"I'd have to be a warrior, a slave I couldn't be
A soldier and a conqueror, fighting to be free"

Are you serious? Also metal lyrics usually suck.

Yeah metal lyrics do usually suck. I mentioned some that don't.

And I was thinking more "Throw Down the Sword" and "Sometime World" which are fantastic

Have you even read James' Load and ReLoad and St. Anger (seriously) lyrics?

Have you read "Seasons in the Abyss"?

Have you read "Heaven and Hell"?

It's a cliche that metal lyrics suck. Most kinda do. Some don't. I'm highlighting those that don't. And for god's sake look up Dax Riggs' stuff with Acid Bath, it's amazing.

Throw down the sword,
The fight is done and over,
Neither lost, neither won.
To cast away the fury of the battle
And turn my weary eyes for home.
There were times when I stood at death's own door
Only hoping for an answer.

Throw down the sword,
And leave the glory
A story time can never change.
To walk the road, the load I have to carry
A journey's end, a wounded soul.
There were times when I stood at death's own door
Only searching for an answer.

Cliche prog lyrics. Pseudo-intellectual horseshit. Nothing interesting about them at all. This is the definition of bad lyrics. Also they're lazy buggers. It's a fuckin' six minutes song.


I met a man who felt the same way,
That the world had passed him by.
Told me all his troubles,
That the world had made him cry.
Life had kept him waiting,
Regretting his pain inside.
Had to feel underrated,
And hated, besides.
Life had kept him waiting,
Regretting his shame inside.
Had to feel underrated,
And hated, besides.
Sometime world, pass me by again,
Carry you, carry me, away.

Same, only that that song is seven minutes long.

WTF? You can't seriously just dismiss something as 'prog bullshit'. You're not even doing an analysis. That just sounds like what Rolling Stone would say.

There are some beautiful, moving, evocative lyrics there.

I agree. Nothing there to warrant the writer with a placement on the all time greatest lyricists list. Heck, even Depeche Mode and Screaming Trees have better lyrics. Who wrote those songs? Whoever the songwriter for Depeche Mode is, he or she should be considered for top 100, easily over the guy who wrote the above. This doesn't impress me at all. Billy Corgan is a better lyricist.

Adele is better as well.

Question: Does Lennon take Macca in linguistic ability? This is a serious question. We often assume he does, but I think it might be a lot closer than people tend to think.

It's honestly nowhere close, I know all the works by every Beatles member by heart, and after looking at all of them, I'd go linguistic ability in this order:

Ringo<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< Macca < Harrison <<<<< Lennon

Sorry, but yeah, it's really not close, linguistic-wise. CRJ's ranking is fairly accurate.

Oh no, that's not how it works. You want him on the list. You tell us what the heck is supposed to be good about those lyrics. Cause I don't see any reason why he should make the list. You really don't have to do a detailed analysis to realize that there's not much to analyze.

Dude, I know lyrics are a subjective thing, but yeah, that's really, really mediocre stuff you posted there. Textbook high-school prose, nothing much. It tries to create some sense of depth with "symbolism", but ultimately collapses under its own pomposity and pretension. It attempts to ape the technique of more competent lyricists and succeeds too much, as the myriad of rehashed buzzwords and tired themes betray its true nature: a mere shadow, maybe even less, of a greater work.

This may seem evocative to some, but there are a million other songs that cover the same ground with an infinitely more eloquent approach.

Analyzed enough?

wutwutwut

I just don't have the sense that either has the reputation as a lyricist that would put him in the top 40 of all time, especially not George. The songs you cite are certainly competant lyrically, but not extraordinary, especially not "Something", which has fairly standard love song lyrics like what many people write. FWIW, John Lennon claimed to have written some of the lyrics to "Piggies". Also, George didn't write that many songs when he was with the Beatles; the bulk of his songs are from his solo career. I think most would say the lyrics from most of the hits from his solo career aren't at an especially high level of craft.

I don't know much about Hazlewood, but I always thought of him as country. John Denver is a tough call. He may be a little too pop for rock lists, but he's close.

Another one I thought of in relation to this is Lucinda Williams. When Lew and I were discussing the last names to fillout the Rock Songwriters list, I mentioned her, but Lew felt she was country folk, and shouldn't be included. Maybe it is inconsistent to say that John Prine is rock, but Lucinda Williams isn't.

I always thought of all four of them as country artists with a strong rock influence. Hazlewood is probably the one closest to a rock sound, Lucinda closest to country, Prine and Denver stuck right in the middle. But if Prine counts as rock, then calling Denver and Hazlewood country artists would probably be inconsistent. I'm leaning towards calling all of them country rather than rock, but I'm not totally against Prine making this list either.