Listen to the lyrics

Some people are lyrics people and some people are not. I've always been into the lyrics. A friend tells me that a song which has formulaic music does nothing for him, though it may have great lyrics. It has to seem original AND make his toe tap. Well, certainly, a song with great lyrics can be suboptimal (e.g. Sinatra's rendition of "My way" -- much better is Sid Vicious'), so lyrics alone can't save a song. For me to be interested, the vocalist has to have some kind of styling that I find compelling in combination with the lyrics. In that case, the most conventional musical accompaniment does not get in my way. It does not have to seem musically innovative to capture my interest. A good example is Weezer's "In the garage." You know you're with a non-lyrics person (the majority) when you say something reactive to the lyrics of a song that was just playing and they look at you like you're insane. "What!?"