what is a lyricist's "equipment" that should have?

Pen and paper in pocket at ALL times, so a gem can never be forgotten whilst looking for a pen and paper.

A bottle of wine.

A generous muse comes to mind :)

Lyricists to look up to and be inspired by. Pen and paper (like other's said). I like mini moleskines. Thesaurus Rhyme dictionary portable tape recorder - I've used my phone for this, it's great for remembering melodies. passion

I have Masterwriter which basically contains all the tools you need, thesaurus, rhyming dictionary and more. Particularly the rhyming dictionary is fine because it includes sound-alikes (you decide how broad). An example of which is in the song above where poems rhymes on home. I like using such sound alikes because it makes the song less stiff and mechanical as is often the result if you only use perfect rhymes. That said, I can't really recommend Masterwriter. I dislike their lack of simple save/load (as a word processor) and have actually lost songs due to their confusing backup system. I would prefer to save my songs in Dropbox and be able to open them from several computers. But that doesn't work properly with Masterwriter. Anyway, their site is down at the moment. Wonder if they have gone out of business? A useful tool to mention is Word Menu (). It is broader than a thesaurus, not only giving you synonyms, but lists of things, like different types of buildings, drinks, occupations ... That said, I usually find that I write my songs without such aids. I only tend to use them when I get stuck, and even then I am often still stuck after consulting them ... But occasionally it helps.

drink to fit the genre 

I've found this app to be useful on more than one occasion: It's free and offers most of what the other paid lyricist/songwriting programs have.

Wasn't Hemingway fond of Whiskey?

A love of words, a strong sense of their rhythm and an ability to lend perspective. Understanding how the rhythm of the words maps onto bars of music helps too.