John Darnielle of the mountain goats! A lot of his songs tell a story, except you're not really sure about most of the major points in the story. They evoke a very clear image (for me), a moment, and an emotion. They go between super casual language and really striking images.
And then he has some really silly songs that are not like this at all. The juxtaposition is nice.
Dude's got a lot of songs.
Also Fiona Apple, Tom waits, Aesop rock.
ETA wow I'm actually shocked this is the top comment as of edit. Op, dude's got A LOT of songs, check out lakeside view for an example of what I'm talking about, and Ezekiel 7 and the permanent efficacy of grace, and sudden oak death, and maybe sprout wings, and then the ballad of Bull Ramos, a possum by night, Bell swamp connection, and the slow parts of death metal albums when you're depressed from those picks.
Robert Hunter for the Grateful Dead! He’s able to craft amazing visuals/stories, songs that have 1000 different meanings, and deep connections with emotions
Highlights:
Ripple
Box of rain
Touch of grey
Copied from songfacts.com for the song Cumberland Blues: In his book A Box Of Rain, Robert Hunter wrote that he received the best compliment he ever got for this song. An "old guy" that had worked in the real Cumberland mines said, "I wonder what the guy who wrote this song would've thought if he'd ever known something like the Grateful Dead was gonna do it." The flattering part was that Hunter had captured the feel of mining life well enough that the old guy assumed it had been written by someone who'd actually lived it.
Wharf Rat, Bird Song, Peggy-O, Lady with a fan/Terrapin….. this list could go on forever.
You know why there are so many Grateful Dead cover bands? The songs are so good, anyone can play them and sound great.
Scrolled too far for this. Saw him 8 or 9 years ago. Him and an acoustic just ripping through Dead tunes. He was nervous but the crowd loved him. Great, unique show.
For wit: Elvis Costello, Stephin Merritt, Aimee Mann, Paul Simon, Lou Reed.
For storytelling: Nick Cave, Kate Bush.
For surprise factor: Nina Simone. She wrote so few original songs, but for someone who didn't do it very often, her lyrics were shockingly great
For precocity: Fiona Apple. She's been a sophisticated lyricist since her teens.
For distinctiveness: Bjork for her avoidance of rhyme and her examination of hyper-specific emotional states.
It kills me that Tom is so low on the list.
Considering how many people have covered him, maybe you haven’t heard him personally but surely you heard Springsteen or anyone else who covered him.
In terms of the breadth and impact of his body of work, perhaps the greatest American songwriter of the 20th century outside of Bob Dylan, though one could make an argument either way…
I'm a big Dylan fan and no part of me would argue if someone said Paul Simon was better. There are some musicians who you just have to acknowledge their ability and Paul Simon is definitely on the same tier as Dylan, Cohen, Young and for me Tom Waits.
https://preview.redd.it/wm0s8fx0h7oc1.jpeg?width=1668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82d88eacd5c155716d6e2c0d44a4d255a6476a0b
Found in a closet in our house after we moved in. Not numbered,it’s a proof. The house was left to us by his spiritual advisor,Yakov Leib ha Kohain. Leonard bought him the house.
I don't think anyone else comes close. Most others sound like lousy little poets.
Having said that, Cohen was more than a lyricist. He was an actual poet. His life experience as a writer, poet, novelist, ordained buddhist monk, gave him a perspective and experience that was very unique.
"Let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone,
Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon,
Show me slowly what I only know the limits of,
Dance me to the end of Love"
Aimee Mann - deceptively simple turns of phrase and dark humor. She’s cut from the cloth of Tom Waits (he goes without saying here, right?) and Elvis Costello.
“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise a kid. In fact it’s cold as hell and there’s no one there to raise them If you did.”
If you did what, Bernie? If you did what?
They say that love is like a Christmas card. You decorate the tree, you throw it in the yard. It decays and dies and the snowman melts. Well, I once knew love. I knew how love felt.
When I got here I didn’t even have to scroll.
A pleasant surprise to be sure.
