I think lyrics are only as important as the song makes them.

The best lyrics are the ones that serve the melody. Like a blocking guard for a halfback, they don't get much attention...but you can't score without him. They are essential to the success of the enterprise.

you know that venerable warhorse of a movie, spinal tap? when they do the bit about the knobs going to 11? essentially that is the function of lyrics for me. like many people have said, lyrics take a back seat to music. most rockers are just dumbasses, and they may have some good playing ability or interesting tunes, but poets they aint. better or worse, ive gotten used to listening to egregious wordplay, and forgiving it. but, when a songwriter comes along who has got the brains for the rapier wit stuff and marries it to great melodies, its the best thing in the world. elvis costello, VU, the db's, some of xtc; they are all examples of that divine intersection. so while inessential just to get by, if a band wants me to care about them, its necessary.

nice analogy.

it takes an astounding lyric to impress, but the slightest slip on mediocrity is painful.

agreed. some one mentioned the mars volta earlier, and i wouldnt say that necessarily the lyrics of those songs are incredibly important, to me, bixler's voice is just another instrument, btu with a band like, say rage against the machine, the lyrics are terribly important and essential to the song's anger and... well, rage.

I've found that the songs with good lyrics are the songs where I bother to memorize the words.
I hate it when I hear a song and words go off into places they're not supposed to go. Unless you're going for an experimental sound, it just doesn't work.
As far as the importance of lyrics go, I've found that I focus more on lyrics than I do on music. That's not to say I don't enjoy nine minute instrumentals, I just find myself more attracted to the bounce and jostle of words.
One of the most amazing word artists of our time, in my opinion, is Weird Al Yankovic. The fact that he can take just about any song and change the words around but still keep the exact lyrical rhythm is astounding.

Sometimes the sound of a song is just too good that I don't want to know what the lyrics are. I don't know how many songs I hear where I don't quite understand the lyrics, but it sounds good. Then later i'll find out what the lyrics are and it kind of ruins it for me.

I will continue to believe that lyrics, ultimately, are overrated. Lyrics don't make a song. Beethoven's No.5 in C minor - 'ba-ba-ba-bah!' Yeah, great lyric.

Take this: Ray Charles, 'Mess Around':
"Ah, you can talk about the pit barbecue
The band was jumpin', the people too
--
Ah, everybody was juiced, you can, bet your soul
They did the boogie-woogie with a steady roll
--
Now, ah, when I say stop don't you move a peg
When I say go, just ah, shake your leg
--
Now this band's goin' to play from 9 to 1
Everybody here's gonna have some fun
--
Now you see that girl with that diamond ring
She knows how to shake that thing"

Nothing profound, but goddamn! what a great tune!

The importance of lyrics comes down to what they are intended to do. If a piece of music was written to communicate an complex idea, then lyrics can become imperative, like someone said with reference to Rage Against the Machine. It's a bit hard to inform people about political issues with distorted guitars alone

But if you want to talk about vocals, then they become more of an instrument. A lot of music doesn't need vocals, but this really comes down to style. You can't have Rap music without vocals. Similarly, you can't have Opera without vocals. And todays popular RnB, Hip Hop and generic pop styles revolve around vocals.

I find that vocals can detract from the 'music', which is what I like to hear. I've also noticed that when the focus is on vocals and lyrics, the quality of the music sometimes suffers. That is, you're more likely to get predictable harmonies, form etc.

Godspeed You! Black Emperor has the BEST lyrics