I'm an avid listener of metal, usually the lyrics are just something that I accept, it doesn't make or break the song to me. I listen to how the song sounds. I usually pick up on lyrics over time and don't really care to look them up, it's fun.
A lot of the music I listen to it's hard to make out the lyrics at first, or they just don't have lyrics. Hah, today I just discovered this bit of lyrical mastery in a song I was listening to.
I was thinking "Hmm, so this song is about killing people!"
I rip the axe from the head
covered in blood and brains
Leave the body lying dead
Ready to strike again
LOL. Viking metal is awesome I do believe.
Yeah lyrics are pretty neutral to me. If they're meaningful then that's cool, if not then that's cool too.
When I listen to lighter music I tend to enjoy the lyrics more, since it's not heavy enough for me to get immersed in it. So I entertain myself with what the song is about. If light music has terrible lyrics then it's out the window for me. I don't listen to a lot of light music though... Almost all of my playlist is electronic (no lyrics) or metal (lyrics don't matter).
It's a double win if the lyrics mean something
and it's really hard music. That way I can get immersed in the song and realize that the song has a real meaning behind it. This is why I like melodic death metal.