Artists who actually have something to say

P.S. - John Hiatt has written some very deep personal songs. "Have a Little Faith".
One young fella I know is a vegetarian because of some of the punk bands he listened to in his teenage years. He's not into feeling superior because of it, no more than the fact that some of his political convictions were formed (or represented) by some punk song lyrics he loves.

Lemmy's been known to toss a few great aphorisms around in his words , too ...

I get all of my philosophical/theological meditations from bands such as Solefald, Deathspell Omega (the kings of theological exploration and human anguish/absurdity), Thought Industry (best lyrics EVER penned.... like reading high brow prose actually), Swans, Emperor, The Residents are a huge critical/satirical think-tank who have been commenting about the lurid state of society; for many years they have been at work, anonymously saying what needs to be said.... rhetorically or otherwise.  Early Neurosis is Anarchist/social neurosis/state of the human condition- type lyrical content... amazing commentary even to this day (that second disc, The Word As Law, is to this day- my favorite Hardcore album ever---- with f**king amazing bass-playing!).  Zappa indeed!  ......................................... Pain Of Salvation....   Cynic... 

So, now, Peter Hammill, who usually has something to say (and it's not the kind of sob story that you hear every day), is both extremely prolific and pretty consistent... so, cutting it down to the most obvious one:

Social Message

I suppose the first things you could really lump into this category or the philosophical one are off H To He, Who Am The Only One... the exploration of loneliness, in the metaphors of Killer and House With No Door, that personal greed and aggression will only leave you worse off in the end. More specifically, however, his early solo career, whether through another metaphor as in Forsaken Gardens or the more direct attack of The Future Now and pH7... between them directed against just about everything you could direct a protest against. After those two, he seems to relax a bit about it, though the occasional Painting By Numbers and the like sort of continue the tradition.

The philosophy aspect, of course, is pretty constant, in one form or another, from The Aerosol Grey Machine through to Singularity... I look forwards to seeing whether Thin Air continues the tradition.

OK, part le first: Peter Gabriel.

Unfortunately, and here I'm sure most of you will disagree with me (), I think that progressive rock doesn't have anything to say either. The majority is either drugs, fantasy, or instrumentals. There are a good amount though which focus on social commentary, philosophy, personal problems, etc. I don't mean only having one or two songs and the rest don't apply, but include that too but only if you include the individual songs/albums that this applies in. The point really is to get bands who are constantly saying something.   So basically, make up a list of bands who have deep thoughtful lyrics that mean something, colorful English imagery a la Genesis doesn't cut it guys (I know that technically selling england is kind of a social commentary, but that's really only in like one song...and the lamb could mean something, but do not list that unless you have some sort of accompanying explanation...).

Gabriel's imagery and ideas are actually pretty specific at times, Selling England acts as commentary, mainly, The Musical Box (especially if you check out one of the costumed live performances) challenges our views of good and evil, in that there is no unsympathetic character, but at the same time, all those involved are dislikeable... so, it's something to say rather about us than about society. Harold The Barrel engages with the press and the public's judgmental nature... his solo lyrics are admittedly generally a bit clearer in what they're aiming at, with the sympathetic lament of San Jacinto or Lead A Normal Life, as well as the iconic Biko.

More, if you take Selling England back into its context... I'm fairly confident it's about the devaluation of English life... . The Cinema Show, as a vague rerendering of part of Eliot's The Waste Land with sex being treated as an end or a fact of life rather than something important, I Know What I Like takes on the ... The Battle Of Epping Forest is a wry commentary on the press's enthusiasm for a story, and Aisle Of Plenty and Dancing With The Moonlit Knight deal with the economic drive of people.

The Lamb, of course, is mainly a death thing, and I think it's more proposing the problem than the answer... in spite of the layers of literary reference (A Clockwork Orange stands out as one parallel). Foxtrot has a particularly intelligent and witty piece in the form of Get 'Em Out By Friday, combining corporate greed with the idea of eugenics quite creatively.

Just for the sake of The Cinema Show's point

TS Eliot, The Waste Land wrote: ] He, the young man carbuncular, arrives,   A small house agent's clerk, with one bold stare,   One of the low on whom assurance sits   As a silk hat on a Bradford millionaire.   The time is now propitious, as he guesses,  235 The meal is ended, she is bored and tired,   Endeavours to engage her in caresses   Which still are unreproved, if undesired.   Flushed and decided, he assaults at once;   Exploring hands encounter no defence;  240 His vanity requires no response,   And makes a welcome of indifference. ... She turns and looks a moment in the glass,   Hardly aware of her departed lover;  250 Her brain allows one half-formed thought to pass:   'Well now that's done: and I'm glad it's over.'   When lovely woman stoops to folly and   Paces about her room again, alone,   She smoothes her hair with automatic hand,  255 And puts a record on the gramophone.

The second will be about Peter Hammill, no doubt, but I'm very bad at deciding on good examples for him, since there are too many.

Personal/Relationships:

Fish
Porcupine Tree/Steve Wilson (some might say it's in a childish way, though)
Rush
Van der Graaf Generator/Peter Hammill


Societal:

Frank Zappa
Queensryche
Rush


Edited by stonebeard - June 10 2009 at 13:44

Not a big fan of musicians when they feel they need to use their music to say something.  I love Zappa but I can't listen to Broadway the Hard Way because he sacrificed his lyrical creativity to instead bludgeon you with an musical opinion column.  Roger Waters solo work is just awful but it's not entirely because of his lyrics.  Part of the Union by the Strawbs kills me because it's such a catchy tune but man do i hate unions.

Chris Cutler, Fred Frith, Robert Wyatt....

ExittheLemming wrote: ... Ergo, I agree with the original poster and would add that the vast majority of prog lyrics are the cringeworthy bad poetry of charlatans like Fish, Jim Morrison, Peter Sinfield, Jon Anderson, Greg Lake et al ...

Negoba wrote: "Differences between rich and poor could be closed" Why and how? A violent socialist revolution?   Why? Because in America still, how rich you are determines whether you get the minimal medical care and education that virtually all other 1st world nations take for granted.   How? First, by admitting that all countries are governed by a combination of socialist, capitalist, and autocratic principles. Then use some darned common sense to make policies that serve the greatest number of people to the greatest degree allowed by our resources. A non-violent rational revolution of ideas. I'm still naive enough to think that the American populace is not too stupid for this. I fear I am wrong.

I have always enjoyed Peart's lyrics.  I love his metaphors and lyrics, he brings the songs alive.  However, due to personal circumstances I find some of his lyrics down right insulting. But that's the point, lyrics should be challenging, be firm in your own mind, and the music carries through.