A Rant

This article caught my interest, not because I'm any great fan of Sting's music (although I don't mind it), but because of the headline "Sting tops list of worst lyricists." Bad lyrics? From such a popular musician? But the headline did what it was supposed to do...catch my attention and make me read the article, which I did.

The top five worst lyricists, according to Blender, place Sting at No. 1, "Rush drummer Neil Peart at No. 2, Creed frontman Scott Stapp at No. 3, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher at No. 4, and soft-rocker Dan Fogelberg at No. 5" (Yes, I cut and pasted that list from the Reuter's article).

Dan Fogleburg? a bad lyricist? I've often thought his songs read more like poetry than song lyrics, mostly because they include a level of literacy that is generally lacking in most popular music. And why was Sting on the list? Because he name drops Russian novelists and makes allusions to Chaucer and Shakespeare in his songs. Shame on him! Literary references in a mass-market offering? What are these men thinking?

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised in an era where the obsenities of rap are glorified and the language itself is undergoing a massive shift with the rise of 'netspeak. I supposed I shouldn't wonder that lyricists who reference literature in a day of informality and deliberate ignorance are considered "bad" and "unimaginative".

(Led Zepplin's Robert Plant also makes the list...his crime? Making mention of Tolkien's character Gollum in one of his pieces)

Sorry there isn't a link here to the original article on Blender. I can't seem to find it at the moment. When I do, I'll fix that.

In the meantime, I think I'll put on a Dan Fogleburg album and relax to some poetry...