When it comes to progressive rock, my motto is "come for the music, stay for the lyrics." While a great instrumental will hold my attention for a few listens, a great set of lyrics will keep me coming back time and time again.
My top choice for Prog Poet Laureate is IQ's Peter Nicholls. There are so many IQ songs that I seem to find new meanings in each time I listen to them. There are too many examples to list, but one notable one is Guiding Light. For years I thought this was a simple song above a lost love. Then one day I was listening to the song on a long drive and the line "We never can remember all the lives we've lived before" suddenly hit me and I realized that this was far from a simple "lost love" song.
Honorable mention goes to Fish. Although the well seemed to run mostly dry after Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, there are some amazing lyrics in the preceding 10 years. Forgotten Sons, Punch and Judy, almost all of Misplaced Childhood, and Warm Wet Circles stand out for me.
I am interested in what's on the Poets Laureate list of other PE members.
Bookmarks