Any answer will do to this question. I have the deepest respect for lyricists that put in all their energy to make the best lyric they can.

If every lyric came with a melody, I would get sick of collaborations and stop doing them, as I then would just feel like a hired hand.

So I for one appreciate the division of work here.

Then it is true that in todays music industry, the most succesful ones are producers. They can write, play, arrange, engineer and produce the full monty.

Music is mostly entertainment, so therefore deep lyrics are not highest in the hirarchy. But if there's just an inch of artistic ambition left, lyrics are really important IMO

So like in any other profession, lyrics are too important to be left over to the lyricists, the same goes for music. I'd say the best songs today are collaborations, where the strengths are fused together, making the result more than it's parts.