top 5 lyricists of all time

[russycarps]

looks like I've got a slow day at work today. Simple question - who's the best then eh??

for me it's quite simple.

5. Nick Cave

4. Paul Simon

3. John Lennon

2. Bob Dylan

1. Len Cohen

Yep.

Oh and anyone who puts a hip hop artist in their list needs to take a long hard look at themselves!

[Purple Monkey]

Don't want to list them in any order, but Trent Reznor, John Lennon, Chris Cornell, Dylan, Simon & Garfunkel, Tom Waits, Lemmy, Cash, Jarvis Cocker, Thom Yorke, Cobain, Morrisey Neil Hannon, Nick Cave and Maynard James Keenan spring to mind as artists who "have been at it a while" that grab me by the balls with their words.

Airborne Toxic Event, King Creosote, Biffy Clyro, Kim Cheshire, Dark Dark Dark and Matthias Hedberg are also noteworthy ultra-modern artists as far as lyrics go.

Nothing wrong with hip hop artists making the list. Lupe Fiasco and Lowkey are both quality in their own way.

Nine Inch Nails – Right Where It Belongs

Biffy Clyro – God & Satan

Jarvis Cocker – Running The World

Biffy Clyro – Machines

Radiohead – Creep

Kim Cheshire – Dead Man's Shoes

The Airborne Toxic Event – The Graveyard Near The House

The Airborne Toxic Event – All I Ever Wanted

The Smiths – Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want - 2007 Remastered Version

The Divine Comedy – Dumb It Down

Johnny Cash – Hurt

Simon & Garfunkel – The Sound Of Silence

A Perfect Circle – Fiddle And The Drum

A Perfect Circle – Pet

King Creosote & Jon Hopkins – Running On Fumes

Dark Dark Dark

Chris Cornell – Follow My Way

Lowkey – Hand On Your Gun

Lupe Fiasco – Words I Never Said - feat. Skylar Grey

Edited November 25, 2011 by Purple Monkey

[Kowalski]

John Lennon, Ian Curtis, Johnny Cash and Damon Albarn would be on my list

[The Nal]

Completely impossible to narrow it down to 5.

Hers a bunch, in no particular order.

Bob Dylan

Johnny Mercer

Jim Morrison

Tom Waits

Blind Willie McTell

Cole Porter

Morrissey

Skip James

Roger Waters

I wouldn't have any of The Beatles in there to be honest. Lennon only wrote (maybe) 2-3 songs with great lyrics.

Can't beat the classics. Johnny Mercer, unbelievable tekkers.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ev-h4F-nZQg

Been going through my biyearly Doors phase recently.

The End. Started off as a 2 minute song about his ex, but turned into a song about the death of the 60s and 60s culture, in early 1966!

"Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain,

And all the children are insane".

Don't think theres been a lyric thats summed it up better for me.

Edited November 25, 2011 by The Nal

[fred quimby]

^{Great lists I would add}

^{Syd Barrett}

^{Robyn Hitchcock}

^{loving Cherry Ghost at the moment}

^{I'd also add Ghostpoet as well , although russy doesn't like those hip hoppers}

[thetime]

billy bragg

paul banks

bob dylan

morrissey/marr

brown/squire

eric bibb

terry callier

ian curtis

cant believe no ones mentioned lenns/macca

[5co77ie]

Nigel Blackwell

David Bowie

John Cooper Clarke Neil Peart

Ray Davies

Ian Dury

Edited November 25, 2011 by 5co77ie

[russycarps]

I wouldnt have morrissey anywhere near my list, I dont reckon his words are in the same league as the real greats

[Wooderson]

Stephen Merritt

We don't have to be stars exploding in the night

or electric eels under the covers.

We don't have to be

anything quite so unreal,

lets just be lovers.

Elvis Costello

History repeats the old conceits,

the glib replies, the same defeats.

Keep yer finger on important issues

with crocodile tears and pocket full of tissues.

Robert Hunter

If my words did glow with the gold of sunshine

and my tunes were played on the harp unstrung.

Would you hear my voice come through the music?

Would you hold it near, as it were your own?

Mark E Smith

White collar hits motorway services

It's the Hip Priest

From the eyes he can see, they know

It's the Hip Priest

He's not appreciated.

It's purple psychology.

Not just an old lady's.

Lou Gramm

If it feels alright, maybe you can stay all night

Shall I leave you my key?

[Yoghurt on a Stick]

I see nobody has mentioned the powerhouse of lyric writing that is Billy Joel. The afore mentioned artists are good but Billy really does come into his own with;

It's the next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways

It's still rock and roll to me

God I hate that bloke for planting that in my head for all these years. What a bastard, there's no getting rid of it!

