...and the winner of best lyricist is...

We're the insect life of paradise:
Crawl across leaf or among towering blades of grass
Glimpse only sometimes the amazing breadth of heaven.

- Bruce Cockburn

I Believe.

- Steve Taylor

There is an argument going on in my head. I can't quite seem to figure out the answer. Who is the best lyricist? While people like Damon Albarn, Julian Casablancas, Pete Doherty, The Beatles, and a slew of others can compete for best composers; and a plethora of Christian bands seem to be lackluster copiers of mainstream music (with exceptions such as D.C. Talk, early Jars of Clay, early Switchfoot, The Waiting, and Five Iron Frenzy); I must admit that the winner of the best lyricist category is a toss up between Canadian Folk Rocker Bruce Cockburn and California Alternative Artist/Producer Steve Taylor.

Both artists are Christian and there is usually some deranged notion that Christians are lacking in fields like philosophy (read Kant, Kierkegaard) or poetry (read T.S. Elliot, John Donne) or a host of other creative fields. However, I have listened to a lot of songs and no artist has come close to the shear brilliance of either person.

Cockburn is almost mystical. Brought up in an agnostic family, he nevertheless found the Christian faith. It has led him to be deeply involved in social justice issues. His album Steeling Fire is one of the greatest albums of all time. It was recorded in response to the unrest of Central America in the nineteen eighties and deals with American apathy caused by the imperialism of the Anglo-American countries. However, like all great Christian artists, the anger is overwhelmed by hope. One can hear the humble rage of the prophets and New Testament figures almost singing along. Cockburn is critical of the West as only a Western Christian can be critical.

Where Cockburn focuses on social issues, Steve Taylor focuses on the inner issues of what it means to be a follower of Christ. Where Cockburn is almost mystical, Taylor is tongue and cheek. Where Cockburn started out as an agnostic, Taylor was a preacher's kid. His greatest album would probably have to be I Predict 1990. The name of the album is not just a good title, it shows a rare gift that Taylor possesses: prescience. He sees the way things move. He is able to predict trends. The songs he writes though are written from the past about the future and yet remain timeless even after that "future" has passed. The last track on I Predict 1990 is called "Harder To Believe Than Not To." It is the greatest song about what it means to be a post-modern Christian. While I am not a fan of his forays into movie-making, it is obvious that Taylor is one of the greatest lyricists of all time.

I do not always believe things so emphatically, and look forward to everyone's responses; but as far as I can tell there is nothing that is so challenging and so true, so intelligent and so emotional, so powerful and so humble as the faith expressed by these two lyricists. There may be better musicians or song writers, but these two are in a class by themselves when it comes to lyrics.