Was Neil Peart the greatest rock lyricist?

He certainly was unlike any other lyricist in rock. I'm not aware of any other who was so influenced by literature and had such a great command of the English language, and for me personally, he wrote some things that hit very close to the mark and continue to have a lot of meaning for me.

I haven't awarded anyone the title of "greatest rock lyricist." There are a few people, like Neil Young, who I also find really emotionally affecting, but he works in a completely different way than Peart and they have nothing in common as far as their approaches are concerned. I don't know if there will ever be a "winner" for me.

 

If you think Neil Peart is literary and has a great command of the English language then God knows what you'd make of someone like Peter Blegvad.

 

Cool..I'm not familiar with them, can you suggest an album or two?

 

In that interview, which he conducted when he was about 60, he said he was a fan of hers when he was "a kid" in his 20s. That's less of a disavowal in my opinion than just a statement that he had outgrown it decades earlier. I certainly read my share of stupid, edgy books in my 20s like Catcher in the Rye before I knew any better, and listened to a lot of music I can't sit through today because it was so moronic. The fact that I don't any more is less a disavowal and more of a sobering up.

 

"With All Due Respect" I love that phrase. It leaves open the option that absolutely NO respect is due...

 

Never heard of him.

 

Did someone call Catcher In The Rye "stupid" and "edgy"?

 

This is an important point. I cowrote songs with a friend of mine for years and I was the lyric writer. I would give him pages of various lyrics and he would put them to music, a lot of the time changing around verses, rewriting a line here and there, even pulling a verse from a different lyric to use as the chorus or bridge or whatever, so the end result was a lyric that was maybe 80% true to the original, sometimes 100%, sometimes unrecognizable.

ETA, I've always wished Neil would've published a book of poetry, or at least a book with his original lyrics to songs, except Rush has never been keen on releasing work product from their songs, so I'm sure Neil felt the same about the words.

 

Who??

 

I did. It's one of the worst books ever written and gave legions of late-adolescent boys an excuse to act like jerks and think they were smarter than everybody. My son was just forced to read it for school and he said that Holden Caulfield reminded him of the classmates he doesn't like.

 

Ayn Rand is evil

 

Maybe for the OP Peart's lyrics are the ones resonating with him right now.

 

I second that opinion

 

This is one by Peart that struck me as very effective communicating alienation and displacement of human connection in a quickly changing world.
That sense that we can't stop or control whatever it is that is happening to our world.
Seems more relevant now than ever.

-Between The Wheels-

To live between a rock and a hard place
In between time
Cruising in primetime
Soaking up the cathode rays
To live between the wars in our time
Living in real time
Holding the good time
Holding on to yesterdays
You know how that rabbit feels
Going under your speeding wheels
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly
Frozen in the fatal climb
But the wheels of time
Just pass you by
Wheels can take you around
Wheels can cut you down
We can go from boom to bust
From dreams to a bowl of dust
We can fall from rockets' red glare
Down to "Brother, can you spare..."
Another war, another wasteland
And another lost generation
It slips between your hands like water
This living in real time
A dizzying lifetime
Reeling by on celluloid
Struck between the eyes by the big-time world
Walking uneasy street
Hiding beneath the sheets, got to try and fill the void
You know how that rabbit feels
Going under your speeding wheels
Bright images flashing by
Like windshields towards a fly
Frozen in that fatal climb
But the wheels of time
Just pass you by
We can go from boom to bust
From dreams to a bowl of dust
We can fall from rockets' red glare
Down to "Brother, can you spare..."
Another war, another wasteland
And another lost generation
Wheels can take you around
Wheels can cut you down
Fall from rockets' red glare
Down to "Brother, can you spare..."
Another war, another wasteland
Another lost generation

Absalom
Absalom

 

Thank you! It's a self-righteous piece of crap at best and the book that killed John Lennon at worst.

 

Ayn Rand was a heartless monster and an enemy of humanity.

 

No, not even close.

 

I'm totally unfamiliar with Peart's lyrics, and these are the first I've ever seen. Lots of cliches within the above. I prefer somebody like Jackson Browne, who has original ways of describing feelings and ideas rather than rehashing previous phrases ("boom to bust," "fill the void," "living in real time," etc.). Or was that what Peart was intentionally trying to do in with these words?

 

No, just objective.

 

I would start with Double Live and see how you get on. Whale Music is a great studio album to start with. Then Introducing Happiness and Blue Hysteria.

There are many riches in their catalogue and in the Tielli solo albums too.

 

No. Smart guy, could turn a phrase, read a lot and incorporated that into his lyrics. All admirable. But he could also be clumsy and ham-fisted and obvious. That's not even a huge detriment to Rush--they're a nerdy band for nerdy fans, it's part of the charm. But he's not part of the top tier, IMO.

 

No. Good grief.

 

No, but he was great.

 

Not by a long shot.

And I am Sci-Fi fantasy philosophy geek, LOL.

 

Was_____the greatest______? You'll probably not get anything close to consensus.


Dan