Prog often Plagued by Poor Lyrics? - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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Alitare

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 08:49

Some 'prog' bands/artists with lyrics I enjoy:

Jethro Tull

VDGG

Peter Gabriel

Pink Floyd (From Dark Side through Final Cut)

Pain of Salvation

Some 'non-prog' artists with lyrics I enjoy:

Leonard Cohen

Tom Waits

Will Oldham/Bonnie "Prince" Billy

Bob Dylan

John Lennon

Cat Stevens

Tim Rice

Modest Mouse

Ween

Flaming Lips

Icarium

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 07:58

Derek Shulman is my favourite lyracist if the rumour is true that he wrote most to all of Gentle Giants lyrics

it have meanings and are well articulated

A Cry For Everyone lyrics
Run, why should I run away
When at the end the only truth certain -
One day everyone dies -
If only to justify life.

Live, I've lived a thousand lives;
And anyone is the right, the just life.
If I could cry, I'd cry for everyone.

Doubts, no doubt, is all I know.
There is no fate, there's no luck,
what does
that show.
Showing is proof, but proving is nothing
but fear.

If I could cry, I'd cry then for everyone.

Hope, I've hoped two thousand years,
but
no one hears, so I've cried, crying
vain tears.
Always too late, too late to cry, cry
for everyone.

Edited by aginor - May 02 2011 at 08:00

lazland

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 07:00

There are good and bad lyrics in every musical form, just as there is good & bad music. Prog is really no different.

Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org

Now also broadcasting on www.progzilla.com Every Saturday, 4.00 p.m. UK time!

krimson62

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 05:35

Lots of questionning about music and lyrics this week!!!

silcir

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 05:27

Prog lyrics are usually bad. Not that i care, but that's true.

verslibre

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 04:53

Slartibartfast wrote:

If you'd stick to instrumental prog this wouldn't be a problem. Tongue

This! ^^^^^^^^^^^

I do like Fish's lyrics on Clutching At Straws.

Alitare wrote:

Until he 'jumped the shark', so to speak, Ian Anderson was absolutely a brilliant lyricist in most rights.

Stormwatch, Songs From The Wood, TAAB, A...like them all as far as the lyrics go.

eBay

giselle

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 03:57

Agreed. In general terms, I think the reason for that imbalance is that this form of music is about musicians and musicianship more than it is about writing or composition.

KoS

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 03:29

There is no such thing as good lyrics.

prog058

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 03:25

At this point maybe the discussion has digressed from my original post to become a comparison between prog and pop lyrics.

Of course Pop lyrics are going to be bad. For one, they have to conform to a particular cultural mode of the time. The subject matter has to be a select number of topics, and they are probably not helped by simple melodic structuring that doesn't enable too many multisyllabic words for instance.

My forum topic was not to compare, but to take prog lyrics on their own, and by this I didn't just mean the lyrics of Yes, and Genesis, but of all prog bands, and to assess their literary value. By literary value I don't mean how many allusions to great literature they have, but from a critical standpoint, how poetic, or how effective are they?

In the case of Yes, the imaginative, wild lyrics work alongside the music, but lets take other bands into consideration perhaps.

I think apart from a few exceptions the large focus on musicality means that the lyrics often suffer.

Do you guys agree?

King Crimson776 View Drop Down

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 02:00

^^ Better Yes impersonation than Starcastle or Glass Hammer could ever pull off, lolz.

cstack3

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 01:08

Harry Hood wrote:

"Oh, Stanley Snail. Beauty begins at the foot of you!"

Heh! Speaking of Stanley Snail....

Harry Hood View Drop Down

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 01:02

Lyrical content is so diverse in this genre that it would be strange to generalize something as "prog lyrics". While there are some bands who just write pretty sounding nonsense to fit the music, there are others who can write lyrics that are profoundly personal. Both styles have their merits within the context of the music.

I'd love to hear a prog album with lyrics penned by John Darnielle.

King Crimson776 View Drop Down

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Posted: May 02 2011 at 00:39

Also, the lyrics "in and around the lake, mountains come out of the sky, they stand there" etc. become awesome in the context of the music (it certainly wouldn't pass as good poetry though).

Whereas those other emo lyrics are bad by themselves, *and made even worse by the context of the music*

Final verdict: Prog Rulez All

Edited by King Crimson776 - May 02 2011 at 01:41

Slaughternalia View Drop Down

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Posted: May 01 2011 at 23:45

Alitare wrote:

Okay, most folks say that they aren't as bad as today's pop lyrics. I can go you one further!

