Who is/are your favorite lyricist(s)? What are some examples of why you find them brilliant?

Eminem
Thriving Ivory
K’Naan
Lupe Fiasco
Brent Dennen
The Decemberists
Flobots
Jason Mraz
Josh Joplin
Josh Ritter
Pink Floyd
RHCP
The Shins

I bolded the ones who I think have even more incredible lyrics than the others. I would like to quote you some, but you just need to listen to them in context.Thats what youtube is for!

I am also a huge fan of lyrics.

The lyrics I find at the beginning and ending of Japanese shows to be very wise.

Jason Mraz, Gordon Lightfoot, Freddy Mercury, Carla Bruni…. i give up. Too many.

I tried so hard not to like Jason Mraz, but then I listened to his lyrics instead of just the music and became a fan. Bah.

The Decemberists win in my book, though. They tell some really awesome stories with their songs.

There are far too many to list. Most of my preferred music is based on an appreciation of the lyrics – modern poetry in some ways.

This list is from my iTunes recently played list for the last few hours.

(You’d never guess that I was in my fifties – would you.)

Leonard Cohen, Carole King, the Carpenters, Dianna Krall, Jane Olivor, Laura Branigan, Billy Joel, Cat Stevens, CRC, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton & JJ Cale, Gerry Rafferty, Jim Croce, Melissa Manchester, Moody Blues, Pat Benatar, Roy Orbison, Boney M, Bread, The Doors, John lennon, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, Sting, 5th Dimension, Air Supply, ABBA, Bob Seger, Bonnie Tyler, Boston, Cassandra Wilson. Patricia Kaas.

Greg Graffin & Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion – The only punk band I listen to. Opened my eyes to many political and moral issues I had not considered.

Serj Tankian & Daron Malakian of System of a Down – Once again, they bring up interesting political and moral issues, but are much more poetic than the previous band. But, they also do goofy stuff; check out Pizza Pie and Vicinity of Obscenity to see what I mean.

Gavin Rossdale of Bush – His stuff mostly doesn’t make sense. Or rather, the snippets make sense, but usually not as a whole. Maybe I only like his lyrics because I got into the band at an emotional time in my life.

The Flaming Lips have some great lyrics on Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots; uplifting, heartbreaking, funny and nostalgic, all at the same time.

My most favourite are Death Cab for Cutie. Wow. They sing some powerfull stuff. Apparently they keep a running list over the year and write down the saddest things they see or hear about, to give them inspiration for their songs.

I also agree with the Shins, and there is some fascinating stuff about their lyrics on songmeanings.net, especially about Wincing the Night Away.

I also also agree with Josh Ritter and Pink Floyd, and want to add William Fitzsimmons, Angus & Julia Stone, The Beautiful Girls, Bon Iver, Elliott Smith, Modest Mouse, Patrick Park, Regina Spektor, Sarah Blasko, Shout Out Louds, and The Whitlams.

As you can see by the alphabetical order I just went down my iTunes :P

But all of these bands seem to draw on very real experiences in a way that really ring true with me, whether I have experienced the same things or not. It’s so easy to sing along and believe what you are singing. And a lot of them tell a story, an interesting one, that keeps me wanting to listen, which is always good.

edit :: Oh, specific quotations to come shortly :P

OH! How could I forget Tom Lehrer!? And Norm Sherman.

—I’ll be honest, but a bit lazy; all I have to do is copy and paste @DarkScribe‘s list above, as it holds true for yours truly as well:

Leonard Cohen, Carole King, the Carpenters, Dianna Krall, Jane Olivor, Laura Branigan, Billy Joel, Cat Stevens, CRC, Neil Diamond, Eric Clapton & JJ Cale, Gerry Rafferty, Jim Croce, Melissa Manchester, Moody Blues, Pat Benatar, Roy Orbison, Boney M, Bread, The Doors, John lennon, Neil Young, Simon & Garfunkel, Sting, 5th Dimension, Air Supply, ABBA, Bob Seger, Bonnie Tyler, Boston, Cassandra Wilson. Patricia Kaas.

Note to self: Zen, you don’t know the last two on the list; go youtube them. Okay zen, thanks bud.

I think Danny Elfman kicks butt when it comes to lyrics.

I think Insanity and I Forget (scroll down for a translation) are great examples of this.

Also, Joss Whedon’s (limited) songwriting is much better than a lot of other music out there. The Once More, With Feeling lyrics have some very clever lines.

James Taylor, Paul Simon, double entendres and true love.

