Best Lyricists?
 

I'm really interested in your opinions on who are the best lyricists are (not exclusively in classic rock, or english).

I'm not going to order my list, I don't really think you can do that when it comes to deciding greats..

My choices are; Tori Amos (shocking I'm sure), Lou Reed, Jackson Browne, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco, Mary Chapin Carpenter, Paul Westerberg, Conor Oberst, Paul Simon. Oh, and Jewel (sometimes).

I guess this is also a little self-serving, I tend to be more interested in the lyrics than the melody of a song, so I'm hoping to get some recommendations. :o

Stevie Nicks and Ludacris.

I love all the ones you guys listed, particularly Tori Amos, Lou Reed, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco, Conor Oberst, Jewel, Stevie (DUH), Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits, NEIL FREAKIN' YOUNG and Neko Case.

Additions:
Ryan Adams (particularly his album Love is Hell if you want something more reflective and dark, but EVERYTHING he writes is beautiful. He is a great example of an artist who can balance extremely image driven and complex lyrics with many simple alt-country songs, too)


I'll add more to this when my iTunes is cooperating.

Elton John. Well, let's not misrepresent - Bernie Taupin wrote all (or most, anyway) the words for him and EJ would take like two minutes to throw down a melody.

Straying from classic rock... When I get in an emo-ish mood I always listen to Dashboard Confessional.
Loveeee the lyrics. I don't know much about the band, but I really like their lyrics.

Stevie Nicks, Steve Perry, Neal Schonn, Neal Pert, Mariah Carey, Dannie Dennis, Klaus Meine, Bob Dylan, Carly Simon and Bruce Springsteen. :angel:

Caught ya!

Yep! :lol:

I do feel pretty optimistic about it though, IF ya keep working at it. I love
trying to encourage you because i.m.o. you really do have real talent, not
to embarrass you or overdo it.

But I bet you haven't read that book by Dampier yet, or anything by Poul Anderson. :eek:

Well I'll pretend to not be embarassed and simply say that I am flattered-- thank you :) It is honestly really nice to hear.

Dampier? Anderson? Are these recommendations that I have forgotten?

In no particular order:

Lucinda Williams
Joni Mitchell
Neil Young
Leonard Cohen
Towens Van Zant
Nick Cave
Tom Waits
Stevie Nicks
Carole King
Emmylou Harris
Loretta Lynn
Dolly Parton
Michael Jackson
Prince
George Harrison
Lennon/ McCartney
Butler/Iommi
Waters/Gilmour

Nobody, in my opinion, will ever come close to Dylan. The words that he writes can create whole stories inside my head. No-one else can do that.

I found this thread a bit late and most of mine have been said (Jackson Browne especially) but I have to add Adam Duritz to this list. You knew I would, sorry! A fantastic lyricist, really does it for me.

Jewel...sometimes. Haha! I totally agree. I love lots of the tracks on Pieces of You but Spirit is a bit of a let down (save for FANTASTIC Down So Long). I think my favourite album of hers is This Way though, the one that nobody else seems to like! Do we dare speak of 0304?! Hmmmm.... As of yet I haven't got Goodbye Alice in Wonderland or Perfectly Clear. Would you recommend them? My God, her poetry is dreadful as well...

Personally my favourite is Tom Petty. I wouldn't call him the best lyricist ever mind you...

1. Christine McVie
2. Elvis Costello
3. David Bowie
4. Paul Weller
5. Joe Ely
6. Stevie Wonder
7. Warren Zevon
8. Junie Morrison
9. Jim Carroll
10. Rickie Lee Jones

Besides Stevie Nicks, Becker and Fagen, Neil Young, Robert Smith, George Harrison, David Bowie, oh yea I like Dolly Parton, Johnny Cash. It's like Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan have to be on the list cause they are so good!!!

Kate Bush, Bryan Ferry, Peter Gabriel for starters.

Just to be picky, Iommi never actually wrote any of the lyrics. Geezer wrote almost all of them in the 70's until Dio took over and after that it was (largely) the lead singer at the time who wrote them, even when Geezer was back. However, I do agree that his lyrics are great. :thumbsup:

A few of my favourites would be (in no order):

Avey Tare. Often surreal nonsense but it's pleasing to the ears (Animal Collective)
Elliott Smith
Sam Beam (Iron & Wine)
Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull)
Later day Neal Peart after he dropped the sci-fi stuff, especially their last album (Rush)
Jim Steinman because he's just so over the top (worked with Meat Loaf and others)
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)
Paul Simon


Regina Spektor is pretty good but I only know one album so far.

Sometimes I think Ben Gibbard is great and sometimes I think he can do some absolute dross, depending on my mood.

I don't think 0304 is as bad lyrically as it is musically. I love 'This Way', especially 'New Wild West'. What good is power if you can't act like a rock star?

'Goodbye Alice..' is brilliant, I totally recommend it. I totally recommend you stay far away from 'Perfectly Clear' though.

I can't believe I didn't mention him, he really is brilliant. My favourite is 'Cardinology'.

I don't think I've ever heard anyone rate Christine as a lyricists before. I like Warren Zevon, you have to admire someone who can work 'waring blender' into lyrics without it sounding ridiculous. :lol:

I dunno, there are some truly terrible lyrics on that album. "Old Spice is nice, but sweat is better, e-mail is cool, but romance lives in a letter, batteries are fine, but I'm energized all the time, U and me spells l-o-v-e"

lol I know you're kidding with Christine. You really love your Funkadelic don't ya?

Point taken. :lol: I think I've listened to that album a total of two times. I think some of 'Intuition' is pretty amusing though; 'you learned cool from magazines, you learned love from Charlie Sheen.'

