The Greatest Lyricists Ever?

[Berger_4_]

Ocean Breathes Salty is good, but I really enjoy Little Motel, even if it is incredibly sad.

Corb Lund is pretty awesome too.

[rockstar]

Any "great lyricists" poll that features Chris Martin among the leaders is not a "great lyricists" poll.

The discussions in this thread is where the value will lie; not on a website running a popularity contest.

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by Berger_4_

Ocean Breathes Salty is good, but I really enjoy Little Motel, even if it is incredibly sad.

Corb Lund is pretty awesome too.

I think that Corb Lund may have the best lyrics out of any country band... maybe just my opinion.. but they are turning the opposite way from most other bands drifting towards 'pop'

[hah]

"Hello darkness my old friend"

"Where have you gone Joe DiMaggio"

[driveway]

Lady Gaga.

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah
Roma, Roma-ma
GaGa, Ooh-la-la
Want your bad romance.

[DrJ]

Biggie, Tupac, Nas, Jay-Z, Lupe Fiasco, GZA. Top in rap genre IMO.

[the crispy badger]

Ryan Adams is so underrated it's not funny, as for my picks it's gotta be Dylan,Waits,Cohen and modern day has to be Nick Cave(although I cant stand the direction he's taken his music)

[gottabekd]

Roger Waters for sure.

Instead of posting the whole song, I'll just link to Time.

[Day Tripper]

Originally Posted by driveway

Rah-rah-ah-ah-ah
Roma, Roma-ma
GaGa, Ooh-la-la
Want your bad romance.

I recall some old bum yelling something like that at me once...

Besides the obvious like Dylan, Lennon, and Waters, I've always thought that Robert Plant was an excellent lyricist and quite underrated.

[gottabekd]

Originally Posted by Day Tripper

I recall some old bum yelling something like that at me once...

Besides the obvious like Dylan, Lennon, and Waters, I've always thought that Robert Plant was an excellent lyricist and quite underrated.

Is there a particular song you think exemplifies some quality Plant lyrics?

Early Zeppelin, he mostly just improvised some bluesy sounding lyrics to go along with the (mostly stolen) songs. Later Zeppelin he tried reaching for it a bit with some more spiritual songs (Stairway, Kashmir, No Quarter).

Just curious what songs you were thinking of. I find most Zeppelin lyrics "good enough", just don't consider them on the level of say, Waters.

[octothorp]

Great thread. A few thoughts on people mentioned thus far...
John Samson: Psalm for the Elks Lodge Last Call is just lyrical perfection in my mind. Some of his stuff tries a little too hard, but when it's dialed back just a bit, it's perfect.
Isaac Brock: Modest Mouse sounds at times like rednecks talking about metaphysics, which is a strange combination but it really works. Someone else mentioned Third Planet, which is great, but I'd suggest Never-ending Math Equation as Brock's best lyrics.

Also, I'll share the love for Nick Cave, Tom Waits, Dylan, John Prine, Ryan Adams, and Gord Downie.

My favorites that haven't been mentioned: Joe Henry, Andrew Bird, Sufjan Stevens, Suzanne Vega.

[FanIn80]

Sweetest Thing
My love, she throws me like a rubber ball
But she won't catch me or break my fall
My baby’s got blue skies up ahead
But in these, I'm a rain cloud
And you know she wants the dry kind of love

I'm losing you
I'm losing you
Ain't love the sweetest thing?

I wanted to run, she made me crawl
I turned her to fire, she turned me to straw
I know I got black eyes
But they burn so brightly for her
I guess it's a blind kind of love

I'm losing you
I'm losing you
Ain't love the sweetest thing?

[drew24]

I will third Eddie Vedder. I love how he seems to tell a story throughout a song.

Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town always stood out to me. Especially the first two lines.

I seem to recognize your face
Haunting, familiar, yet I can't seem to place it

http://www.kovideo.net/elderly-woman...am-592411.html

[doozwimp]

Nick Drake needs some love, and also Dallas Green.

[rubecube]

Some good ones mentioned already. I'm going to throw out Jeff Tweedy as well.

I am an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I'm hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

Let's forget about the tongue-tied lightning
Let's undress just like cross-eyed strangers
This is not a joke so please stop smiling
What was I thinking when I said it didn't hurt

I want to glide through those brown eyes dreaming
Take you from the inside, baby hold on tight
You were so right when you said I've been drinking
What was I thinking when we said good night

I want to hold you in the Bible-black predawn
You're quite a quiet, domino, bury me now
Take off your band-aid 'cause I don't believe in touchdowns
What was I thinking when we said hello

I always thought that if I held you tightly
You'd always love me like you did back then
Then I fell asleep in the city kept blinking
What was I thinking when I let you back in

I am trying to break your heart
I am trying to break your heart
But still I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easy
I am trying to break your heart

Disposable Dixie cup drinker
I assassin down the avenue
I've been hiding out in the big city blinking
What was I thinking when I let go of you

(Loves you)

I'm the man who loves you




The ashtray says
You were up all night
When you went to bed
With your darkest mind
Your pillow wept
And covered your eyes
And you finally slept
While the sun caught fire

[Mad Mel]

Originally Posted by dissentowner

Neil Peart should be on there for sure.

Rush's don't do stuff like that. They got these lyrics about... how trees are talking to each other, and how different sides of your brain works, and outer space bullsh*t.

Originally Posted by tyler durden

...John Hiatt(another fantastic songwriter).

Ding, ding, ding. Did you see him and Lovett (and Joe Ely and Guy Clark) at the Knox Presbyterian downtown a few years back? He won the AMA Lifetime Achievement Award for songwriting a while back, quite an accomplishment for a guy with limited commercial success.

[macker]

Didn't see :
American - Jim James
Canadian - Win Butler
International - Bono.....(first 3 albums in particular) edit....Sweetest Thing
Treading the line between good music and good lyrics....

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by macker

Didn't see :
American - Jim James
Canadian - Win Butler
International - Bono.....(first 3 albums in particular) edit....Sweetest Thing
Treading the line between good music and good lyrics....

I know Sweetest Thing isn't really an overly complex piece, but sometimes the simplest lyrics are the one that really say the most. Personally speaking, I love the simple and elegant style in which the words play on each other...

Simple. Metaphorical. Elegant. Sarcastic.

Pretty much a sure-fire way of getting my attention.

[FanIn80]

The Future Is X-Rated
There's holes up in the sky
That the Devil punched down to the monkeys
And now we've got drive-thru
And a video store where there used to be real live actors

Used to ride around here
Up on my high horse
With all the other good little butcher boys
But I'm a plagiarist of course

So roll over sweet thing
Like a nuclear reprisal inbound from outer space
There's a comparison here that I'm trying to swing

God damn it's deafening
Wish you'd shut up about everything
The future is X-rated

There's holes up in the sky
And no one's seen your son in days
And things just keep getting weirder and weirder
And now Christmas is for shopping
And the Shopping God is everything

So roll over and lose it
'Cause power's just another one of those things, baby
It's pointless if you ain't gonna use it

God damn it's deafening!
Wish you'd shut up about everything
The future is X-rated

[DropIt]

Originally Posted by octothorp

Isaac Brock: Modest Mouse sounds at times like rednecks talking about metaphysics, which is a strange combination but it really works. Someone else mentioned Third Planet, which is great, but I'd suggest Never-ending Math Equation as Brock's best lyrics.

Ya, I was just givin an example. IMO, Brocks best lyrics were in the song

'The World at Large'

also, may be a unpopular vote, but Justin Furstenfeld of Blue October.

some depressing types, but really quite good.