In addition to some already mentioned, Talib Kweli is excellent… Four Women is a favorite if you want to check it out. (good explanation of the song)

Carrie Newcomer (top of my list, at turns spiritual, down-to-earth, poignant, funny)
Josh Ritter (been said before)
Jill Sobule (She is not just a one-hit wonder!)
I’ll add quotes if I have some free time.

CONOR OBERST
of Bright Eyes

I’ll add lyrics later.

Josh Homme – Queens of the Stone Age (in no particular order)

There ain’t no glory on that side of the hole.

I want something good to die for, to make it beautiful to live.

It’s the cruelest joke to play. I’m so high I run in place.

Cracks in the ceiling, crooked pictures in the hall.

Ask yourself, “Will I burn in hell?” then write it down and cast it in the well.

In addition to most of DarkScribe’s and NewZen’s lists, I would put Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Paxton, Phil Ochs and Joni Mitchell.

Oh – and George Harrison.

Elliott Smith. Just read some of these lyrics…amazing.

@jfos He’s brilliant. When The President Talks to God and pretty much every song on I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning are great examples of his amazing songwriting.

And Adam Durtiz of the Counting Crows. I’m finding them a little overly ernest and schmaltzy lately, but I still think Have You Seen Me Lately captures feelings I’ve certainly experienced but have never heard represented in a song before.

Trent Reznor is by far my favorite <3 Right Where It Belongs by Nine Inch Nails is my all-time favorite song. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it! – LB

Right Where It Belongs

See the animal in his cage that you built
Are you sure what side you’re on?
Better not look him too closely in the eye
Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?
See the safety of the life you have built
Everything where it belongs
Feel the hollowness inside of your heart
And it’s all…
Right where it belongs

What if everything around you
Isn’t quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection
Is it all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks?
Would you find yourself…
Find yourself afraid to see?

What if all the world’s inside of your head
Just creations of your own?
Your devils and your gods
All the living and the dead
And you’re really all alone?
You can live in this illusion
You can choose to believe
Keep on looking but you can’t find the woods
While you’re hiding in the trees

What if everything around you
Isn’t quite as it seems?
What if all the world you used to know
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection
Is it all you want to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks
Would you find yourself…
Find yourself afraid to see?

Eddie Vedder and Jeff Buckley.

Elvis Costello. My Bob, the man’s a genius, even though he’s admitted to using a thesaurus in his work. So what, you know?

Get a load of this, will you:

Beyond Belief

History repeats the old conceits
The glib replies, the same defeats
Keep your finger on hot button issues
With crocodile tears and a pocketful of tissues

I’m just the oily slick
In the windup world of a nervous tick
In a very fashionable hovel

I hang around dying to be tortured
You’ll never be alone in the bone orchard
This battle with the bottle is nothing so novel

So in this almost empty gin palace
Through a two-way looking glass
You see your Alice

You know she has no sense
For all your jealousy
In a sense, she still smiles very sweetly

Charged with insults and flattery
Her body moves with malice
Do you have to be so cruel to be callous

And now you find you fit this identikit completely
You say you have no secrets
And then leave discreetly

I might make it California’s fault
Be locked in Geneva’s deepest vault
Just like the canals of Mars and the Great Barrier Reef
I come to you beyond belief

My hands were clammy and cunning
She’s been suitably stunning
But I know there’s not a hope in Hades
All the laddies catcall and wolf whistle
So-called gentlemen and ladies
Dog fight like rose and thistle

I’ve got a feeling
I’m going to get a lot of grief
Once this seemed so appealing
Now I am beyond belief

OH! ::hands on chest:: Utterly fantastic.

Stephen Sondheim: MIchael Flanders and Donald Swann: Peter, Paul and Mary: The LImelighters; Pete Seeger; Lorenzo Da Ponte (Mozart’s librettist, and what janbb said.

I’m pretty into upbeat music…not that I dislike slower or sad music but in general I tend to go for faster music and/or music with positive lyrics. Right now (I feel like I’ve said this on fifty different threads) I really love the Avett Brothers. Particularly At The Beach

Also Billy Joel, Chuck Berry, MGMT…I like The Who a lot but their song “Blue Red and Gray” has some of my favorite lyrics to any song…take a look :)

No one said Mike Patton yet?
Wow

I definitely have to second The Decemberists. Colin Melloy is quite the genius lyricist. I also really like Streetlight Manifesto for lyrics. My favorite lyrics from them is from their song A Better Place, A Better Time about a girl who wants to commit suicide:

I’ll draw your bath
And I’ll load your gun
But I hope so bad
That you bathe and hunt

“How hard is it to decide to be in a good mood,
And then just be.. in.. a good mood?
That’s all I have to say because it’s a straight up fact,
You control your emotions it’s as simple as that”

Dan Le Sac Vs Scroobius Pip – Waiting for the Beat to Kick In

Cole Porter; “You’re the Top”

Rufus Wainwright. Everyone else pales in comparison in my book. I can barely even choose which song to quote!!

