good lick and I like a good hook. I also like a good turn of the phrase. I would say if the music sucks me in I'll respect it by giving the lyrics a good listen.

Man, Steve Earle went hard on it.

Neverminders - by In The Valley Below

Have you listened to Billy Talent? Commenting on society is almost all they do.

This song comments on the shittiness of radio just like you, and society in general.

This one is from an album released months before the Russia Ukraine conflict.

The older I get (37, I'm not old!), the more I find the lyrics to be important to my enjoyment of a song. I get bored quickly with mindless music these days. The songs that stick with me are the ones I actually relate to.

Not by genre, but by message.

This post made me feel better. I try to listen to lyrics, but always fade back into just hearing the music and the sound. Sometimes I feel like I can't even hear the lyrics.

I'd say songs are oral, just that music is an aural experience.

Well as a singer, I definitely pay attention to the lyrics, but what point is the story if the soundtrack sucks? A good song needs both!

This.

The music has to draw me in first. Then i take in the lyrics

Whoever You Are, by Geggy Tah. (“All I wanna do is to thank you…”)