Smartest Singer With the Dumbest Lyrics?

Cafe Society
1

I was struggling to come up with a better title that’d fit. But which singers would surprise you most with their intelligence after hearing their songs? For example, to pick a random name, if I was to make an unfair guess about Katy Perry based on the couple standard vapid pop songs I’ve heard of her’s* (and nothing else), I’d guess she’s dumb as soap. But for all I know, she’s a charming and witty person with deeply held intellectual views on weighty topics. However, there’s any number of stool & acoustic guitar female singers who you wouldn’t be surprised to hear of their smarts because they sing “intelligent” music.

Let your evidence for intelligence be whatever you want: diplomas, interviews, running an organization, etc. I try to stay away from “Well, he made a bunch of money” since that says more of their management than of the singer.

*In the ear of the beholder and for all I know the rest of her songs are a symphony of brilliance.

2

How is the singer’s intelligence to be measured by the songs she chooses? Aren’t you really looking for song-writers rather than singers?

Singers are equivalent to trained, sentient instruments–you wouldn’t speak of an especially smart piano, would you, or a really spectacularly stupid trombone, would you?

3

Are you calling them potty mouths? :slight_smile:

Seriously, I’m not sure how to approach this question. If they have dumb lyrics, why should I care how smart they are otherwise?

4

It’s not. Hence my question – which either I’m failing to express or else it’s just a dumb question :slight_smile:

I was just wondering if there were singers where you’d say “Whoa, s/he’s a lot smarter than his/her music would suggest”. I suppose it’s easier for me to think of it in the female because when I think of vapid pop music, I tend to think of the current crop of female singers.