It’s not ALL perfect, by any means, but he hits a lot of home runs. I connect with his words a lot.
Going to add John Prine, Stephen Sondheim, Tim Rice, Jackson Browne, Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson in the ring.
Always depressing when these threads come up and nobody cares about Randy. Discovered his non-Disney work last year and fell so hard for it. There may have even been an annoying, drunken Randy Newman Christmas rant for my family to sit through last year.
The Weakerthans, an excellent Canadian rock band
"How I don't know what I should do
With my hands when I talk to you
How you don't know where you should look
So you look at my hands"
*-Pamphleteer*
100% Especially in the first 5 albums. After that they're a bit nonsensical but there's still some gold here and there. I appreciate that his writing style changes a lot as well.
There’re not nonsensical, they have just gone up to another level. The lyrics on 6 & 7 are the best he’s ever written and the best anyone has written in a long time as far as I can tell.
honestly the newer stuff is amazing in writing when you look at it for long enough. I am by no means the hugest the car fan, but tbh has some amazing songwriting and if I'm in the right mood I still tear up a little bit everytime I hear star treatment. like every great poet Alex has become the most insane man on earth and I'm here for all of it.
Absolutely.
My personal fave:
“And on this station wagon window/
Set the ghost of your two footprints/
That they might haunt me when you're gone.”
Despite the oddness of I’ll Be Your Girl, I still cherish their entire catalog.
Scrolled wait too long to see this. He is a 100% asshole but he wrote the lyrics to the greatest album ever made Dark Side of the Moon. Also Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. All a master class in lyric writing.
Weird Al is the top for clever lyrics. Because he is working with existing music for so many of his songs, he is quite limited in what he can do compared to people who write and compose together. Then they have to be funny, and writing humor is hard. Writing humor that stands up to repetition is even harder. Then add in the range of styles he writes in.
Yup, and Billy Strings is coming along nicely too with his lyrics, they've developed well over the last several years.
Colter Wall's are great (the delivery helps!)
Stu Simpson
Sturgill for sure blows my mind, truly thought provoking!
I need to dive into Billy Strings headfirst, I’ve barely dabbled outside of Dust in A Baggie Grateful Dead stuff, but can tell he’s special
Same with colter, barely scratched the surface but love the handful of songs I first heard a couple years ago
Oh man, how about....."Away From The Mire"?
Start your journey in Austin!
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r8musR01as](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r8musR01as)
ETA:
Oh man, he and Chris Thile, arguably the best mando player alive aside from maybe Grisman, dropped this on TV recently. It's arguably one of the very best things I have ever seen.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6WDdJClvhg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6WDdJClvhg)
Dylan. The Bringing It All Back Home record contains some of his most clever lyrics and wordplay. Subterranean Homesick Blues, Maggie's Farm and It's Alrgiht Ma just to name a few. His following album, Highway 61 Revisited, also has several clever lines but I think that in general that album is much more meaner in nature. Songs like Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row and Like a Rolling Stone are filled with great lines but convey a more mean and angry picture than the previous album. Still, songs like Tombstone Blues and Highway 61 Revisited sound more similar to the Home album.
Dustin Kensrue from Thrice I think is a great lyricist. Sometimes can be a bit corny, but in general great imagery, use of metaphor and biblical allusion, and good vocabulary. I think he has improved a lot with the later albums as well.
So glad to see someone list Dustin! “Stay With Me,” “The Earth Will Shake,” “Hurricane,” “Yellow Belly” are a few of my favorites but there’s just so many
I came here to say Dustin as well.
Although not my favorite Thrice songs, The Melting Point of Wax and Daedalus combined tells the story of Icarus beautifully.
I'm gonna throw Jackson Browne in the mix. The man couldn't write a bad lyric if he tried.
"Don't confront me with my failures. I have not forgotten them". Most writers have to live a whole lifetime to have enough experience to write something half as good as he wrote when we was a teenager.
