Poll: Who Is the Greatest Rock Lyricist of All-Time?

As the second decade of the 3rd millennium nears its end and I start thinking about what inevitable listicles to pitch, my mind took a sharp detour as to how the best rock songs manage to endure over time better than any other genre. Or that least that’s what I’d like to try to argue.

Not to name names, but yes there have obviously been offenders who you can accuse in hypothetical music court of stretching the boundaries an instrument like the guitar can be pushed beyond its four basic chords. The sounds have evolved in rock’s 70 give-or-take year history, but what makes a song truly timeless are the WORDS put to it, the ones that are able to transport listeners back and/or make them feel an artist is speaking directly to THEM.

With this all said A Journal of Musical Things would like to ask a simple yet potential can of worms question – Who is the greatest rock lyricist of all-time?

I am ideally looking for individuals, but will accept band names in the cases where multiple songwriters contributed to a single rock entity. Vote by commenting below, tweeting @alancross, me @ROCKthuiast (email works too), or hitting up Mr.Cross’ Facebook page. Not too much spam, please. Hoping to generate almost as enthusiastic a response as the Greatest Frontperson in Rock poll got last year. Will the winner be as clear cut as Freddie Mercury was? Only one way to find out…