Go or Go Ahead:

“Thank you for this bitter knowledge
Guardian angels who left me stranded
It was worth it, feeling abandoned
Makes one hardened but – what has happened to love

Got me writing lyrics on postcards
Then in the evenings looking at stars
But the brightest of the planets is Mars
What has happened to love

So I will opt for the big white limo
Vanity fairgrounds and rebel angels
Can’t be trusted with feathers so hollow
Heaven’s invention, steel eyed vampires of love
You see over me, I’ll never know
What you’ve shown to other eyes

Go or go ahead and surprise me
Say you’ve lead the way to a mirage
Go or go ahead and just try me

Nowhere’s now here smelling of junipers
Fell off the hay bales, I’m over the rainbows
But oh Medusa kiss me and crucify
This unholy notion of the mythic powers of love
Look in her eyes, look in her eyes
Forget about the ones that are crying
Look in her eyes, look in her eyes
Forget about the ones that are crying

Go or go ahead
And surprise me
Go or go ahead
And just try me”

@fireinthe priory And how about his Mom and Dad – Loudon Wainwright and Kate McGarrigle?

@janbb I haven’t heard as much of their music, but from what I have heard, he definitely got his talent from them. His sister Martha also has quite good lyrics. It’s a family affair, I suppose!

@fireinthepriory Yup, yup.

The Shins
Dave Matthews

Neil Young
Townes Van Zandt
Richard Buckner
Doug Martsch (Built to Spill)
Isaac Brock (Modest Mouse)
Jello Biafra (Dead Kennedys)
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)
Kurt Cobain

Marc Bianchi

I used to know this girl
Who gave her love away
To every guy she met
And with all the games they played
She never seemed to cry
She never got upset
And one by one they came
And one by one they left
I thought that I could fix her
If she would let me in
But all of my advances
Were shut down in the end
When days turned into months
I begged her to explain
And this is what she sang

It’s not like I’m a slut
Or that I really like to fuck
I just want every boy I see
To walk away with part of me
Until there’s nothing left to hold
Until there’s nothing left to hate
I appreciate your help
But even you can’t save me from myself

I used to know this boy
Who took notes in a book
But he ripped out all the pages
Before I got a look
At all the words he scribbled
At all the lines he filled
But the ink stains on his fingers
Told me he was skilled
At capturing a feeling
That most of us just miss
The simple pain of living
With goodbyes on our lips
I found one of the pages
Crumpled by her bed

And this is how it read

It’s not like I am weak
Or that I don’t know how to leave
It’s just that every time you cheat
You bring me closer to defeat

Until there’s nothing left to love
Until there’s nothing left to say
I know that you need help
But even I can’t save you from yourself

James Maynard Keenan, Eddie Vedder, Pink Floyd, etc. I like anything highly or remotely philosophical.

Jon Anderson YES
Steven Wilson PORCUPINE TREE

Here’s one verse from a Rufus Wainwright song, on the McGarrigle Christmas album:

Don’t forget Jesus, Mary and Joseph
Running from the law King Herod had impos-ed.
Don’t forget that what kept them afloat
(running through the desert Doesn’t Need a Boat)
Don’t forget that what kept them above
Was un-con-di-tion-al love.
And they were each one quite odd:
a mensch, a virgin and a god.

(back to me:) I gotta tell you I think that’s a very amusing family portrait.

@RareDenver That’s one of my favorite songs :)

@RareDenver

Wow, that song exactly exactly applies to my life right now. My now ex is that girl. Still love her and it makes me sad.

@jackm Enjoy the song

@jackm virtual hug!

A LOT of great lyricists.. @forestGeek lurve for townes Van Zandt!

I know Bob Seeger has been mentioned, but I have to give him props. His song Against the Wind is still one of my all-time favorite songs, and is such a strong parallel to my life that it’s uncanny.

I definitely have to agree with Greg Graffin & Brett Gurewitz of Bad Religion, there’s something about their songs that always strike me as well written. Pink Floyd is another. Death Cab is a definite. I do agree with Sting; I love The Police, their songs were always so straight forward but still well written.

My absolute favorite by far is Emery:

Left With Alibis And Lying Eyes

Watching someone stop breathing.
Feel the arms and palms releasing.
The color, the smell of the skin,
All of this with your fingerprints.
And there isn’t a thing that they can do.

