Response to Kelsey

This is in response to Kelsey’s question, how does the vocabulary an artist uses in his song affect the general message of it?

I think that since most people try to listen to the lyrics of a song that is lyrical in form then the lyrics themselves greatly affect the message of the song. So artists are charged with a great task when creating lyrical songs, in order for them to convey the intended message that they are trying to create, they have to choose their words wisely.
I once had a professor who greatly valued our technical writing ability and place a large amount of emphasis, and our grade, on how well we write. After someone in the class mentioned that the course was not an English class and suggested that he might ease up a bit on the grammar, he responded with something that has stuck with me to this day. He said that whenever we put our thoughts onto paper (or in the lyrics in the song) we are asking others to judge us. The only tool we are giving them to assess who we are as people is in our words so why be so careless with them. By reading what we have created people will judge whether or not we are intelligent, serious, or if we could give a crap. I think that this rings true for lyrics as well. We categorize music and in a way stereotype those who are creating it. We hear a song and we can conjure up an image of who we think they are as a person.
I also feel like the vocabulary has to be appropriate, it is a song after all. What would be the point in singing a song that was either so complex in the vocabulary that the general audience did not understand it, or having a song that was so elementary that is quickly becomes boring and repetitive. One of my favorite songwriters had an interesting point when it come to word choice in a song, he felt that not only did the words themselves have to be well chosen and fit into the desired feel of the song, but the words, the very syntax behind it was more important. To him, it was ok, if at times the words themselves did not make clear sense as long as the feel of the vocal vibrations caused by the words fit the words around it.
We as people look for the meaning of the song within the lyrics, so f course the lyrics are going to influence the feeling and the message of the song. Whether or not we should judge music based on the lyrics is another question.

Question: How much do you think a well developed vocabulary is necessary in the creation of a good song?