Who wrote the best lyrics?

[ColdFireYYZ]

Moore, followed by Myung.

[DP_Gumby]

Hmm... I would go with either JM or KM. I personally feel that they have written some of the most compelling lyrics in DT's discography.

And regarding JM, it's not about the quantity, but rather the quality that makes his lyrics so good I think.

[Eldomm]

Easily Kevin Moore for me.

but JP has some great ones!

[Octavaripolis]

Who voted for MP?   

[Mebert78]

Gimme some Moore!

[MoraWintersoul]

Gimme some Moore!

Okay, the next person who uses the Moore-pun gets punished

[Adami]

Gimme some Moore!

Okay, the next person who uses the Moore-pun gets punished

Anyone who doesn't want to get punished by you is a mooreon.

[SeRoX]

Then I am perfectly OK to be mooreon.

[DebraKadabra]

Who voted for MP? 

Um... for his earlier output it's a valid vote.

[Adami]

Who voted for MP? 

Um... for his earlier output it's a valid vote.

Which of MPs songs are better than JPs songs? I mean, I agree that ACOS is great, but even that doesn't top JPs prime.

[DebraKadabra]

IN YOUR OPINION.
 
Dude, what the hell is your problem with me?

[Adami]

IN YOUR OPINION.
 
Dude, what the hell is your problem with me?

No problem. Didn't know we all had to agree with you.


And yes, obviously it was my opinion. Forgot that every post has to include IMO in there or else people forget that we're stating opinions.

[DebraKadabra]

Did I say that everyone had to agree with me?

[Adami]

Did I say that everyone had to agree with me?

Nope. But when I disagreed with you, you asked me what my problem was.

Edit: Nevermind, this is an easily solvable problem. You won't have any problems from me again.

[DebraKadabra]

I should've PM'd you that question.  Not having a great day over here, sorry.

[El JoNNo]

I think Petrucci is the clear winner! Also here is a list ordered by author, in case you guys forgot anything.  .... Also can html be embedded in this forum? The code button just allows you the ability to copy and paste code. It would be useful for making this list into a table.

Title   Lyricist
"Afterlife"   Charlie Dominici
"Take the Time"   Dream Theater
"Anna Lee"   James LaBrie
"Blind Faith"   James LaBrie
"Disappear"   James LaBrie
"Far From Heaven"   James LaBrie
"Prophets of War"   James LaBrie
"Sacrificed Sons"   James LaBrie
"Scene Seven: II. One Last Time"   James LaBrie
"Speak to Me"   James LaBrie
"The Way It Used to Be"   James LaBrie
"Vacant"   James LaBrie
"Octavarium"   James LaBrie,John Petrucci, and Mike Portnoy
"Caught in a Web"   James LaBrieand John Petrucci
"Learning to Live"   John Myung
"Lifting Shadows Off a Dream"   John Myung
"March of the Tyrant"   John Myung
"Scene Three: II. Fatal Tragedy"   John Myung
"Trial of Tears"   John Myung
"Breaking All Illusions"   John Myungand John Petrucci
"Another Won"   John Petrucci
"Two Far"   John Petrucci
"Vital Star"   John Petrucci
"Your Majesty"   John Petrucci
"A Fortune in Lies"   John Petrucci
"Status Seeker"   John Petrucci
"The Killing Hand"   John Petrucci
"The Ones Who Help to Set the Sun"   John Petrucci
"Another Day"   John Petrucci
"Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper"   John Petrucci
"To Live Forever"   John Petrucci
"Under a Glass Moon"   John Petrucci
"A Mind Beside Itself: II. Voices"   John Petrucci
"A Mind Beside Itself: III. The Silent Man"   John Petrucci
"Innocence Faded"   John Petrucci
"Scarred"   John Petrucci
"Cover My Eyes"   John Petrucci
"Hollow Years"   John Petrucci
"Lines in the Sand"   John Petrucci
"Peruvian Skies"   John Petrucci
"Take Away My Pain"   John Petrucci
"Where Are You Now"   John Petrucci
"Scene Eight: The Spirit Carries On"   John Petrucci
"Scene Five:Through Her Eyes"   John Petrucci
"Scene Four: Beyond This Life"   John Petrucci
"Scene One: Regression"   John Petrucci
"Scene Three: I. Through My Words   John Petrucci
"Misunderstood"   John Petrucci
"The Great Debate"   John Petrucci
"As I Am"   John Petrucci
"Endless Sacrifice"   John Petrucci
"In the Name of God"   John Petrucci
"I Walk Beside You"   John Petrucci
"Panic Attack"   John Petrucci
"The Answer Lies Within"   John Petrucci
"These Walls"   John Petrucci
"Forsaken"   John Petrucci
"In the Presence of Enemies"   John Petrucci
"The Dark Eternal Night"   John Petrucci
"The Ministry of Lost Souls"   John Petrucci
"A Nightmare to Remember"   John Petrucci
"A Rite of Passage"   John Petrucci
"The Count of Tuscany"   John Petrucci
"Wither"   John Petrucci
"Beneath The Surface"   John Petrucci
"Bridges In The Sky"   John Petrucci
"Build Me Up, Break Me Down"   John Petrucci
"Lost Not Forgotten"   John Petrucci
"On The Backs of Angels"   John Petrucci
"Outcry"   John Petrucci
"This Is The Life"   John Petrucci
"You Not Me"   John Petrucciand Desmond Child
"Six Degrees of Inner Turbulence"   John Petrucciand Mike Portnoy
"6:00"   Kevin Moore
"A Vision"   Kevin Moore
"Don't Look Past Me"   Kevin Moore
"Lie"   Kevin Moore
"Light Fuse and Get Away"   Kevin Moore
"Only a Matter of Time"   Kevin Moore
"Pull Me Under"   Kevin Moore
"Space-Dye Vest"   Kevin Moore
"Surrounded"   Kevin Moore
"Wait for Sleep"   Kevin Moore
"A Change of Seasons"   Mike Portnoy
"Burning My Soul"   Mike Portnoy
"Constant Motion"   Mike Portnoy
"Honor Thy Father"   Mike Portnoy
"Just Let Me Breathe"   Mike Portnoy
"Never Enough"   Mike Portnoy
"New Millennium"   Mike Portnoy
"Raise the Knife"   Mike Portnoy
"Repentance"   Mike Portnoy
"Scene Nine: Finally Free   Mike Portnoy
"Scene Six: Home"   Mike Portnoy
"Scene Two: II.Strange Deja Vu"   Mike Portnoy
"The Best of Times"   Mike Portnoy
"The Glass Prison"   Mike Portnoy
"The Mirror"   Mike Portnoy
"The Root of All Evil"   Mike Portnoy
"The Shattered Fortress"   Mike Portnoy
"This Dying Soul"   Mike Portnoy

