Name	Gary Lightbody
Height
Naionality	Northern Irish
Date of Birth	15-June-1976
Place of Birth	Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland
Famous for	Singing

Gary Lightbody is a Northern Irish musician and songwriter best known as the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of the alternative rock band Snow Patrol. Light body started writing songs at the age of 15, in a little room under the kitchen of the family's house.

He had limited guitar lessons where he learnt the basics of the instrument. He chose not to advance as he felt one should not know any instrument "inside out". He preferred to invent rather than use a formula. Today, he is not too fond of his earliest songs, and thinks they "sucked". His songwriting style is mostly simple and basic, and he acknowledges that, saying he " advanced past rudimentary". He feels the best way to write an honest song is to be simple, and that trying to complicate matters distorts the intended message. He believes the band has always tried to keep things as "simple and pure" as possible and has written from the heart. One of Light body’s major inspirations to begin writing was notable Irish poet Seamus Heaney; which is alluded to on the B-side track on Snow Patrol's The Planets Bend Between Us single, named 'Reading Heaney To Me'. It also refers extensively to Heaney's poems throughout the lyrics.

Light body’s lyrics typically deal with the topic of love. He considers himself a political person and has tried writing songs with such themes but eventually abandoned his efforts as he found all of them awkward. Light body has said that all of the songs from the first two albums; Songs for Polar bears and When It's All Over We Still Have to Clear Up were written from personal experience. His lyrics often criticize himself. He has cited "Chocolate" as an example, which he wrote after cheating on his girlfriend. He also considers writing a sort of "therapy" for himself.

Light body’s songwriting has earned him much praise. In October 2009, he revealed that a certain "public figure", whom he wanted to remain nameless, told him that the band had written songs that were standards in today's world, and that Snow Patrol songs had become a part of the public consciousness. He compared their work to that of artists like Frank Sinatra and The Beatles. Light body realises this and cites performances of their songs on reality TV shows as an example.