Rock Bands With the Most Intelligent Lyrics

Tool has incredibly well thought out songs like Lateralus where the syllables of the lyrics work up and down the Fibonacci sequence or The pot where the entire song is supposed to make you think its about weed even in its name, but hidden meanings in the lyrics show it is truly a satirical work to criticize those who look at songs only on surface level. As well as well thought out album structure for example 10,000 days has three songs in it where two are played back to back while the third songs audio is layed over the other two to form a hidden song.

I extracted the meaning of all of tool's songs; placed them into a sonic concoction, and now I can't stop break-dancing. It's like I have an intel pentium performance platform running my mental data banks, and every time I hear the song "10,000 days" I cannot stop doing the robot. Artistically speaking, tool has pressed music and art to a threshold of evolution. Their bodies may not posses 46 and 2 chromosomes, but their album Anemia does. This song is a noteworthy elaboration on human evolution and requires a vast amount of mental horse power to create. Maynard is said to have an I.Q. of around 140 and a level of emotional intelligence that cannot be measured. The next time I listen to the song, "eulogy" I will make sure I do the electric worm.

This is what makes tool my favorite band. They're not just a great sounding band. They go beyond to give the people something to think about. I imagine them going through much trouble with there song writing before they feel its ready. This is why it take them so much time in between albums. Thanks TOOL. You've ruined every other band for me.

Tool would be #1 on my list

Songs like Time, Money, US and Them (Dark Side of the Moon), Wish you were Here, the whole Animals album are time immemorial, not just for their music, but equally for their content too. Pink Floyd has inspired many artists for their concept albums which upholds the fact that their songs mean something.

These are the masters

"Every year is getting shorter,
never seem to find the time.
Plans that either come to naught,
or half a page of scribbled lines."





You cannot say that's not beautiful poetry. - MontyPython

Ew, Pink Floyd is Horrible there Lyrics Ar'ent even smart

It is pretty commonplace to use complex metaphors to say something simple when it comes to poetry and songs. But how many people can use everyday words and phrases to convey something extremely deep? Thom Yorke is the answer.

Their songs are simply magical and they have a lot of meaning

Should be number 1.

The older I become, the more I appreciate Neil's lyrics. Coming back to old favourites and listening to them again after some of life's curves and challenges, makes me realize what genius this band possesses. After some deeply personal losses in my own life, the meaning within Something for Nothing, One Little Victory, Earthshine, Dreamline, Bravado, Secret Touch and Ghost Rider resonated.

Even when they do decide to do a song about some rock staple like a car... they created the gem that is Red Barchetta. If that isn't the perfect car song, I don't know what is!

Add to all that the fact they are all musician's musicians makes Rush the only one I could vote for in this "top ten" list.

Neil does NOT have a degree in English. He is a high-school dropout. Neil is a self-taught, self-made man. He has gotten where he has through hard work & perseverance.

Just look into how the lyrics are written and you'll understand

I Googled "intelligent rock musicians" and found this poll. I would vote Rush #1. Amazing lyrics.

There's a running joke among punks about the "Bad Religion Dictionary" that is needed when analyzing their lyrics. Graffin is actually a university professor, and his articulate diction definitely shows this.

Bad religion lyrics are amazing, by far the most intelligent and unique I've seen... Grab your thesaurus!

Style of music can be subjective and you don't have to agree with everything that they sing about but their lyrics go way deeper than 99% of all other bands on this blue planet.

They tend to be smarter than any metal band on this list, rush is just ayn rand/libertarian garbage, iron maiden just sucks, as most metal and rap they're still very hollow/shallow, with no substance

A first I thought these guys were just noisy and high on cocaine... But one particular day I took my time to really understand their lyrics, they are very good

Eye opening. They have left nothing untouched with their critical, harmonic verses.

Very political

At first listening their lyrics might seem like gibberish, but there is way more to them.
Their lyrics can go from serious to silly in a second and they aren't afraid to experiment!
They're often very oblique, so it's hard to define exactly what they're about, but because of that they can mean something differnt to each listener!

A Progressive rock band! The best of all time! Their lyrics are deeply well thought out! And most. Of all intelligent

There are songs they don't even use the title in

Based heavily in literature, sex, and some current events, led zepplin tells stories in a beautiful way. Not only are the lyrics fantastic but the instrumentals are great too.

Music is good!

Many of their songs provide a stunningly complex view of a historical event. For example, "Paschendale" off of Dance of Death examines its namesake WWI battle, while "The Trooper" examines the Charge of the Light Brigade, an attack in the Crimean War. Another common theme amongst Maiden's music is literature. "To Tame a Land" summarizes Frank Herbert's sci-fi classic, "Dune", while Powerslave's "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" is capable of passing as a complete thesis on the Coleridge epic. Overall, Iron Maiden puts out consistently fantastic music, paired with some of the most intellectually stimulating lyrics that can be found in rock and metal.

This band is the ultimate political criticism.

The best ever!

Social commentary throughout the 90's. Considered one of the most politically dangerous groups at the time. References societal ills stemming from the beginning of the US.

Peter Sinfeld wrote some of the most articulate, well thought out lyrics in the early days of King Crimson

One of the best hard rock bands I know, took me a while to like them but it seemed each time I would play a song over and over I understood something new

Generally, I think all goth bands are creative and intelligent, but I personally think there isn't a goth band better that these guys, especially their old stuff like "Enter"

Sharon's lyrics are full of emotion and actually mean something. Even though she sometimes forgets them herself when performing live.

Sharon's Lyrics are meaningful & thought provoking.

Can we all just talk about WT's songs that just shows intelligence in their lyrics?