DT have embarrassingly terrible lyrics?

Their lyrics are surely not the best in the world, but they're a bit negatively overhyped.

DT have some big stinkers among their lyrics, but not all of their lyrics are terrible.

Manunkind wrote: Agree with Cert. That bit is terrible. And yeah, the BJH ones are better, but not by much.

I've seen threads last year in June/Juli with the highest praise for that bit. It's really just a matter of taste.

BTW: That particular bit is not particularly good, yet far from "awful" or "disgusting". It seems out of context in the Octavarium epic, thrown in all of a sudden and not properly integrated in the whole track, but I would still call it "good". Not everything has to be perfect, you know.

MikeEnRegalia wrote: Certif1ed wrote: From what I've read, Dream Theater's lyrics are, indeed, awful on the whole - and there's some proof above. I remain open to suggestions of anything they've done that is regarded as "good". "proof" ...

Indeed.

It's obvious to anyone that has a clue.

You mean this?

Sailing on the seven seize the day tripper diem's ready
Jack the ripper owens wilson phillips and my supper's ready
Lucy in the sky with diamond dave's not here I come to save the
Day for nightmare cinema show me the way to get back home again

Running forward
Falling back
Spinning round and round
Looking outward
Reaching in
Scream without a sound

Leaning over
Crawling up
Stumbling all around
Losing my place
Only to find I've come full circle

Flying off the handle with careful with
That axe eugene gene the dance machine
Messiah light my fire gabba gabba
Hey hey my my generation's home again

Running forward
Falling back
Spinning round and round
Looking outward
Reaching in
Scream without a sound

Leaning over
Crawling up
Stumbling all around
Losing my place
Only to find I've come full circle

...Appalling!!!

Derived, contrived and weak, IMO - any idea of a running theme is loose, to say the least.

Barclay James Harvest did it better - twice!

Titles: (Time Honoured Ghosts)

The long and winding road that leads to your door
Here comes the sun it's alright people shout for more
But were you trying to deceive telling me
All you need is love to succeed
Across the universe one after nine 'o' nine
I got a feeling for you blue and I feel fine
I tried so hard to make believe that I'd see
All you need is love to succeed

CHORUS:

Lady Madonna let it be
Something in the way you moved me yesterday
All you need is love so they say

Just as contrived, but it flows - and it was an original idea.

Classics: A Tale of Two Sixties (XII)

I'm hitting the road to heading nowhere
Got no place to go
I'm stuck inside my generation
Round and round I go
I'm sick of the sound of Rolling Thunder
Times they were a-changing
And rock 'n' roll died with Easy Rider
Tearing up my traces

David Bowie was Hunky Dory
Aladdin quite insane
Give me the sound of Arthur Lee with
Forever Changes, I'll remember
Andmoreagain, don't leave me ever
Buddy Holly say "Baby, please be mine"
All the time

I'm cutting out now before the New Wave
Takes my surf board flair
Remember the time when Zappa said
"Punk, where you going with that flower in your hair?"

There's so many who's whos Rolling Stones
Rod Stewarts and Small Faces
And Tommy's the king of the pinball flings
That chased my generation

David Bowie was Hunky Dory
Aladdin quite insane
Give me the sound of Arthur Lee with
Forever Changes, I'll remember
Andmoreagain, don't leave me ever
Buddy Holly say "Baby, please be mine"
All the time

Far less contrived - paints a picture of a bygone era very nicely, whilst cleverly putting a spin on the lyrics so that they put it into a kind of perspective.

From what I've read, Dream Theater's lyrics are, indeed, awful on the whole - and there's some proof above.

I remain open to suggestions of anything they've done that is regarded as "good".

Some are good, like the 'Learning to Live' and 'Voices', some are bad... the SfaM lyrics and 'Panic Attack', for example. But I don't care, the story told by the music itself is much more complete and often quite different from that told by the lyrics.

And when I'm in the mood for good lyrics, I read poetry books, not CD booklets.

Sir Hogweed wrote: They probably spent much more time with their instruments than with their pencils when they were young, so I forgive them for not having the greatest lyrics. But, if James Labrie ever gets shot on stage or something (and we already have a suspect), they should try to find a singer with better lyrical qualities, or start doing it in Swedish.

what does LaBrie have to do with the lyrics?