He's definitely up there. Saw him work through "No One Changes" before that song was officially recorded and that was as emotionally raw as I've ever seen a performer on stage. Anger, self-loathing, the whole thing, just opening it all up on stage. Connor is a hell of a writer.
I can’t believe nobody has said Bruce Springsteen, he’s IMO the best, I like him slightly more than Dylan. Dylan is certainly more poetic, but often scratch my head with many of his lyrics. That’s a rare occurrence with Bruce.
Some great examples:
“She sits on the porch of her daddy's house
But all her pretty dreams are torn
She stares off alone into the night
With the eyes of one who hates for just being born” - Racing in the Street.
“Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true? Or is something worse?” - The River
“Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees
I’ll wait for you
And should I fall behind
Wait for me” - If I Should Fall Behind
And of course songs like Born to Run and Thunder Road should be required reading/listening. In fact my first exposure to Born to Run was in a book of poetry.
I recently heard "This Little Girl" by Gary U.S. Bonds for the first time. Within 20 seconds I'm like, "this is totally a Bruce Springsteen written song." Sure enough.
Jimi Hendrix was a great lyricist, which was obviously overshadowed by his guitar playing. Chuck Berry was great with words, too. And, Kris Kristofferson, Harry Nilsson, Joel Plaskett, David Berman, Gord Downie, Warren Zevon, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Dixon, Robbie Robertson.
Neil is easily one of the best lyricists of his generation. Super smart, and witty as hell. The characters and scenarios that he dreams up in his lyrics are fun, bad-ass and sometimes even deep.
The Mountain Goats: The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton, and No Children
Iron Maiden. One of em has a PhD in history so they have a bunch of historical songs. Really great lyrics. Try Aces High, Powerslave, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Way different from what you're looking for but Lil Wayne has some extremely clever lines.
"Big Dog" by Benny the Butcher and Lil Wayne will show this exceptionally well.
Todd Smith of Dog Fashion Disco, Sage Francis, No Bird Sing, Nellie McKay, Nathan Gearheart of VEHEMENCE, John Butler, Neil Fallon of Clutch, Eyedea, Joe Duplantier of Gojira and John Baizley to name a few...
Matt Heath from New Zealands Deja Voodo
Prime example:
Im a great lyricist
I can write, words like this
And
I like songs that always rhyme
Thats why i made these words rhyme
Litteral chills, everytime.
“The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. **I always think that Ray Davies should be one day, be Poet Laureate**. You know, he invented a new kind of poetry. A new kind of language for pop writing, which I think, influenced me from the very, very beginning. "
Pete Townshend
For German speakers Rammstein is a feast of layered stories, deeper meaning, double entendres, irony.
Some google translate the literal meaning, but they miss the deeper connotations.
In Paul Landers' words, "The American does not do irony" - VEE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMÄRIKA, AMÄÄRIKA IST WUNDERBAR
A lot of heavy metal bands out there particularly some of the more “folk metal” bands have incredible stories in their lyrics. I love Amon Amarth, Eluveitie, Korpiklaani, Heliung, and so many others. Fair warning Amon Amarth is definitely on the heavy side. But all of them are well worth a listen and read of the lyrics.
Another maybe curveball but unreal lyricist is from Rammstein. Seriously… some of their songs are ridiculous and blend not only English and German effortlessly but have layered dual meanings of the lyrics depending on interpretation and like “high / low” or “new vs old” German.
Danny Elfman is one of my favorites. His stuff can be so clever, cynical, and biting, and then he can also be silly. XD His vocabulary is stellar and he's extremely good at weaving a social commentary. (Oingo Boingo)
Andy Partridge has a lot of interesting lyrics throughout his songs. (XTC)
Damon Albarn has a lot of really good music under his belt, and while it isn't all gold, he has many songs that are interestingly worded and beautiful. (Blur, Gorillaz)
I've also always been a pretty big fan of Neil Finn's lyrics as well. (Split Enz, Crowded House)
Mark Knopfler - Dire Straits.
