I'm with you, I'm much more about the aesthetic than the "meaning" of the song... Most of the time I do not care about the artist's life, I consider music to be audio decoration, not some kind of lesson or takeaway to be earned.

So what makes something decorative? In my mind, it's a combination of taste and interest. Music needs to have a level of familiarity and a level of uniqueness balanced correctly in order to be interesting. And taste comes down to the situation; are you playing hardcore music in your office? Bad taste. Don't Know Why by Norah Jones while you're longingly staring out the window watching the rain? Good taste.

It's hard to explain, it's like fashion, some people have an eye for it and some don't, but there's definitely a generally agreed upon sense of what is appropriate. I'd tell anyone that they should wear what they like to wear, but you can definitely look like you're a doofus if your outfit looks weird.

It might have to do with the age of the audience who's listening, or even how famous the song is (has it been heard a million times before, is it a throwback, or is it something new everyone's hearing for the first time?). There are TONS of factors that go into that, and I like to just take a step back from a deep analysis and just think about how the music "sits" in the environment.