The Greatest Lyricists Ever?

[Pastiche]

Originally Posted by kermitology

Eli the Barrow Boy and Mariner's Revenge Song are the only things that really came to mind in terms of lyrical writing prowess.

Crane Wife, Red Right Ankle, Leslie Anne Levine and Grace Cathedral Hill also have great lyrics.

[troutman]

Bob Dylan - All of Rubin's cards were marked in advance
The trial was a pig-circus, he never had a chance.
The judge made Rubin's witnesses drunkards from the slums
To the white folks who watched he was a revolutionary bum
And to the black folks he was just a crazy .
No one doubted that he pulled the trigger.
And though they could not produce the gun,
The D.A. said he was the one who did the deed
And the all-white jury agreed.


Elvis Costello - she's filing her nails while they're dragging the lake

Paul Westerberg - An English teacher from Vancouver
She asked me to write something for her students.
I wrote knowledge adds, wisdom let slide
She says now really? I wanna tap your mind
Quit knockin' on mine


Andy Partridge - Well I don't know how many pounds make up a ton,
Of all the Nobel prizes that I've never won,
And I may be the Mayor of Simpleton,
But I know one thing,
And that's I love you.

Tom Waits - There's a toad in the witch grass
There's a crow in the corn
Wild flowers on a cross by the road
And somewhere a baby is crying
For her mom
As the hills turn from green back
To gold

Morrissey - What she asked of me at the end of the day
Caligula would have blushed


Lou Reed - But there ain't no harry and no virgin mary
You won't hear those voices again
And johnny rio and rotten rita
You'll never see those faces again
This halloween is something to be sure
Especially to be here without you


Bruce Springsteen - I wanna find one face that ain't looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these Badlands

Bruce Cockburn - But nothing worth having comes without some kind of fight --
Got to kick at the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight
When you're lovers in a dangerous time

[Kybosh]

Ray Davies from the Kinks.

[moncton golden flames]

gordon downey

[SinceDay1]

Steve Earle, Joni Mitchell.

[onetwo_threefour]

I was going to sau Bruce Cockburn, but troutman beat me to it.


Anybody up for...

Perry Farrwll
Gord Downie (I think he's a great lyricist, too bad he can't remember the words when singing
Maynard Keynes (sp?)
Eddie Vedder
Brett Gurewitz

I like how these guys communicate the message, in some case poetically, in others politically, and in others through cultural reference.

[malcolmk14]

Whomever wrote the iTravel2000 jingle.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Good to see Zach De La Rocha on there, though I'd have put him higher than 11th.

[Kybosh]

Originally Posted by Table 5

I always found Stephin Merritt of the Magnetic Fields, and Belle and Sebastian, to have some pretty catchy lyrics.

Belle and Sebastian consistently put out some of the most clever and catchy pop songs out there.

[CaptainCrunch]

I'm old school

Tom Waite, Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen.

The screen door slams
Mary' dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch
As the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again
I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside
Darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and you're thinking
That maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty but hey you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me

Thunder Road


In the day we sweat it out on the streets of a runaway American dream
At night we ride through the mansions of glory in suicide machines
Sprung from cages out on highway 9,
Chrome wheeled, fuel injected,and steppin' out over the line
h-Oh, Baby this town rips the bones from your back
It's a death trap, it's a suicide rap
We gotta get out while we're young
`Cause tramps like us, baby we were born to run

Born to Run

I still think that Kate Bush is criminally under rated

She wanted to test her husband.
She knew exactly what to do:
A pseudonym, to fool him.
She couldn't have made a worse move.

She sent him scented letters,
And he received them with a strange delight.
Just like his wife
But how she was before the tears,
And how she was before the years flew by,
And how she was when she was beautiful.
She signed the letter

"All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!
All yours,
Babooshka, Babooshka, Babooshka-ya-ya!"

Babooshka

Out on the wiley, windy moors
We'd roll and fall in green
You had a temper, like my jealousy
Too hot, too greedy
How could you leave me?
When I needed to possess you?
I hated you, I loved you too

Bad dreams in the night
They told me I was going to lose the fight
Leave behind my wuthering, wuthering
Wuthering Heights

(Chorus) Heathcliff, its me, Cathy come home
I'm so cold, let me in-a-your window

Oh it gets dark, it gets lonely
On the other side from you
I pine alot, I find the lot
Falls through without you
I'm coming back love, cruel Heathcliff
My one dream, my only master

Too long I roam in the night
I'm coming back to his side to put it right
I'm coming home to wuthering, wuthering,
Wuthering Heights

(Chorus)
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away
Oh let me have it, let me grab your soul away
You know it's me, Cathy
(Chorus)

Wuthering Heights

[Table 5]

I must be the only one who isn't a huge Tom Waits fan. I don't doubt his talent one bit, but that voice of his just grates me like fingernails on a chalkboard.

