Honest question: what lyrics on Balance would you classify as great?
It's almost a no-win for me to post that without an objective definition of "great." I could go on a detailed post and try and do that, but obviously, people will differ. So for me:
Feelin' is one of those tunes for me. Don't Tell Me is another.
And Stads - honestly man, I don't care if you agree with my use of "more intelligent" or not. DLR is an intelligent guy, and certainly witty, obviously, but he's not a very deep lyric writer.
But you've answered that; it depends on the standard. I thought - and still do think - that the lyrics to Tattoo have real insight. I quoted one before; it's a throw-away line of sorts, but I'm not a tattoo guy. I don't want to insult anyone here - or anywhere for that matter - but the number of people I see "rebelling" with stock tats out of a book at the parlor is a baffling phenomenon to me. I was at a bar once (this pre-COVID now) sitting next to an old guy I didn't know (about my age) and a cute girl of about 26, or so walks up. She's rather plain, conservative hair style, blouse that didn't show much and pastel shorts that you'd wear to church... and a full sleeve of flowers down her arm. She walks away and the guy next to me says "she teaches your kids". I know a woman that was trapped - in a way - in a marriage, and kids and all that goes with it, so for her 40th birthday, her means of rebelling and escaping and feeling alive again was getting a lower back tattoo. And so Dave's "from mousewife to momshell in the time it takes to get that new tattoo" is actually pretty deep to me. I KNOW that woman. He's capturing a real social phenomenon, and one I don't understand all that well.
And it's not just that one line. That album is chock full of stuff like that. Blood and Fire; As Is; The Trouble With Never; even Stay Frosty (which touches on religion). Compare that last one to Sammy, who has gone on record that "Mine All Mine" was one of his transcendent lyrics; they took the longest (for that album) and they were something he beat himself up over and rewrote them several times.
All the words on the wall look the same in the mirror
Every riddle and every clue
Oh, you got Allah in the east, you got Jesus in the west
Christ, what's a man to do?
They'll find a cure for anything
Just kill the pain
Oh, numb my brain
We see a man speaking the word of God
Proven to be a fraud
His own church applauds
Stop lookin' out, start lookin' in
Be your own best friend
Stand up and say
Hey, this is mine, oohUh.... his answer is to numb his brain? And look, for a spell there, it was de rigeur to write songs bagging on preachers; Maiden, Sammy (more than once), Ozzy... there wasn't a rock band in existence in the late 80s early 90s that didn't have their "preacher" song. I don't know; maybe it's a me problem, but even the Sam lyrics I connect with (in Van Halen) aren't that deep. (To be fair, he's done a LOT better in his solo stuff).