Lindsey and Other Songwriters?

[David]

Originally Posted by michelej1

I love Christine's writing and the evocative, yearning style she can achieve, when her words, voice and keyboard combine, but I think Lindsey's lyrics are more original, with the different phrases he makes up.

I think he's actually quite a good lyricist, and I've always thought so. I think that much of the time, he's a more interesting lyricist than Stevie is, and he's certainly more interesting than Christine is in the words department.

Lindsey's the wittiest songwriter in Fleetwood Mac--probably since Green & Kirwan. A line like "One thing I think you should know/I ain't gonna miss you when you go" is a funny, funny line. But Macheads besotted with Stevie's moons and mists don't seem to pick up on the comedy.

Lindsey has the widest emotional palette, too--going from exuberance to sadness to anger to resignation to self-doubt to horniness, etc. When he wants to be believable and profound, he often is. "Now the ground has opened/All around me" echoes "Crystal," true, but it's also very touching on its own.

Finally, Lindsey's lyrical skill rests on his ability to meld the right words with the right music. It's more than just an awareness of le mot juste. It's the ability to "see" the melodic line inside the word or phrase, and to match everything up so that the entire unit of words-plus-music conveys his meaning.

I think his words are weakest when he gets analytical or reaches for social or political depth. He starts sounding the way he does in interviews, when he trots out the same descriptions over and over until you're sick of the cliches.

Still, good lyricist all in all.