It's not a hard and fast rule for me... for instance, I'm currently addicted to this Prufrock, but I love the poem itself and it might be a combination of the pleasure of recognizing it and thinking along with it, or just Anthony Hopkin's voice, which is really nice.

I love listening to books on tape, too. But even that is bound up in the pleasure of learning someone's voice, if it's nice, and recognizing it, not so much the verbal noises themselves. I'm not sure if that's what you're talking about, though. :P I definitely focus on the meaning of what they're saying, although I also love listening to the cadence of it.

We were read to aloud by my mother before we could read, of course, and my Dad read us Bible stories and Narnia. I think that Courtney also enjoys reading aloud more than I do... I'm sure a lot of it is just how my brain works - I enjoy this (Prufrock) much more as I pull up the poem in the next tab and read it at the same time. :)