MUMBAI: School teacher-turned-rock star, Sting topped Blender`s list of the worst lyricists, thanks to lines that betray "mountainous pomposity (and) cloying spirituality," the music magazine says.Blender assailed Sting for such alleged sins as name-dropping Russian novelist Vladimir Nabokov in the Police tune "Don`t Stand So Close to Me," quoting a Volvo bumper sticker ("If You Love Someone Set Them Free"), and co-opting the works of Chaucer, St Augustine and Shakespeare.

The survey, carried in the November issue that hits newsstands next week, placed Rush drummer Neil Peart at number two, Creed frontman Scott Stapp at number three, Oasis guitarist Noel Gallagher at number four, and soft-rocker Dan Fogelberg at number five. Further down the ranks, Led Zeppelin frontman Robert Plant (number 23) was derided for his Tolkienesque musings on Gollum and Mordor in "Ramble On."Carly Simon (number 31) was mocked for rhyming "yacht," "apricot" and "gavotte" in "You`re So Vain."Paul McCartney made number 38, thanks in part to "Ebony and Ivory," his socially conscious duet with Stevie Wonder.