Words are what I listen for. If the tune is great also, it is a wonderful song. Whether a tune is mournful or happy I listen for the words to amplify and explain the tune. (When the tune and the words are contradictory it is confusing to me. There is an old country song of Reno and Smiley's that is a case in point- they had a song called 'The Lord's Last Supper' with the obligatory somber message. But the tune is perky and bright. :)

One person in our music circle has trouble learning a song's words although she readily learns the tune. In my case I have trouble plucking a tune from the air unless it has words.

I love opera for its sounds, its sweep, its soaring melodies; I prefer it to be in a language I don't know. In its case, the sound is the thing.