I want to listen to some artists that people (subjectively) perceive to have great lyrics (can be narrative, poetic, or whatever)
Who would you recommend, no matter how obvious?
The first person to say Tim Rice gets an evil stare
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Leonard Cohen
Nick Cave
Jarvis Cocker
and weirdly...Gedge.
see how i kind of thoguht leonard cohen too
and did a reference below. clever eh?
It was clever.
I like it.
D C Berman
mountain goats
always makes me laugh, and cry, and laugh.
William Blake is Fucking A
Most of the time lyrics pass me by...but I think Ian Curtis, Bob Dylan and James Mercer were/are all talented.
Morrissey?
Also yes to Ian Curtis
Morrissey
in the past - certainly not now
adam gnade.
bye.
Bonnie Prince Billy
Luke Haines
McLusky also had great lyrics
bright eyes
.
jeff tweedy
are you going to say ryan adams next?
:P
ryan adams
no
i was trying to avoid the REALLY obvious answers i could give.
plus, i fully admit i only love ryan's lyrics because i'm a big emo.
joanna newsom
bright eyes
jarvis cocker
will oldham (sometimes)
stuart murdoch (belle & sebastian)
napoleon IIIrd
definitely agree with
joanna newsom
Yeah
And Morrissey.
And Pagan Wanderer Lu.
And Fidel Villeneuve in a slapstick sort of way.
Aidan Moffat
Darren Hayman
Yoni Wolf
Owen Ashworth
Mick Derrick
frank turner
Scott Walker
Syd Barrett
Nick Cave
Tom Waits
bf
^these
Dan Bejar
^ For sure
Tim Rice
Colin Meloy
Joanna Newsom
and I have a soft spot for Chris T-T
yes
colin meloy. i love his wordsmithery.
here you go
http://www.geekdroppings.com/images/hypnotoad.gif
Andy Partridge
I read that as alan partridge
he would have made a great lyricist
The Long Blondes
I think. 'She'll never let you cross her Empire Line' is a great line from Giddy Stratospheres. Hooray for literate pop music!
Urgh!
The Long Blondes lyrics are contrived rather than literate. Especially when they evoke classic '50s kitchen-sink dramas with the line "Another drama by the kitchen sink tonight"...er...yes please?
They'd call that witty self-referencing
I expect. But I get why you don't like it.
the manics did that lyrics too didnt they?
i'd actually put the manic street preachers in a great lyricists. however cringeworthy most of it is, they do have some great lines.
I always got more annoyed with bands who try and fail
Rather than bands who's lyrics are just out and out twaddle (ie Oasis etc). I think it's mainly that everyone expects me to like Long Blondes but most of their lyrics are just cheap Pulp knock-offs ("Call your mother" etc etc etc).
Jim Bob
John Darnielle
Morrissey
DC Berman
Dan Bejar
Billy Bragg
Bob Dylan
Bright Eyes
Colin Meloy
Ghostface Killah
GZA
Jens Lekman
Lou Reed
Neil Tennant
Oh I give up
Good call on Billy Bragg
Jim Bob
Take a common phrase/maxim/proverb and reverse it. Wasn't there a Mary Whitehouse Experience sketch about wiriting lyrics like Carter USM?
Isn't that also
essentially Catch-22
Kevin Motherfuckin Barnes
Modern Lovers
Art Brut
Half Man Half Biscuit
The Go Betweens
Neil Young
Spencer Krug
Isaac Brock
Jeff Mangum
Andrew Bird
Yeee!
Krug, Mangum and Moz are my alltime favourites
I think Thom Yorke is a fantastic lyricist too.
In terms of hip hop I don't think you can argue with Doom.
Sage Francis
Conor Oberst
EL-P
mcenroe
Simon and Garfunkel
Bob Dylan
Clint Mansell
Layne Staley
Frank Turner
Zack de la Rocha
Maynard James Keenan
Tim Kasher
Ian Mackaye/Guy Picito
John Darnielle
is the greatest lyricist of our age.
looks like
you have to be a male to be a great lyricist. where are the girls?
Girls suck
Everyone knows that
preening n ting
Stephin Merritt
JIm Bob
Chris TT, Blake Schwarzenbach
yes!
Definitely Schwarzenbach
rakim
early nas
I can only think nobody has mentioned...
