Never fear! I wasn’t condemning the entire technique of rhyme – I was merely criticising artists who insist on employing a technique they lack the smarts to execute well. The Beatles and Led Zep were masterminds who wrote good lyrics – but I wasn’t talking about good lyrics here (which is why I never referred to any of those artists.) My post was about bad lyrics, and why, in my humble opinion, they sometimes suck. If you can rhyme well like Lennon, it’s brilliant. If you can’t (like Lavigne), it’s awful.

I disagree that lyrics are poetry. (Or that they “should be poetry” – says who?) Sure, they have loads of similarities, but they’re definitely not the same thing. One is sung, the other spoken. Poems exist on their own, while lyrics are delivered through music. In addition, poems convey written meaning through a lot more than the words themselves (eg punctuation, the very layout on the page.) Secondary meaning for lyrics comes with the melody and vocal delivery.
I really don’t think it’s relevant to bring up Shakespeare or Homer as my discussion concerned contemporary musical artists. [But while we're on the subject, I think that there is also a common misconception that poetry should rhyme. Yes, it can rhyme and be amazing, but it's not required.]

I love a good rhyme, but a bad one makes me cringe. I was referring to the latter in my post. It’s meant to be funny. Let’s also remember the context here – I was writing a post about music, to be posted on The Music Blogs. If I wanted to talk about poetry, I’d do it on my personal blog.

When it comes down to it, lyrics are (or should be) poetry. Rhyme is a poetic technique, a perfectly legitimate one. If you don’t like this technique, or think that it is the stuff of Play School, there’s probably several thousand university English lecturers who would be keen to discuss it in regards to the works of Wordsworth, Shakespeare, Homer, Burns, Keats etc. Lyrics are poetry, and I would encourage you (or anyone interested in lyrics) to read up about poetry, it really gives you a better understanding of what comes through your speakers.

You’re totally right about the insipidity of lyrics in modern music (as in the example of Lavigne), but its outlandish (and comes across as blatantly elitist) to dismiss the entire technique of rhyme.