Drive drive drive drive,
I don’t want to get caught.
We’ll say, we’ll say we’re innocent.
And there is enough to prove we’re not.
They will believe anything.
I’m packing all my clothes and never going to go home again.
There isn’t one thing we forgot.
You’ll see, we’ll get away with this.

My jeans, your shoes, we’ll throw away everything we’ve used.
But there’s still your worried mouth
To match your worried eyes.
The only two things left to find.

Drive drive drive drive,
I don’t want to get caught.
We’ll say, we’ll say we’re innocent.
And there is enough to prove we’re not.
They will believe anything.
I’m packing all my clothes and never going to go home again.
There isn’t one thing we forgot.
You’ll see, we’ll get away with this.

There’s no compromise.
So remember this:
Your hands are lies.
It’s too late for ifs.
We’ll go home and close the door,
then pull the sheets up to our heads and sleep.
And there isn’t a thing that they can do.

Drive drive drive drive,
I don’t want to get caught.
We’ll say, we’ll say we’re innocent.
And there is enough to prove we’re not.
They will believe anything.
I’m packing all my clothes and never going to go home again.
There isn’t one thing we forgot.
You’ll see, we’ll get away with this.

There are so many that I like. Here’s an example of one of them. It is so descriptive that when he sings ”...the air smelled like snakes…” you can almost smell the odor of water and snakes.

Paradise by John Prine

When I was a child, my family would travel
Down to western Kentucky where my parents were born
And there’s a backwoods old town that’s often remembered
So many times that my memories are worn

And daddy, won’t you take be back to Muhlenberg County
Down by the Green river where Paradise lay
Well I’m sorry my son, but you’re too late in asking
Mr. Peabody’s coal train has hauled it away.

Well sometimes we’d travel right down the Green river
To the abandoned old prison down by Adrien hill.
Where the air smelled like snakes, and we’d shoot with our
pistols
But empty pop bottles was all we would kill.
CHORUS

Then the coal company came with the world’s largest shovel
And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land
Well, they dug for their coal ‘till the land was forsaken
Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man.

CHORUS

————————————————————————————————-

Words and music by John Prine, copyright 1971 Walden Music, Inc.
and Sour Grapes Music, all rights reserved.

Jack Johnson is an amazing lyricist…here’s an example of one of his songs(Monsoon):
All of life
Is in one drop of the ocean
Waiting to go home
Just waiting to go home
And if the moon
Can turn the tides it can pull the tears
and take them from our eyes
And make them into monsoons

Nada Surf(lesser known underground band with a surfer rock kind of edge, the lyrics to the song i posted are beside the video window..the song is called Always Love):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GP3DNR_KbzY

Can’t believe I forgot David Gedge

He totally opens himself and sings about his own life, like when the love of his life left him and he got his old band The Wedding Present back together just to sing about it.

Ringway to Seatak Bad Audio

You ask me how I feel, well suddenly this is all for real
It hasn’t seemed like that till now,
it’s as if you almost were still mine somehow
I hope you’ve realised just how I’m being so civilised
But it’s nearly time I went,
we’ve got one last chance to have an argument

Watching you walk back to your car
Was the lowest point of my life so far

Don’t stare into my eyes, I couldn’t bear for you to realise
That I’m still desperately in love with you
and darling that’s all I can think of
It’ll get easier every day, well I’ll be five thousand miles away
And I’m good at hiding pain
but now I really should get on that plane

And watching you walk back to your car
Was the lowest point of my life so far
As if you still could ever do a single thing
That’d make me hate you

Mars Sparkles Down On Me

So here I’ve got my brand new girlfriend
And she’s great in every way
And you’ve got your new lover there
So I guess we’re both okay

And I know that we’ve been through this
And we have to be apart
But the thought of him lying in our bed with you
It still just breaks my heart

Mars sparkles down
On me

You say he wants to meet me
Oh, I’m sure he’s genuine
But how can I just shake his hand?
When it’s been all over your skin

Mars sparkles down
On me

I should stop calling on our wind
But I won’t
I know I really should consider him
But I don’t

I’m From Further North Than You

And then you said “No, I’m not from the south,
I am from further north than you!”
With that you kissed me full on the mouth
And that was when I knew
you were either drunk or you wanted me
And, you know, either way I wasn’t going to disagree
But how did one crazy night turn into six weeks
How can we be going out if neither of us speaks
I think we’re the same in many ways
And I admit we had some memorable days
But just not very many
I just think we both need more,
and we can’t ignore how unhappy we were
I’d been abandoned by her and you needed a friend
All right the night we walked into the sea I guess that was okay
And when we bought that weird pornography
yeah that was a good day
The first time I saw your red bikini I just couldn’t help but stare
And when we counted planets in the sky
I was just happy you were there

and this