...Alex Turner due to one of 2 things:
1. They have, and I've missed it.
2. He's too 'obvious' a choice?
3. he's shit
Next time I need an in-depth essay
writing on what makes a great lyricist, I'll give you a call.
right o
it's subjective
4. He's shit
5. He's shit
6. He's shit
7. He's shit
8. That's it.
I think his lyrics
consist of too many so called witty urban observations that anyone could make.
Be my guest....
...let's see what witty Turner-esque lyrics you can come up with. It's ovbiously so easy.
chill yr beans foo'
I went to a nightclub
And I got a taxi home
And I had a kebab
And I had a fizzy pop alcohol drink
And there was a guy with a silly haircut
Appen.
Where do I collect my medal?
yeah, that'll sell...
3. we're all big emos who prefer songs about girls who break hearts.
bye!
Not
me
roddy from idlewild
sometimes.
i love: "the games we used to play were not games"
I'd say he is among the worst I've ever heard
really, really bad
Roddy Woomble, hmm
I love Idlewild but I'm not sure whether I think Roddy is a great lyricist or not. He does that contradiction thing A LOT but sometimes I think it works brilliantly.
yeah
sometimes it's terrible, but when it works it's great.
"at the harbor, i harbor..." is obviously rubbish. but sometimes they actually mean something.
Jason Molina
Conor Oberst
Shane McGowan
Saul williams
yes?
Maybe...
Conor Oberst.
"I know a girl who cries when she practices violin because each note sounds so pure it just cuts into her, and then the melody comes pouring out her eyes. To me everything else seems just like a lie"
yes
Sue Tompkins
from Life Without Buildings.
Falco from Mclusky and Future Of The Left.
Morrissey.
David R Edwards from Datblygu.
Issac Brock
Amazing lyricst, especially during the Moon & Antarctica era of Modest Mouse, soooo many quoutables
Bright Eyes, great emotional lyricist
Morrisey
Thom Yorke
i really like,
sufjan stevens. it nails the details in the songs, they're just perfect.
^^
Knew I forgot someone, prettyful songs!
oh yes
good call. He captures places and moments perfectly.
frank turner
sage francis
ian curtis
andy regan
Bob Dylan
Billie Joe Armstrong
Mike Skinner
Gotta love the lyrics of
Elvis Costello
John K. Samson
is my favourite lyricist ever.
I never had you down as a Propagandhi fan
tee hee
are his
Propaghandi lyrics any good? I love his songwriting in the Weakerthans.
They're a bit, you know,
sweary.
Anchorless was a Propaghandi song
before they re-recorded it for Fallow!
So I'm down with that one, at least.
my favourite lyricists:
John Darnielle (Mountain Goats)
Will Sheff (Okkervil River)
Jeff Tweedy (Wilco) - but not on Sky Blue Sky where the lyrics are kind of shit
Matt Berninger (The National)
Jesse Lacey (Brand New)
Craig Finn (The Hold Steady)
Travis Morrison (Dismemberment Plan)
I aspire to be like these people. Thing is, they all have massively different styles of writing. Berninger uses these weird turns of phrase that only make sense in context and with his delivery. John Darnielle is really strong on imagery and detail, Craig Finn is like a drunken, junkie beat poet, Tweedy has a strange mix of surrealism and romanticism, Jesse Lacey has bitterness and broken-heartedness down to an art form, and Will Sheff is just like the perfect mix of all of the above.
I pay far too much attention to lyrics.
Will Sheff is such a storyteller.
All grime and heart in equal measures.
yeah
all these songs about people fucked up by passion. his delivery of Westfall is chilling in places ("and when I killed her it was so easy that I wanted to kill her again. I got down on both of my knees and... she ain’t coming back again")
Mark
E Smith
Tim Ten yen
and
Eddie Argos!
How's about
Malkmus, largely nonsensical but definitely touches of brilliance.
Arctic Monkeys
I can't believe no one has said
Mark Kozelek (Redhouse Painters)
Cole Porter
Jimmy Van Heusen
Ira Gershwin
Lorenz Hart
Oscar Brown Jr
see also
Noel Coward
yes and
Irving Berlin, Frank Loesser, Oscar Hammerstein II
Gilbert ans Sullivan
Chas and Dave
^ FACT