Some songs are very lyrically direct. Other songs, however, are the musical equivalent of Word Salad Title. They might have some kind of symbolic meaning. Maybe the songwriter went for the feeling associated with the words rather than the direct meaning. Or maybe they just strung together a bunch of lines that sounded cool. Either way, the results are incomprehensible. Can also extend to the title often so weird it isn't in the lyrics.
Common results when listening is hearing the lyrics wrong or not even bothering to make up words. A special case is Japanese music. A lot of apparently incomprehensible Japanese lyrics are actually puns or other wordplays based on alternate translations of the kanji used, similar-sounding words, or most often both.
Of course, a lot of the "alternate reading" wordplays are just as incomprehensible as the main readings.
See the Azumanga Daioh example below. Lyrical Shoehorn which in literature is known as Dada Poetry where words are used exclusively for their sound, cadence, and alliteration; with no concern for meaning. May overlap with Phrase Salad Lyrics. Compare Something Something Leonard Bernstein.
Not to be confused with Listeners Are Geniuses , where lyrics are loaded with literary, mythological, or pop-cultural references that are confusing only to non-geniuses.
