Who wrote the best lyrics?

Glass Moonlight · October 29, 2012, 04:38:52 PM

Simple as the title says, what band member wrote the best lyrics? My vote undoubtedly is KM, his lyrics were so deep and thought provoking. Don't Look Past Me, Pull Me Under, and Surrounded. Just awesome. My second pick would be John, Voices is just insane. Also throwing in a mention for John Myung's stuff, Trial of Tears was stellar.

wasteland · October 29, 2012, 04:45:29 PM

I can't really say. Any of them has written very good lyrics, but most of them also had some misteps (KM in LFAGA or Lie, JP recently and MP in 96-97 and 05). At the moment, I'm leaning towards KM, but generally, I'm a JP-JM man

Also, JLB's personal and deep lyrics always, and I say always, manage to move me in some way.

Syzzle · October 29, 2012, 05:00:58 PM

Easily Kevin Moore for me.

SeRoX · October 29, 2012, 05:04:24 PM

My picks from them:

KM: Only A Matter Of Time
JP: Scarred
MP: A Change Of Seasons
JLB: Disappear
JM: Trial Of Tears

And the best one is for me would be Disappear from JLB. Its every word just gives me the exact feeling how it supposed to be. It's sad, truly emotional and deep. Trial Of Tears is close behind.

senecadawg2 · October 29, 2012, 05:09:12 PM

It's easy to see where this is going, although I voted for Myung.

wasteland · October 29, 2012, 05:15:36 PM

It might have sense to name the best song per lyricist:

KM: Surrounded
JP: Scarred / The Silent Man
JM: Trial Of Tears
JLB: Disappear
MP: ACOS
Charlie: The wind has blown. Me halfway across the world

The Presence of Frenemies · October 29, 2012, 05:29:50 PM

Went with KM, not that lyrics are a big deal for me. I've never really found any DT lyrics to detract from the song, nor any that really make it a transcendent experience.

Glass Moonlight · October 29, 2012, 05:32:22 PM

Quote from: wasteland on October 29, 2012, 05:15:36 PM
It might have sense to name the best song per lyricist:

KM: Surrounded
JP: Scarred / The Silent Man
JM: Trial Of Tears
JLB: Disappear
MP: ACOS
Charlie: The wind has blown. Me halfway across the world

I loled

For me it's
JP: Voices
KM: Damn, probably um, Don't Look Past Me or Surrounded
MP: ACOS no contest
JLB: Far From Heaven
JM: Trial of Tears
Charlie Dominici: Status Seeker

The Presence of Frenemies · October 29, 2012, 05:34:17 PM

Quote from: wasteland on October 29, 2012, 05:15:36 PM
Charlie: The wind has blown. Me halfway across the world

I always think of JP on the 5YIALT commentary saying "Then again, if we'd said 'The wind has blown me...'"

RaiseTheKnife · October 29, 2012, 05:49:36 PM

Chris Collins - Afterlife. Not that I've deciphered what he is singing in his version, but I assume it is the paramount of all earthly sentiments.

By the way, Charlie did not write the lyrics to To Live Forever. It was JP, followed by a pinch of KM.

DebraKadabra · October 29, 2012, 06:06:18 PM

GAWD - never woulda thunk this would be such a hard question.

I may just go with Myung solely because of his contributions to Images and Words - yeah, I will.

WDADU · October 29, 2012, 06:29:32 PM

Easily Kevin Moore. But John Myung gets an honorable mention.

Unlegit · October 29, 2012, 07:18:00 PM

John Myung.

iamtheeviltwin · October 29, 2012, 07:29:31 PM

I chose KM, but I probably should have taken JLB.

Lucidity · October 29, 2012, 07:35:02 PM

Moore by a landslide.

As much as I want to like Myung's lyrics, I find them really pretentious and almost nonsensical, in a way. Maybe I'm just too stupid to get them, but I feel like he's really trying too hard :/

wolven74 · October 29, 2012, 08:54:20 PM

I voted for JMX. For me his lyrics have always been jaw dropping in their spirituality and depth. Second choice goes to KM.

DarkLord_Lalinc · October 29, 2012, 08:55:39 PM

Kevin Moore.

BlobVanDam · October 29, 2012, 09:30:57 PM

I don't know what the big deal is with KM's lyrics. They range from no better than anyone else's to pretty bad imo.

I may have voted JM, but since he's not very prolific, I voted for JP. JP's had his share of clunkers too of course, but he's written a lot of my favourite lyrics, and I like most of his lyrics. I get the feeling people won't agree with that logic, but it's my vote dangit!

wasteland · October 30, 2012, 12:45:06 AM

Quote from: RaiseTheKnife on October 29, 2012, 05:49:36 PM
By the way, Charlie did not write the lyrics to To Live Forever. It was JP, followed by a pinch of KM.

I know, but the band joked about the weird phrasing of that line being due to Charlie eccentricity!

