Wow, thank you for your post; I searched now and the lyrics came up for a song called Suicidal Chump. I've lost all and any respect I once had for Frank Zappa. He can rot in hell now as far as I'm concerned.
Not sure if you're joking, but wasn't that the word on "Bohemian Rhapsody", i.e. that it was a long, coded reference to Freddie's private life? I don't think he was trying to come off like Johnny Cash, doing some kind of bravado thing -- just couching his personal struggles in metaphor. (I've wondered at times if it was Freddie's very elliptical way of worrying that he broke his father's heart by not being straight, but who knows.)
I wouldn't say I've "disliked" an artist because of their lyrics, simply because I wouldn't spend time listening to them (and being aware of the perpetually bad lyrics) if I disliked them. That being said, there are artists whose poor lyrics have hugely downgraded their output and my appreciation of it. Two (of the 'white-guys-with-guitars' genre) that come to mind are Paul McCartney (solo/Wings) and Oasis. In Paul's case, his melodic gifts are so great that I think he just falls lazily into whimsy when writing. In other words, whatever random phrases / verses come to mind, he just goes with them without waiting for inspiration to come or doing laborious craftsmanship. And in the rare cases when he does do some self-consciously 'serious' lyric-writing, the results tend not to be good. For Oasis, their ultra-simple musical approach and same-arrangement-for-every-song style is already challenging my boredom threshold, but when you throw into the mix the abysmal lyrics, it really hurts their music. It's a pity, because their style---simple and brash as it is---is a style they did very well. The results could have been rarefied, but instead are pedestrian.
I like Bryan Adams. Good voice and good instrumentation overcome often average lyrics or make them meaningful. But I would dislike him if I knew him mostly for the lyrics on WUTN that weren't hits. Him writing with Mutt Lange sometimes terribly mixed banal with crude.
maybe not for the specific lyrics but I have disliked their vocals where I may have still appreciated their instrumental playing...
To answer the original question, I don't think I've ever written off an artist solely because of their lyrics, but if I'm lukewarm about the music, horrible lyrics certainly don't help. I suppose it's all in proportion to how much their music is a vehicle for the lyrics, as is the case with some performers. Admittedly, there are some bands I'd probably be more into if the lyrics were better. Level 42 is a good example -- lots of great music there, but the lyrics to a song like "The Chinese Way" are so terrible, they almost defy parody. So I guess if an artist makes themselves sound stupid -- not "fun stupid", but the kind of stupid that makes you wince or recoil -- then it has an effect, sure.
I love Phish (well, early Phish). Junta is a top 10, maybe top 5 album for me. But most of their lyrics are just horrible -- either clumsy, dorky crap or faux-sincere pandering. Junta has plenty of sections I like (and very few that I don't). Lawn Boy slips a bit. A Picture of Nectar has embarrassing stretches that sound like scribblings from the notebook of the guy in your D&D group that no one likes ("Cavern" comes to mind as the worst offender). And Rift is more bad than good, and marks the beginning of their repeated attempts at sincerity with awful results. And after that? Forget it.