[KevShmev]

The question is "who wrote the best lyrics", not "who has the best record for writing the most amount of good lyrics"

If it were the latter question, it would be Kevin Moore, no doubt.


But it is the former question, thus the answer is John Petrucci (to me). He wrote Lines in the Sand, Voices, Scarred etc which are better than anything KM wrote (also, just to me). The fact that he is responsible for the worst lyrics DT has ever had is irrelevant.

Good point.  On that basis, since Voices has the best lyrics of any DT song ever, IMO, give it to Petrucci, then.

Who voted for MP? 

Um... for his earlier output it's a valid vote.

For A Change of Seasons it is, yes. It really is baffling that his lyrics in that song are so good, and then the lyrics in just about every other song he wrote them for range from mediocre to bad.  But definitely gotta give him props for A Change of Seasons. 

[Jaffa]

Not really sure overall.  I'm going with JP, mostly just because he wrote Misunderstood, my favorite DT lyrics. 

I should've PM'd you that question.  Not having a great day over here, sorry.

*hug*

[DebraKadabra]

D'aww.

[Jaffa]

Yeah, that.  I keep forgetting there's a hug emote. 

[DebraKadabra]

 

I knew what ya meant.

[Sketchy]

March Of The Tyrant is a Myung lyric? Nice.

[Rainee100]

John writes the best lyrics. 

[MoraWintersoul]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwww

[Octavaripolis]

John writes the best lyrics. 

This is so sweet.

[wolfandwolfandwolf]

The question is "who wrote the best lyrics", not "who has the best record for writing the most amount of good lyrics"

If it were the latter question, it would be Kevin Moore, no doubt.


But it is the former question, thus the answer is John Petrucci (to me). He wrote Lines in the Sand, Voices, Scarred etc which are better than anything KM wrote (also, just to me). The fact that he is responsible for the worst lyrics DT has ever had is irrelevant.

Good point.  On that basis, since Voices has the best lyrics of any DT song ever, IMO, give it to Petrucci, then.

You and I agree on everything, and we both hail from St. Louis.

Yes.

[Adami]

The question is "who wrote the best lyrics", not "who has the best record for writing the most amount of good lyrics"

If it were the latter question, it would be Kevin Moore, no doubt.


But it is the former question, thus the answer is John Petrucci (to me). He wrote Lines in the Sand, Voices, Scarred etc which are better than anything KM wrote (also, just to me). The fact that he is responsible for the worst lyrics DT has ever had is irrelevant.

Good point.  On that basis, since Voices has the best lyrics of any DT song ever, IMO, give it to Petrucci, then.

You and I agree on everything, and we both hail from St. Louis.

Yes.

Makes three of us.

[VioletS16]

Wow, this question is super hard. KM, JP, and JLB all have some great lyrics. I feel like KevMo's lyrics on I&W were his highlight, especially Surrounded. JP's lyrical highlight is definitely Voices. They're very, very good. JLB's lyrics are always good but I feel like he *really* shines on Static Impulse, particularly Jekyll and Hyde. I don't really care for JP's recent lyrics (of course, they're still good and they were actually quite a bit better on ADTOE) and I haven't followed outside-of-DT KevMo (sad I know) so I guess I will vote for...James

[SeRoX]

I start to think some of you just voted considering which member writes more. I mean, for example, Charlie Dominici could write just one but it can be the best lyrics in DT's catalog.