A pleasant faced man steps up to greet you

he smiles and says he's pleased to meet you

beneath his hat, the strangeness lies

Take it off, he's got three eyes (hyuck!) - Twilight Zone, Rush

vs.

In a way I need a change from this burned-out scene

Another time, another town, another everything

But it's always back to you. - Shattered, OAR

And no, I am really NOT a fan of OAR (nice song, though).

Here we go!

I'll be the Round about

The words will make you out and out

I'll spend the day your way

call it morning driving through the sound

and in and out the valley! - Roundabout, Yes

So scared of breaking it

but you won't let it bend

I've wrote 200 letters

that I'll never send

Sometimes these cuts are so much deeper than they seem

You'd rather cover up

I'd rather let them be - Misery, Maroon 5.

Again, definitely not the biggest M5 fan (nice song), hell, I'd take Yes over them, musically...but I can't really say that the typical prog rock lyrics are my cup of tea. It seems like their sole purpose is to be as far removed from humanity and emotional resonance as possible. Again, I cite my love of Ian Anderson, Devin Townsend, (some) Peter Gabriel, Hammill, and such, lyrically, but...come on...how many silly space battles and (misguided) philosophy quotes will it take before they stop being little nerds who get boners to swordfights and laser guns and WWII horsefights and sh*t?

It's purely subjective. Personally, I prefer my lyrics to be cheesy and fantastical, or to be completely nonsensical, than to remind me of the problems of reality.

Alitare

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Posted: May 01 2011 at 23:26

Henry Plainview wrote:

Almost all rock lyrics are terrible and prog is no exception. That's why you shouldn't listen to rock music. Cool

I don't know how you can say that prog musicians aren't interested in literature, though.

Alitare wrote:

If a man quotes Atlas Shrugged, the Hippie counterculture, Nietzsche's Beyond Good and Evil, Edgar Alan Poe, 1984, the bible, and Tolkien all in one song,does it make the lyrics well written? For example:

Er, no.

Alitare wrote:

come on...how many silly space battles and (misguided) philosophy quotes will it take before they stop being little nerds who get boners to swordfights and laser guns and WWII horsefights and sh*t?

I can't think of any prog songs with space battles, laser guns, and whatever the hell a "WWII horsefight" is. Can you? That is an accusation people frequently make but I've never seen it backed up. You're right about the pseudo-philosophy, though.

Those OAR and Maroon 5 lyrics are pretty terrible, by the way.

I was being all comical-like. I was speaking of Rush, Iron Maiden, Yes, and the like.

Harry Hood View Drop Down

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Posted: May 01 2011 at 23:14

"Oh, Stanley Snail. Beauty begins at the foot of you!"

Henry Plainview View Drop Down

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Posted: May 01 2011 at 23:10

Almost all rock lyrics are terrible and prog is no exception. That's why you shouldn't listen to rock music. Cool

I don't know how you can say that prog musicians aren't interested in literature, though.

Alitare wrote:

Er, no.

Edited by Henry Plainview - May 01 2011 at 23:12

if you own a sodastream i hate you

Alitare

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Posted: May 01 2011 at 22:43

Okay, most folks say that they aren't as bad as today's pop lyrics. I can go you one further!

A pleasant faced man steps up to greet you

he smiles and says he's pleased to meet you

beneath his hat, the strangeness lies

Take it off, he's got three eyes (hyuck!) - Twilight Zone, Rush

vs.

In a way I need a change from this burned-out scene

Another time, another town, another everything

But it's always back to you. - Shattered, OAR

And no, I am really NOT a fan of OAR (nice song, though).

Here we go!

I'll be the Round about

The words will make you out and out

I'll spend the day your way

call it morning driving through the sound

and in and out the valley! - Roundabout, Yes

So scared of breaking it

but you won't let it bend

I've wrote 200 letters

that I'll never send

Sometimes these cuts are so much deeper than they seem

You'd rather cover up

I'd rather let them be - Misery, Maroon 5.

Slaughternalia View Drop Down

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Joined: February 17 2011
Status: Offline
Points: 901

Posted: May 01 2011 at 21:52

Prog lyrics aren't great (ELP, I'm looking at you), but they get too much hate. They're not nearly as bad as the lyrics of today's pop music.

King Crimson776 View Drop Down

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Posted: May 01 2011 at 20:54

Peter Hammill and Peter Gabriel are fine lyricists, and in fact, I'd even take Jon Anderson's lyrics over all of the bile today.