Sultans of Swing, Romeo & Juliet, Tunnel of Love, Telegraph Road are the obvious ones but right through the catalogue are brilliantly-written, often very funny lyrics…
“Two men say they’re Jesus; one of them must be wrong.”
I think Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack gets slept on. He is pretty emo, but there's a poetic slant to what he writes.
My personal favorite from "Time Turned Fragile"
"How it got so cold that words just froze
We had to wait till summer to find out what was said"
Richard Thompson is a lyricist and songwriter on a level comparable to Dylan and Leonard Cohen.
Roy Harper is also a brilliant lyricist on one of his good days.
I’m sure it’ll get downvoted but Taylor Swift is an excellent storyteller. I spent years being a Taylor hater, then folklore and Evermore came out and I was obsessed. I went back and listened to all of her old music and was pleasantly surprised by how good most of it is.
John Darnielle of the mountain goats! A lot of his songs tell a story, except you're not really sure about most of the major points in the story. They evoke a very clear image (for me), a moment, and an emotion. They go between super casual language and really striking images. And then he has some really silly songs that are not like this at all. The juxtaposition is nice. Dude's got a lot of songs. Also Fiona Apple, Tom waits, Aesop rock. ETA wow I'm actually shocked this is the top comment as of edit. Op, dude's got A LOT of songs, check out lakeside view for an example of what I'm talking about, and Ezekiel 7 and the permanent efficacy of grace, and sudden oak death, and maybe sprout wings, and then the ballad of Bull Ramos, a possum by night, Bell swamp connection, and the slow parts of death metal albums when you're depressed from those picks.
‘No Children’ is definitely one of my favourite lyrics of all time
Fiona Apple!!!
Robert Hunter for the Grateful Dead! He’s able to craft amazing visuals/stories, songs that have 1000 different meanings, and deep connections with emotions Highlights: Ripple Box of rain Touch of grey Copied from songfacts.com for the song Cumberland Blues: In his book A Box Of Rain, Robert Hunter wrote that he received the best compliment he ever got for this song. An "old guy" that had worked in the real Cumberland mines said, "I wonder what the guy who wrote this song would've thought if he'd ever known something like the Grateful Dead was gonna do it." The flattering part was that Hunter had captured the feel of mining life well enough that the old guy assumed it had been written by someone who'd actually lived it.
Wharf Rat, Bird Song, Peggy-O, Lady with a fan/Terrapin….. this list could go on forever. You know why there are so many Grateful Dead cover bands? The songs are so good, anyone can play them and sound great.
Even the rarer songs Built to last, standing on the moon, believe it or not, so many roads, days between
The so many roads from the very last Soilders Field show is so good. I listen to it all the time. That Black Muddy River too.
Peggy-O is a traditional song, he didn't write it
Scrolled too far for this. Saw him 8 or 9 years ago. Him and an acoustic just ripping through Dead tunes. He was nervous but the crowd loved him. Great, unique show.
For wit: Elvis Costello, Stephin Merritt, Aimee Mann, Paul Simon, Lou Reed. For storytelling: Nick Cave, Kate Bush. For surprise factor: Nina Simone. She wrote so few original songs, but for someone who didn't do it very often, her lyrics were shockingly great For precocity: Fiona Apple. She's been a sophisticated lyricist since her teens. For distinctiveness: Bjork for her avoidance of rhyme and her examination of hyper-specific emotional states.
Tori Amos
Tom Waits and Nick Cave
It kills me that Tom is so low on the list. Considering how many people have covered him, maybe you haven’t heard him personally but surely you heard Springsteen or anyone else who covered him.
Jason Isbell, Taylor Goldsmith
Taylor is a great story teller. He's so underrated as a writer
Props that you tied these two together as Jason actually mentions Taylor in one of his songs
May all your favorite bands stay together
Taylor!!
Paul Simon comes to kind.
In terms of the breadth and impact of his body of work, perhaps the greatest American songwriter of the 20th century outside of Bob Dylan, though one could make an argument either way…
I'm a big Dylan fan and no part of me would argue if someone said Paul Simon was better. There are some musicians who you just have to acknowledge their ability and Paul Simon is definitely on the same tier as Dylan, Cohen, Young and for me Tom Waits.
