Returned from a hospital visit, made x ray, ultrasound and MRI appointments ( ongoing monitoring). Random play in the car and Loudon Wainwright 10x2; Robbie Williams, Better Man; Rolling Stones, Mothers Little Helper played sequentially. Got me wondering, Loudun has made a career out of writing how its everyone else’s fault his life turned out the way it is, Robbie recognises his own faults and wants to change himself, Mick was/is either a misogynist or is commenting generally on the hypocrisy of those casting stones on drug use, while indulging themselves to get through their day. Is it me and my mood today, or does anyone else assign deeper meanings?
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Blimey.
How did it make you feel ?
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All music makes me feel something as it connects me to a time past and to the present. This is just a concrete expression of that with these three tracks coming together. A bit nostalgic but otherwise I love these musicians so all good. 
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I don’t know the other two, but know and like Mother’s little helper. Whenever I listen I think about the situation being described, feeling the song as a form of social comment. The irony of the band having been reputed to use drugs around the time of the song’s writing has also sometimes occurred to me when listening, though it also struck me as being rather different, one being a psychological effect - mental deficiency or perhaps the consequence of modern life - causing someone to be prescribed a prescription drug, the other being recreational use for pleasure.
I do tend to like social comment in music, where the artist is expressing not dissomioar feelings to mine about various subjects, and yes it makes me think, and that is part of the enjoyment.
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There was a time when political commentary produced some great music… 
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I see it more as social comment, but yes Billy Bragg might be a bit more than that.
It’s all in the words, I guess I noticed the jarring of Loudun
And every Harry, Richard and Tom
Gets all of this shot from his mom
Who was unhappy, mom was sad
Because of a wall that dad had
with Robbie’s
As my soul heals the shame
I will grow through this pain
Lord, I’m doing all I can
To be a better man
and then Mick returning to the misogynist theme
Men just aren’t the same today, " I hear every mother say
They just don’t appreciate that you get tired
They’re so hard to satisfy, you can tranquilize your mind
So go running for the shelter of a mother’s little helper.
All good tunes though.
I though about your original post for a while &, for what it’s worth, here are my thoughts.
What has always mainly attracted me to music is the melody of the track &, until my second serious girlfriend, I never really noticed/thought about the lyrical content. I just liked & listened for a ‘good tune’. She, on the other hand, analysed every word of the music she liked, Cat Stevens & the Who at the time (mid 1970’s), & I slowly came to realise that there was meaning in some of the songs, often different for some listeners to others. I should stress most songs contained no meaning to me & a lot of the lyrics were drivel, purely to fit the rhythm of the track. Other lyrics were, & still are, to sophisticated for me to comprehend, much in the way most of Shakespeare has always been as far as I am concerned.
I still listen for a melody I like first, but when I find one I like I then listen to the words. Most mean nothing to me, but every now & then there will be several which strike a chord, make me think &, sometimes, express clearly what I struggle to explain to myself.
The best example I can give of this is contained in the Eagles ‘After the Thrill has Gone’. It contains my favourite song line of all time - ‘What do you do when your dreams come true & it don’t turn out like you planned?’
I am pretty sure most of us have experienced this sort of emotion at some point in our lives &, in my case, have not been able to express it in words. The lyric then becomes more than ‘just a song’.
Perhaps less deep is the fact that, of the thousands of songs I know, probably only a couple of dozen I can immediately think of contain specific memories, usually of good times, for me. The rest are just ‘nice’ songs.
However, since my wife died unexpectedly 18 months ago, I have been constantly surprised at how much music has reminded me (fondly) of her in the context of many events, so ordinary that I haven’t remembered or recalled them for years. They were clearly buried in my sub-conscious but, without the musical connection, I am sure I would never have recalled.
I’ll stop here in case you feel I am just either rambling incoherently or have totally misunderstood the point of your post.
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Sorry to hear about your wife and yes music brings back many memories, hopefully more happy than sad. I think I’ve always been a lyrics man, early favourites were Joni, Leonard Cohen, James Taylor et al. There has to be a good melody and a beat somewhere though.
One of the best lyrics I’ve heard comes from Bob Seeger
“I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then”
Ignorance ( of the world) can be bliss.
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… Or a curse
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Oh, I think ignorance in the world is the curse. ( but it can get you to lead a country).
Ditto, just a few years different! To me music is still the first consideration, but meaningful lyrics that strike a chord with me add another, and enjoyable dimension. (Opera is the pinnacle of this, adding theatre as well.)
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Wholly relate to this. Was in a relationship many years ago where the most banal of songs suddenly made sense and acquired a profundity I’d previously not seen. 34 years later I hear Birdhouse In Your Soul and only think of the 1 person.
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