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From what I've seen, most of us were very interested in the lyrics when the songs came out. Many of us were already looking into the symbolism of Northern Cross as a constellation even back when we just had a title to go by, and we rushed straight to the lyrics as soon as they were out to confirm our ideas.
Nor can I forget to mention that "Diamond Crevasse" has to be one of the prettiest metaphors that I've heard for the night sky. We basically did a line by line comparison of the meaning of the words with the scenes that they were juxtaposed against in episode 20, when it aired.
That being said, lyrics on their own are nothing more than poetry. The power of music lies in its ability to transcend the words and bring out the emotion in them. I didn't need to know the meaning behind Diamond Crevasse to understand the ache in the singer's voice - and that's what makes the song universal.
I'd also argue that that's where Nakajima's singing tends to fall flat. When she's singing "in character", unfortunately, her focus seems to be much more on singing in "Ranka's voice" than on bringing out the emotions in the text.The lyrics can't do all the work on their own; they need the singer to bring them to life.
If anything, I think that Nakajima's first set of songs were remarkably well produced in terms of how the instrumentals carried the emotions of the pieces; so much so that most people initially didn't pick up on this weakness. But it became very apparent when she started doing covers of other singers' songs. At that point lyrics and instrumentals no longer varied from singer to singer; the only point of comparision was the music itself.
That's also why Diamond Crevasse is simultaneously the highest ranked song and one of the lowest ranked songs. (It's not the lyrics.)
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