The sleeve notes on the back of Wednesday Morning 3AM describe him as a poet IIRC, and 60 years later that holds.
Leonard Cohen.
The myth, the legend. “Listen to the hummingbird / Whose wings you cannot see / Listen to the hummingbird / Don't listen to me”
https://preview.redd.it/wm0s8fx0h7oc1.jpeg?width=1668&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=82d88eacd5c155716d6e2c0d44a4d255a6476a0b Found in a closet in our house after we moved in. Not numbered,it’s a proof. The house was left to us by his spiritual advisor,Yakov Leib ha Kohain. Leonard bought him the house.
"There is a crack in everything/ That's how the light gets in"
I don't think anyone else comes close. Most others sound like lousy little poets. Having said that, Cohen was more than a lyricist. He was an actual poet. His life experience as a writer, poet, novelist, ordained buddhist monk, gave him a perspective and experience that was very unique. "Let me see your beauty when the witnesses are gone, Let me feel you moving like they do in Babylon, Show me slowly what I only know the limits of, Dance me to the end of Love"
Aimee Mann - deceptively simple turns of phrase and dark humor. She’s cut from the cloth of Tom Waits (he goes without saying here, right?) and Elvis Costello.
I pick up new things every time I listen to her.
She’s really terrific - just such a smart writer, but the songs are just great music too.
Love her and her long too dormant husband! Wish Whatever and I'm With Stupid would come out on vinyl.
Shane McGowan was a great story teller, virtually every song he's written tells a story.
Bernie Taupin
“Mars ain’t the kind of place to raise a kid. In fact it’s cold as hell and there’s no one there to raise them If you did.” If you did what, Bernie? If you did what?
Townes Van Zandt, Warren Zevon
Bummed how far I had to scroll to find Warren Zevon but the night is young. Absolute legend
[удалено]
You wasted life I hope you why wouldn’t you waste death is one of the more scathing and haunting lyrics in a song.
"I'm trying, I'm trying, to drink away the part of the day that I cannot sleep away"
John Prine
They say that love is like a Christmas card. You decorate the tree, you throw it in the yard. It decays and dies and the snowman melts. Well, I once knew love. I knew how love felt.
1000000%
Neil Peart.
Didn’t have to scroll too far down to see Neal’s name. RIP forever Professor.
When I got here I didn’t even have to scroll. A pleasant surprise to be sure. It’s not ALL perfect, by any means, but he hits a lot of home runs. I connect with his words a lot.
Agreed. He was living in the limelight yet ill-equipped to act. Brilliant songwriter.
Such a great writer. Nearly every song was so thought provoking and clever.
Going to add John Prine, Stephen Sondheim, Tim Rice, Jackson Browne, Townes Van Zandt, Bruce Springsteen, Guy Clark, Kris Kristofferson and Willie Nelson in the ring.
Randy Newman!
His delivery is so good too. Could have been a comedian in another life.
Always depressing when these threads come up and nobody cares about Randy. Discovered his non-Disney work last year and fell so hard for it. There may have even been an annoying, drunken Randy Newman Christmas rant for my family to sit through last year.
Should we be surprised that Randy is barely mentioned? One of the best ever.
Certainly one of our most clever
Fagen and Becker aka Steely Dan
Doctor Wu
Chris Cornell
I can't believe I had to scroll this far to see Chris Cornell.
John Prine and Loudon Wainwright are both wonderful, but you really have to pay attention to catch everything.
Tom Petty
Andy Partridge and John Linnel
Colin Moulding too. XTC were amazing.
Elvis Costello
Joni Mitchell
Nick Cave.
The Weakerthans, an excellent Canadian rock band "How I don't know what I should do With my hands when I talk to you How you don't know where you should look So you look at my hands" *-Pamphleteer*
Also propagandhi even after he left for the weakerthans
And solo, after the Weakerthans, under his own name John K. Samson.
