While I think its a little bit of both... Lyrics are more important to me personally... I like music that has soul to it, but not just a bunch of pandery to teens/pre-teens. Generally speaking, if I can find myself believing the messages of a song, relating to them on a personal level, or admiring their artistic value, then its good - if not, then usually Im turned away from the song. An example of where this doesnt work is this song; Push, by matchbox 20. While Im not a big fan of matchbox 20, I like the tune of this song, and the first 15 seconds of lyrics, "She said I don't know if I've ever been good enough / I'm a little bit rusty / and I think my head is caving in""And I don't know if I've ever been really loved /
By a hand that's touched me / well I feel like something's gonna give / And I'm a little bit angry" - this exhibits great lyrics, but the chorus of the song just turns me away, while I think it fits the theme, it just doesnt have the right feel to it... but since I didnt write the song, Im not really the one who gets the say on that. LOL