That's what I consider in the first place while voting. James LaBrie, for me, wrote the best lyrcis for DT and it's Disappear. I can say both Myung and Moore are close behind but must say that John's style is out of lyrical theme, it's mostly poetic. While they are all perfect with the musical concept, I hardly think that they can be considered the best lyrics in the lyric theme logic. Moore is, by the way, if James hadn't written Disappear I'd have said Moore has the best writing ability.

Petrucci's attempts are mostly perfect, his top works, for me, are Scarred and Voices but I have to admit he lost this magic since SFAM. But he is still pretty decent lyricist for me.

Portnoy, while I enjoy some of his work and have to say "ACOS" is his peak point which is included both deep emotions and lyrical theme. I think other works of him not my cup of tea. I consider many of them disjointed as a whole in one song. 12 Step Suite, for instance. They surely are cool parts but disjointed as I said.

So, James takes the cake for me by writing Disappear. I consider Disappear top 20 DT song as a whole but when the only lyric matters it's the best for me.

[54_diplomats]

My favorite is probably Kevin Moore with MP as runner up. Yeah MP has had some meh lyrics, but I liked a lot of his stuff and I absolutely love ACOS. Kevin Moore's lyrics were phenomenal and easily the most unique out of every DT members. I will say that I don't particularly dislike any of DT's lyricists. If John Myung had written more lyrics he may very well be my favorite (though his most recent song, Breaking All Illusions, I don't find the lyrics to be all that great.)

Since people did this in earlier posts:

John Petrucci - Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
James Labrie - Blind Faith
Mike Portnoy - A Change of Seasons
John Myung - Learning to Live
Kevin Moore - Space-Dye Vest

[robwebster]

Who voted for MP? 

Um... for his earlier output it's a valid vote.

For A Change of Seasons it is, yes. It really is baffling that his lyrics in that song are so good, and then the lyrics in just about every other song he wrote them for range from mediocre to bad.  But definitely gotta give him props for A Change of Seasons. 

I think it's just those two secret ingredients. Time, and inspiration.

A Change of Seasons had been honed over six years by the time it was committed to booklet, and we've seen some of the earlier drafts. Which weren't terrible, but that's a long time to work out the kinks.

When he stepped up on Falling Into Infinity, it was to replace Kevin Moore. He was writing songs on demand, because he had to, as much as because he wanted to. Huge difference! Plus, the subjects he started writing about became a little more angry. Burning My Soul and Just Let Me Breathe drift a little further into rant territory - which is fine, but it channels a completely different vibe. Less magical. More earthy.

The Mirror, The Glass Prison, A Change of Seasons are all songs he was burning to write, and it shows. He's written loads of other cool lyrics, too. I'll go on record as loving what he did with Octavarium, for instance, but I think you can tell when he was properly, truly desperate to write a song.

EDIT:

Since people did this in earlier posts:

John Petrucci - Metropolis, Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper
James Labrie - Blind Faith
Mike Portnoy - A Change of Seasons
John Myung - Learning to Live
Kevin Moore - Space-Dye Vest

Man! Tricky. Alright.

John Petrucci: Misunderstood
James LaBrie: Blind Faith
Mike Portnoy: Raise the Knife
John Myung: Trial of Tears
Kevin Moore: Surrounded

[MoraWintersoul]

A Change of Seasons had been honed over six years by the time it was committed to booklet, and we've seen some of the earlier drafts. Which weren't terrible, but that's a long time to work out the kinks.

When he stepped up on Falling Into Infinity, it was to replace Kevin Moore. He was writing songs on demand, because he had to, as much as because he wanted to. Huge difference! Plus, the subjects he started writing about became a little more angry. Burning My Soul and Just Let Me Breathe drift a little further into rant territory - which is fine, but it channels a completely different vibe. Less magical. More earthy.

The Mirror, The Glass Prison, A Change of Seasons are all songs he was burning to write, and it shows.

Yes, completely!

I am completely torn between at least two songs for that "everyone's best song" thing.

[hefdaddy42]

I say Myung, but only because of consistency.  I can't think of any duds.

KM at his best was great, but he had some clunkers too.

JP wrote the actual best lyrics, but his best stuff was long ago.

[MoraWintersoul]

John writes the best lyrics. 

This is so sweet.

NOW WAIT A MINUTE, MAN

She didn't say which John!

[Lucidity]

I say Myung, but only because of consistency.  I can't think of any duds.

KM at his best was great, but he had some clunkers too.

JP wrote the actual best lyrics, but his best stuff was long ago.

Not meaning to be persnickety, but what's an example of a KM "clunker"?