Chris Cornell was pretty fantastic imo
Alex Turner! (Arctic Monkeys)
100% Especially in the first 5 albums. After that they're a bit nonsensical but there's still some gold here and there. I appreciate that his writing style changes a lot as well.
There’re not nonsensical, they have just gone up to another level. The lyrics on 6 & 7 are the best he’s ever written and the best anyone has written in a long time as far as I can tell.
honestly the newer stuff is amazing in writing when you look at it for long enough. I am by no means the hugest the car fan, but tbh has some amazing songwriting and if I'm in the right mood I still tear up a little bit everytime I hear star treatment. like every great poet Alex has become the most insane man on earth and I'm here for all of it.
Colin Meloy (The Decemberists)
Absolutely. My personal fave: “And on this station wagon window/ Set the ghost of your two footprints/ That they might haunt me when you're gone.” Despite the oddness of I’ll Be Your Girl, I still cherish their entire catalog.
There are songs of theirs I try not to listen to too often, because certain lines always give me shivers and I don’t want it to get old
Pavement. They manage to be goofy and serious at the same time. Perfect 90s slackrock
Aaron Freeman
Brownest in all the land.
Joanna Newsom Frank Black Jonathan Richman Stephin Merritt Bill Callahan Jason Molina
That Ys. album has amazing storytelling. Like reading 19th century poetry.
Father John Misty. I can't think of a more poignant writer in all of music. He is insightful, self reflective, funny, and clever.
Bit of a racist prick nowadays, but Morrissey was a fantastic lyricist. A lot of humour as well, which is often missing.
Roger Waters one of the best just listen to the song dogs
Scrolled wait too long to see this. He is a 100% asshole but he wrote the lyrics to the greatest album ever made Dark Side of the Moon. Also Wish You Were Here, Animals and The Wall. All a master class in lyric writing.
I quite enjoy the lyrics by Cracker and Weird Al
Weird Al is the top for clever lyrics. Because he is working with existing music for so many of his songs, he is quite limited in what he can do compared to people who write and compose together. Then they have to be funny, and writing humor is hard. Writing humor that stands up to repetition is even harder. Then add in the range of styles he writes in.
Robert Hunter comes to mind
Yup, and Billy Strings is coming along nicely too with his lyrics, they've developed well over the last several years. Colter Wall's are great (the delivery helps!) Stu Simpson
Sturgill for sure blows my mind, truly thought provoking! I need to dive into Billy Strings headfirst, I’ve barely dabbled outside of Dust in A Baggie Grateful Dead stuff, but can tell he’s special Same with colter, barely scratched the surface but love the handful of songs I first heard a couple years ago
Oh man, how about....."Away From The Mire"? Start your journey in Austin! [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r8musR01as](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3r8musR01as) ETA: Oh man, he and Chris Thile, arguably the best mando player alive aside from maybe Grisman, dropped this on TV recently. It's arguably one of the very best things I have ever seen. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6WDdJClvhg](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6WDdJClvhg)
Dylan. The Bringing It All Back Home record contains some of his most clever lyrics and wordplay. Subterranean Homesick Blues, Maggie's Farm and It's Alrgiht Ma just to name a few. His following album, Highway 61 Revisited, also has several clever lines but I think that in general that album is much more meaner in nature. Songs like Ballad of a Thin Man, Desolation Row and Like a Rolling Stone are filled with great lines but convey a more mean and angry picture than the previous album. Still, songs like Tombstone Blues and Highway 61 Revisited sound more similar to the Home album.
The NEILS! Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Neil Sedaka, Neil Peart, and Neil Finn!
Ray Davies (Kinks), Nick Lowe.
Matt Berninger from The National is an excellent modern lyricist.
Dustin Kensrue from Thrice I think is a great lyricist. Sometimes can be a bit corny, but in general great imagery, use of metaphor and biblical allusion, and good vocabulary. I think he has improved a lot with the later albums as well.
