Well, I bought the Manfred Mann version when it came out, and I must confess that I didn't ruminate on the lyrics at all - probably the only bit we all knew was the chorus, and joined in with, lustily, but we just loved the overall sound of it!
Had the same experience with other bands, e.g. ABBA - loved their sound, but hadn't a clue about the lyrics of most of their songs until I went to an ABBA singalong night, when all the lyrics came bouncing across the screen for people to join in!