[5co77ie]

I see nobody has mentioned the powerhouse of lyric writing that is Billy Joel. The afore mentioned artists are good but Billy really does come into his own with;

[5co77ie]

Lou Gramm

[5co77ie]

Pete Townshend.... Jeff Tweedy, Dylan, Tom Waits... Stevie Wonder.... John & Paul, Jagger, Springsteen, Chuck,

then there's Irving Berlin, Gershwin....

Edited November 25, 2011 by 5co77ie

[russycarps]

we are talking all time here though. I love i am kloot and love elbows older stuff but I'm not sure sure they're all time great material......or are they? Could they write a book of poems I wonder.

I'm still waiting for someone to say pete doherty to be honest

[5co77ie]

That's the trouble with all time - you never know if the new stuff is up to it. Although I should also have Bob Marley in there.

[5co77ie]

we are talking all time here though. I love i am kloot and love elbows older stuff but I'm not sure sure they're all time great material......or are they? Could they write a book of poems I wonder.

[The Nal]

Lou Gramm

[russycarps]

I'd say both could write something fairly decent - and of course they're not yet at their respective peaks. I think I'm going to stick to the five I had, but add:

6. Brian Wilson

7. Bob Marley

8. Steve Cropper

9. Robert Hunter

!0. Gram Parsons

[Ed209]

What's the objection to Hip Hop? It's a musical genre built on lyricists and dismissing it outright seems ridiculous. Rakim, Mos Def, Nas, Biggie, Jay-Z, all hugely respected as lyricists, both from within the genre and outside.

To a huge group of people these are the Dylans and Cohens.

For me, beyond the classics (Dylan, Waters etc) - as Purple Monkey mentioned, massive fan of Maynard James Keenan's and Trent Reznor's lyrics. Eddie Vedder, Billy Corgan, and Kurt Cobain also wrote some pretty awesome stuff.

[grumpyhack]

I'd go with many of the above but one to also consider is the late Harry Chapin - an all round good human being who wrote songs about what he called "big events in the lives of little people."

This is his best known

But this one perhaps reflects his work better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=upZB5VlbC6o

Edited November 25, 2011 by grumpyhack

[Jackmypie]

Mozza

Doherty

John Lennon

David Bowie

Bob Dylan

[Rufus Gwertigan]

Has anyone mentioned Matt Johnson.

[BlackHole2006]

John Darnielle:

The most remarkable thing about coming home to you

is the feeling of being in motion again

it's the most extraordinary feeling in the world

I have two big hands and a heart pumping blood and a 1967 colt .45

with a busted safety catch

The world shines as I cross the Macon county line

Going to Georgia

Elliott Smith:

Drink up baby

Look at the stars

I'll kiss you again

Between the bars

Where I'm seeing you there

With your hands in the air

Waiting to finally be caught

Stephin Merrit:

The book of love is long and boring

No one can lift the damn thing

It's full of facts and charts and figures

and instructions for dancing

but I love it when you read to me

Robert Pollard:

You can never be down

You must always be free

But I never asked for the truth

But you owe that to me

Wayne Coyne:

Do you realize?

That you have the most

Beautiful face

[feral chile]

Suzanne Vega.

"Night Vision"

By day give thanks

By night beware

Half the world in sweetness

The other in fear

When the darkness takes you

With her hand across your face

Don't give in too quickly

Find the thing she's erased

Find the line, find the shape

Through the grain

Find the outline, things will

Tell you their name

The table. the guitar

The empty glass

All will blend together when

Daylight has passed

Find the line, find the shape

Through the grain

Find the outline, things will

Tell you their name

Now I watch you falling into sleep

Watch your fist curl against the sheet

Watch your lips fall open and your eyes dim

In blind faith

I would shelter you

Keep you in light

But I can only teach you

Night vision

[

Edited November 26, 2011 by feral chile

[feral chile]

And in contrast to the above one about protecting your loved ones, this one's about incest:

Bad Wisdom

Mother the doctor knows something is wrong

Cause my body has strange information

He's looked in my eyes and knows I'm not a child

But he doesn't dare ask the right question

Mother my friends are no longer my friends

And the games we once played have no meaning

I've gone serious and shy and they can't figure why

So they've left me to my own daydreaming

What price to pay

For bad wisdom

What price to pay

For bad wisdom

Too young to know

Too much too soon

Bad wisdom

Bad wisdom

Mother you've taught me the laws are so fine

If I'm good that I will be protected

I've fallen through the crack and there's no getting back

And I'll never trust whoever gets elected

Mother your eyes have gone suddenly cold

And it wasn't what I was expecting

Once I did think that I'd find comfort there

And instead you've gone hard and suspecting

What price to pay

For bad wisdom

What price to pay

For bad wisdom

Too young to know

Too much too soon

Bad wisdom

Bad wisdom

Edited November 26, 2011 by feral chile