> I'll admit the lyrics are not always the first thing I notice and sometimes I'll be listening to a song regularly for months or even years before I notice words that flip the meaning of the song in its head

So you've found yourself ignoring the lyrics of a song for years on end, but "lyric ambivalence is a terrible way to engage with music" and "weak lyrics almost always belie a weak song." Noted.

> Additionally being raised on classical music is not necessarily a good way to be raised on music as it's a very limited genre that has not progressed for 200 years.

I never said it was a good way to be raised on music--it was for context regarding a different perspective. But, I'll definitely keep that in mind from the "I listen to weak music in a terrible way for years on end" guy. And yes, classical not progressing for over a century is... kinda how it works, yes. I fail to see the relevance.

I grew up on a musical diet of basically pure classical, and only branched out from that in high school. I barely hear lyrics when I listen to modern music, unless the lyrics are so clear that parsing them completely passively works. Strong emotions can come through the music itself just fine.

Sure, lyrics are nice to tell a story if you really need that, but if you can't convey the emotional journey without the lyrics, then you're really doing little more than talking while accompanied by cool-sounding muzak.