Zydar · October 30, 2012, 01:37:19 AM

My vote:

(Courtesy of Milena)

MoraWintersoul · October 30, 2012, 02:17:33 AM

Quote from: Zydar on October 30, 2012, 01:37:19 AM
My vote:
*snip*
(Courtesy of Milena)

Aw, they're being used. Yes, I checked whether it was sped up. It really wasn't

Considering how KM > universe, it's easy to see where my vote went, but also what wasteland said in his opening post. It's not fair to pit JMX or JLB or KM against JP when they practically haven't had/barely had the chance to screw something up. They only wrote stuff they felt strongly about, and JP was the resident lyricist. I don't think JLB would have screwed something up even if he were to write a lot more, for example, that's why I really want more lyrics by him. And KM is one of my favorite lyricists ever, that tells you how I feel about him. JMX, on the other hand, as good as he is, talks only about one thing (in the essence), so more songs like that would be dull - this way they're special because they map where he is as an artist at the given point of time.

(I found the lyrics of BAI to be the least impressive part of the song, but saying that will get me a deathwish)

? · October 30, 2012, 02:33:03 AM

Quote from: Syzzle on October 29, 2012, 05:00:58 PM
Easily Kevin Moore for me.

This. Even the lyrics to Lie, which many dislike, are great IMO. He wrote lyrics that were very poetic yet you could easily relate to them. While he has gone with a more down-to-earth approach to lyrical themes later, they are still pretty open to interpretation and not too obvious. JM is my second favorite, but while his quality has remained great, he has written so few lyrics that it's hard to compare him to the others.

The rest are kind of hard to rank - I'd probably put JP 3rd because of his best lyrical achievements, although he has written some cringeworthy and bland stuff as well. But as Milena said, the more you write, the harder it is to stay consistent. James would be next, his lyrics are mostly ok with a few gems. MP wrote ACOS and The Mirror, and those songs are among my favorites both musically and lyrically, but he's also had the biggest amount of not-so-stellar moments. Charlie only wrote Afterlife and parts of Status Seeker so I can't really say anything about his writing.

Cruithne · October 30, 2012, 02:51:53 AM

Kevin Moore, easily. JM and JLB also both write good lyrics but they aren't very prolific.

JP *was* the most reliable (rarely great, but never anything less than decent) up until SC, but SC and BC&SL were big blots on his copybook. He was back on solid ground for ADTOE though.

Portnoy was the most varied in lyric quality - from absolute horrors through to top-of-the-class excellence and pretty much everything in between.

Octavaripolis · October 30, 2012, 04:00:42 AM

Kevin Moore. Much due to him being able to express his love for a photo in a magazine, Space Dye Vest

Elite · October 30, 2012, 04:52:52 AM

Jordan Rudess.

BlobVanDam · October 30, 2012, 04:54:35 AM

Quote from: Elite on October 30, 2012, 04:52:52 AM
Jordan Rudess.

LISTEN TO THE SOUND OF MY SPLENDOR!

IdoSC · October 30, 2012, 05:31:09 AM

Is it like, who wrote that one DT song with the best lyrics, or who writes the best lyrics generally?

If it's the former, I'm gonna go ahead and vote for James LaBrie, If it's the latter, it's a tough question, because JP and MP wrote some great lyrics along with some awful lyrics, while JLB, JM and KM wrote fantastic lyrics but they barely contribute. So it's basically quality vs. quantity.

Sketchy · October 30, 2012, 06:39:16 AM

A wild Myung fanboy appears.

snapple · October 30, 2012, 07:04:11 AM

Myung by a healthy margin.

Dreamer81 · October 30, 2012, 07:35:21 AM

Myung, or JP, IMHO KM is very overrated ...

krands85 · October 30, 2012, 08:21:45 AM

Quote from: BlobVanDam on October 29, 2012, 09:30:57 PM
I don't know what the big deal is with KM's lyrics. They range from no better than anyone else's to pretty bad imo.

I may have voted JM, but since he's not very prolific, I voted for JP. JP's had his share of clunkers too of course, but he's written a lot of my favourite lyrics, and I like most of his lyrics. I get the feeling people won't agree with that logic, but it's my vote dangit!

This is pretty much how I feel too.

But lyrics are never usually that important to me.

wolfandwolfandwolf · October 30, 2012, 09:32:13 AM

I voted KevMo, but I love JP's contributions on Awake.

KevShmev · October 30, 2012, 12:39:34 PM

JP was neck and neck with Kevin Moore in the early days, but he has written a lot of duds over the past decade, so he's dropped a few notches, giving Moore the win here.

Myung's are usually great, but he simply doesn't have enough of them.

Adami · October 30, 2012, 02:38:35 PM

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.

Implode · October 30, 2012, 02:46:16 PM

I'm going to have to say Kevin Moore.

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Who wrote the best lyrics?

Who wrote the best lyrics?