How Important are lyrics to you in Prog music

If that was what was meant to be said, I cannot think of a more clumsy way to say it.  I mean, that's probably one of the most ridiculed lines of verse in metal history.

Well, you cannot have complexity on all levers at the same time; at least that's what I believe. It's just as how in a performing jazz band, when one guy starts to solo, the rest follow him rather than try to go off on tangents on their own.  Same is the case with composition.  In prog rock, rhythm may be complex in terms of the time signature being employed or the manner in which changes are effected.  But the actual patterns, i.e., the fills are often minimal and unobtrusive.  Even Bruford's playing (one of the busiest in prog along with Peart) is never as flamboyant as say a funk drummer.   The vocals may involve significant technical skill but the rendering is not usually highly embellished or ornamental.  For instance, Annie Haslam is in all probability more technically accomplished than Mariah Carey but she hardly uses melismas at all (and seeing as she can trill on an F# in the fifth octave, she would quite easily be able to if she wanted to).   Steve Hackett surely does not lack skill but he rarely goes off on attention-seeking shred bursts.  The approach in prog is or at least was to lay a complex foundation but focus the rendering on only building the parts steadily and gradually rather than attracting too much attention to any of the individual components.  

Such is also the case by and large in prog lyrics. The important thing is not what Sinfield or Anderson's lyrics actually mean.  The important thing is that they create a pleasing phonetic effect in the context of the composition.  Dean has already made this point but it's still worth repeating.  The primary role of lyrics in a composition is to create a pleasing aural effect because, again, music is primarily an aural medium.  Words can and are often fitted to create a sound.  That is why meaning gets compromised at times and that is why listeners too often do not place much importance on the meaning of the lyrics.  So, yes, if put to me that way, I would say I would like to hear lyrics that create a pleasing sound and consider that important.  I don't like it if say the singer is forced to sing a painful consonant like an 'm' in a high note sustained for a considerable length of time.  Only a singer can truly understand how painful that is to perform but at any rate it is painful to listen to.  Lyricists take care to place vowels or consonants that can be modified into vowel sounds at such junctures. An r preceded by an a, for instance, is very helpful (say the word far) because it is enough to sing the a and lightly touch the r and listeners can infer the r.  

I don't think it's a coincidence that the lyrics-heavy Marillion create more lucid music than Gentle Giant or National Health.  If you actually had such heavy lyrics wedded to GG-like complexity, it would be very difficult to keep pace with all moving parts.  Is it possible to break down each part and analyse each in a discrete manner?  Sure.  But is it desirable?  Not for me, personally (if somebody else wants to, they can, it's a free world).  I'd like to believe that the composition exists to be listened to as a whole and if I have to shut off attention to everything else to focus on one part of it (in this case, the lyrics) then something is wrong.  That is perhaps why I do not hold Anderson's lyrics in the same regard as Waters' for DSOTM.  You don't have to make any effort to get what Waters is trying to say and at the same time, the lyrics are not expressed in a dumbed down fashion either.  It's just very straight up and direct and Gilmour, Waters and Wright took care to pronounce every word clearly and impart the appropriate amount of weight as well.  Lyrics should work in consonance with the other aspects of the composition.  It should not require dedicated effort to appreciate.  A budding lyricist may of course study the lyrics in great detail as an exercise in self improvement just as a budding singer or musician would look at every nuance utilised by the performers carefully.  But it is not necessary at all that every listener is required to look at lyrics in that much detail; surely only as much of those that enhance their enjoyment should suffice.  

This.

Look at how successful British-American modern music has been worldwide, to people who very frequently do not understand English. Most of my prog-lover friends in Spain had little or no knowledge of English when we were young. I myself developed my love for Prog before I had a decent level of English. And yet we would all sing our loved songs out loud, just phonetically, without knowing what we were actually saying (or rather, trying). If lyrics were so important, people would concentrate in the Prog from their native country or language, and that is clearly not the case for most non-English natives.

I also listen to music, including prog, of other languages that I don't understand. In such cases, I have often found the phonetic effect of the words pleasing, without understanding a single word of it of course.