It’s not just the accents of the time signature which can affect the emphasis of the lyric.  Words can be stressed by a change in the direction of the vocal line.  Sometimes that’s exactly what you want.  Other times, not so much.  

There’s so much more you can be doing with that metronome marking.  Mood, tempo, groove, emotion….Here’s a pair of tips how to get more mileage out of that white space right above the first measure.