i think lyrics are one of the most important elements to any good song. For me, lyrics set the mood for the track and not the music. You could have this really slow song that would normally seem sad, but put in really exciting lyrics, or "happy" lyrics and that changes the whole mood of the song. I like when artist do that. It tells the audience that this song is not what u think it is.
I personally hate SOAD's lyrics. And Incubus's lyrics are pretty good on some tracks and hate em on others.
I think Thursday has some of the best lyrics around.