[FlamesAddiction]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I still think that Kate Bush is criminally under rated

One of my favourite Kate Bush songs... I believe it is about a suicide bomber in the Vietnam war.
Pull Out the Pin

Just as we hit the green,
I've never been so happy to be alive.
Only seven miles behind
You could smell the child,
The smell of the front line's survival.
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet,
(I pull the pin.)
You learn to ride the Earth,
When you're living on your belly and the enemy are city-births.
Who need radar? We use scent.
They stink of the west, stink of sweat.
Stink of cologne and baccy, and all their Yankee hash.
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet,
(I'm pulling on the pin,)
Ooh, I pull out, pull out the pin.
(pulling on the pin, oh...)
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!
I've seen the coat for me.
I'll track him 'til he drops,
Then I'll pop him one he won't see.
He's big and pink, and not like me.
He sees no light.
He sees no reason for the fighting
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet.
(I'm pulling on the pin,)
Ooh, I pull out, pull out the pin.
(pulling on the pin, oh...)
I had not seen his face,
'til I'm only feet away
Unbeknown to my prey.
I look in American eyes.
I see little life,
See little wife.
He's striking violence up in me.
With my silver Buddha
And my silver bullet.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
Just one thing in it:
Me or him.
And I love life!
I love life!
I love life!

[Ford Prefect]

I'd add Shawn Phillips, Guy Clark, Todd Snider and John Prine from the Roots realm.

[V]

I have never found a lyricist I enjoy more than John Samson. Just friggen genious, as far as I'm concerned.

I may be a little biased because he was my springboard away from commercial radio, but I honestly can't think of a better lyricist.

[Flacker]

Not really the genre they are going for but no love for a great Canadian Gordon Lightfoot.

So many great story telling songs.

Alberta Bound
Canadian Railroad Trilogy
Wreck of the Edmond Fitzgerald
The Pony Man
Etc
Etc


Glad to see that Cash made the list, I would put him in Lightfoot's class.

[troutman]

Worst lyrics (tie) - Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley:

She's a dancer, a romancer
I'm a Capricorn and she's a Cancer
You're good lookin' and you're lookin' like you should be good


And you watch me playin' guitar
And you feel what my fingers can do
And you wish you were the one I was doing it to

[dissentowner]

Tori Amos is damn good too.

[nik-]

This is a pretty tough thing to quantify. Lyrics speak differently to different people, so how do you define that?

I do agree with Bob Dylan though, on that Top 500 Songs list that Rolling Stone put out a few years back, they had Like a Rolling Stone as their number one song. The lyrics are pretty amazing. He's basically unloading on some rich uppity b#$%^ for 6 minutes.

[FanIn80]

Grace, Too
He said, 'I'm fabulously rich." "Come on, just let's go."
She kinda bit her lip, "Geez, I don't know."

I can guarantee there'll be no knock on the door.
I'm a total pro. That's what I'm here for.

I come from downtown, born ready for you.
Armed with will and determination... and grace, too.

The secret rules of engagement are hard to endorse,
When the appearance of conflict meets the appearance of force.

I can guarantee there'll be no knock on the door.
I'm a total pro. That's what I'm here for.

I come from downtown, born ready for you.
Armed with skill and its frustration... and grace, too.

It's a Good Life if You Don't Weaken
When the colour of the night
And all the smoke for one life
Gives way to shaky movements
And improvisational skills
In a forest of whispering speakers
Let's swear that we will
Get with the times
In a current health to stay
Let's get friendship right
Get life day-to-day
In the forget-yer-skates dream
Full of countervailing woes
It's diverse-as-ever seen
Proceeding on a need-to-know
In a face so full of meaning
As to almost make it glow

For a good life we just might have to weaken
And find somewhere to go
(Go somewhere we're needed)
Find somewhere to grow
(Grow somewhere we're needed)

Fully, Completely
Bring me back in shackles
Hang me long out in the sun
Exonerate me, forget about me

I recommend measures for ending it
Lover, she simply slammed the door.
She said, "You're gonna miss me."
Wait and you'll see."

Fully, completely

I ponder the endlessness of the stars
Ignoring said same of my father
Either it'll move me
Or it'll move right through me

Fully, completely

[Berger_4_]

John K. Samson and Gord Downie get votes from me.

My two favorite lyrics by the Weakerthans are:

Left and Leaving
I wait in 4/4 time,
Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on will lead you home.

and

Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure
After scrapping with the ferals and the tabby,
Let you brush my matted fur
How I'd knead into your chest while you were sleeping
Shallow breathing made me purr

But I can't remember the sound that you found for me
I can't remember the sound that you found for me
I can't remember the sound

As for Downie, nothing can top Wheat Kings and Nautical Disaster

Wheat Kings
In a zippo lighter he sees the killer's face
Maybe it's someone standing in the killers place
Twenty Years for nothing well that nothing new
Besides no one is interested in what you didn't do

and

Nautical Disaster
One afternoon, four thousand men died in the water here
Five hundred more were thrashing madly as parasites might in you blood
Now I was in lifeboat designed for ten and ten and only,
Anything that systematic would get you hated.
It's not a deal nor a test nor a love of something fated.
The selection was quick, the crew was picked and
those left in the water got kicked off our pant leg and we headed for home.