Those you posted are the kind of lyrics 'Perfectly Clear' is filled with. I don't know what it is with Jewel, her lyrics can be wonderfully insightful but also sickeningly insipid.

I think because that album is kind of a love letter to her husband Ty, so it's a bit sickly sweet and school-girlish. The lyrics to Rosey And Mick are quite poignant but I think that's a much older song. Btw, did you know that Linda's Heart Like A Wheel was her inspiration for that album? It's doesn't live up to that though.

She is brilliant! I love the humour in a lot of her lyrics.

I didn't know that! I've always known Jewel had good taste. It really doesn't live up to it. :laugh:

I actually think 'Goodbye Alice..' was a better country album, though 'Perfectly Clear' was supposedly her first play for the country audience,

Yeah, I agree, I actually think Goodbye Alice In Wonderland is one of her best albums. Her new one, Lullaby, is a bit of a snooze-fest sadly.

No.

Yes.

Okay, interesting. Convince me though. Which lyrics of Christine's would you hold up as a good example of her as a superior lyricist?

You saw me, you saw me to the train
You saw me, you saw me to the train
Well, I could hardly keep from cryin'
'Cause I knew I wouldn't see you again

Bye bye baby, bye bye baby, bye bye
I said bye bye baby, bye bye baby, bye bye
If I was your only woman
I'd love you till the day I die
______________________________
Lord, it's good to talk to you
Even sweeter than wine
Don't take the love light away
'Cause I'm far away from home
______________________________
If I could turn the page
In time, Then I'd rearrange just a day or two
______________________________
You want a percentage
But I'm the fool paying the dues
______________________________
Isn't it midnight on the other side of the world?
Do you remember the face of a pretty girl?
______________________________
The stars must be my friends to shine for me

I wouldn't think Christine would ever "officially" be ranked in top lyricists, but I do love her lyrics, David.

Just to add to this...

You don't have to give up
Why is it all wrong
Why don't you love me
Why won't you just be strong

Always been one of my favorites from her :)

Bernie Taupin

Did you know that she wrote U+Me+LOVE for Holly Valance and she ended up doing it herself becase a) she liked how it turned out or b) Holly Valance turned it down?!

Can you believe that?! Jesus, if Holly Valance is turning your songs down you're in trouble. Then again, if you think songs like that should be on your own album instead then you're in trouble too!

The Dampier book is. It's "History of Science" by Sir William Cecil Dampier;
published by Cambridge University Press.
I think it's still in-print and it's REALLY good as far as that sort of thing goes;
and it's sorta considered to be *the* book for science history.
The REALLY "famous" one is History of Science by Rene Taton, but that just goes
on and on - like ME right NOW lol! - It's 4 volumes and thousands of pages. But it
all goes back to this guy named Sarton, he's the biggie.

But anyway long story short, yeah, I recommend the science history book by Dampier very highly. It's got a pretty good summary of what's gone down, in the past few hundred years.

Poul Anderson is my favorite science fiction author - he's just stunning in his abilities. The "big three" were "smarter" - Asimov had like a 180 I.Q. compared to Anderson's 160 or so - - - But Anderson LOVED learning SO much and he was learning ALL the time. His prose isn't necessarily top-rate in a "flowery" kind of way but he's just SO much fun to read and he gets a lot of ideas across without being preachy. He uses "gentle persuasion" in a fun, exciting way, and i.m.o. he was a master writer - BEST of the best!


Good books by him that are fairly short are "Fire Time" and "Ensign Flandry."
His "biggies" are the "Harvest of Stars" series (top-rate!) and "Boat of a Million Years."
Oh, and his really famous one is "Tau Zero," that got a lot of attention.
"Fire Time" was probably my favorite short novel by him. If I had to pick one,
that'd be the one I'd recommend. :)

oh lord, i do not get the tori love. i have yet to hear a song from her that actually means anything. stringing together words that sound pretty doesn't equal good songwriting to me.

my list ...

rosanne cash
annie lennox
ABBA (not kidding)
peter gabriel
emmylou
patty griffin
tom mother****ing petty
nikki sixx
miranda lambert
sheryl crow
melissa etheridge (like 20 years ago)
chrissie hynde
dolly parton

... that's all i can think of right now.

If she wrote Talk of the Town, she wrote one of the most artful songs I've ever heard. Stevie Nicks could only dream of writing something with such complex craftsmanship. It's perfect: there isn't a flaw anywhere in it -- music, lyric, melding of the two, &c. It's as marvelous as anything by Lennon & McCartney.

David I'm not sure you've convinced me about Christine, but her lyrics are very pretty for sure.

I can't believe someone mentioned her! I'm a really big fan. She's got the gift of rhyme for sure. I love 'Dead Flowers', can't wait to hear the rest of the new album. I also agree about Patty Griffin, she can just nail complicated feelings with one phrase. The song she wrote for Miranda, 'Getting Ready' is brilliant.


Oh, and I won't take you up on Tori. She's Marmite music, love it or hate it. :p

Well, that's all right. She may yet be appreciated for the galvanizing craftsman she is. Austen had to wait. Dickinson had to wait. McVie can wait too.

I'm sincerely hoping that the last words ever spoken in Nicksfix Chat will be,

"Yeah, but CHRISTINE wrote SONGBIRD!"

miranda's music is so quick and clever. i think she's fantastic. dry town? desperation? down? new strings? i wanna die?

i could go on.

hate it. :laugh:

chrissie hynde is a goddamned genius.

that one-two punch on last of the independents of "hollywood perfume" and "night in my veins" is ****ing brilliant.

oh and yes, she did write talk of the town.

My bad. I must admit I wasn't in the best frame of mind when I wrote that list last night. Of course Iommi didn't write the lyrics. One of my all-time favorite guitarist, though.