Shira, I agree with you for the most part. Yes, lyrics help translate the story into words, but I actually prefer to leave most of my songs as instrumentals, and have the listener dream up their own story through the music. Though of course, I do try to tell a story in my music itself, but I’ve realized that different people get different emotions and feelings from the same piece of music.
It’s kind of like when they make a movie for a novel. It could be great, but at the same time, it’s a bit depressing because when you read the novel, you conjured an image of what everything looks like, and when seeing the movie, it takes away that image.
All this is in terms of actual “compositions”, though. “Niggunim” are something else, entirely. Those are mostly conveying emotions through the spoken message throughout the song, and containing an element of holiness through repeated and easily impressionable progressions.