Are there any songs that you really, really like in spite of their lyrics, whether in whole or part? Here’s my list:
– Swing Out Sister, “Breakout”
– Joan Armatrading, “Call Me Names”
– Tori Amos, “Crucify”
– Joni Mitchell, “Black Crow”
– Sammy Cahn and Jule Styne, “Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry”
– Rosanne Cash, “I Want a Cure”
– The Police, “King of Pain”
– Billy Strayhorn, “Lush Life”
Incidentally, it only works one way for me: if I don’t like the music of a song, it doesn’t matter how good the words are. I suspect the same thing is true for most people, which says something interesting about the nature of songwriting.