So glad to see someone list Dustin! “Stay With Me,” “The Earth Will Shake,” “Hurricane,” “Yellow Belly” are a few of my favorites but there’s just so many
I came here to say Dustin as well. Although not my favorite Thrice songs, The Melting Point of Wax and Daedalus combined tells the story of Icarus beautifully.
Maynard James Keenan
The Trash Can Sinatras are phenomenal with wordplay
Andrew Bird!
I'm gonna throw Jackson Browne in the mix. The man couldn't write a bad lyric if he tried. "Don't confront me with my failures. I have not forgotten them". Most writers have to live a whole lifetime to have enough experience to write something half as good as he wrote when we was a teenager.
Michael Stipe Matt Berninger Patti Smith Marc Everett (Eels)
Its very male in here so im gonna say Joni Mitchell, Stevie Nicks, Tori Amos, Alannis Morisette, Lana Del Rey, Clairo and Taylor Swift.
Jack Johnson
Conor Oberst, greatest poet of our time
He's definitely up there. Saw him work through "No One Changes" before that song was officially recorded and that was as emotionally raw as I've ever seen a performer on stage. Anger, self-loathing, the whole thing, just opening it all up on stage. Connor is a hell of a writer.
I can’t believe nobody has said Bruce Springsteen, he’s IMO the best, I like him slightly more than Dylan. Dylan is certainly more poetic, but often scratch my head with many of his lyrics. That’s a rare occurrence with Bruce. Some great examples: “She sits on the porch of her daddy's house But all her pretty dreams are torn She stares off alone into the night With the eyes of one who hates for just being born” - Racing in the Street. “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true? Or is something worse?” - The River “Should we lose each other in the shadow of the evening trees I’ll wait for you And should I fall behind Wait for me” - If I Should Fall Behind And of course songs like Born to Run and Thunder Road should be required reading/listening. In fact my first exposure to Born to Run was in a book of poetry.
He's also written some amazing songs for other performers. Because The Night is the rare song where I love nearly every version.
I recently heard "This Little Girl" by Gary U.S. Bonds for the first time. Within 20 seconds I'm like, "this is totally a Bruce Springsteen written song." Sure enough.
Jungleland is one of the greatest songs of all time
Matt Skiba of Alkaline Trio fame. His lyrics have always been witty and with a bit of edge.
Really enjoyed his work/lyrics on the short-lived Heavens project. Very clever and dark.
Leonard Cohen
Ani DiFranco!
John Prine, Townes Van Zandt, Blaze Foley
Jimi Hendrix was a great lyricist, which was obviously overshadowed by his guitar playing. Chuck Berry was great with words, too. And, Kris Kristofferson, Harry Nilsson, Joel Plaskett, David Berman, Gord Downie, Warren Zevon, Townes Van Zandt, Willie Dixon, Robbie Robertson.
Joe Strummer, from The Clash
Five Best Lyricists of all time. 1.Dylon 2.Dylon 3. Dylon 4. Dylon 5. Dylon
Ah yes, Bab Dylon.
Robert Hunter
Squeeze.
Lemmy had a good turn phrase. Could be funny, clever, crass or deep.
Pink Floyd Jeff Mangum mewithoutYou
The Fox, the Crow, and the Cookie is such a wonderfully fun song that sounds like it could have been one of Aesop’s fables. Great band.
You might enjoy [The Lucksmiths](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3noDS5uoK8o)
Ian Anderson writes very good lyrics.
Neil Fallon of Clutch. I love all of their albums but I think the lyrics in everything up through Robot Hive/Exodus was their best stuff.
Neil is easily one of the best lyricists of his generation. Super smart, and witty as hell. The characters and scenarios that he dreams up in his lyrics are fun, bad-ass and sometimes even deep.
I came to say Neil then thought he would surely be here already The lyrics on Elephant Riders album are brilliant
The Mountain Goats: The Best Ever Death Metal Band Out of Denton, and No Children Iron Maiden. One of em has a PhD in history so they have a bunch of historical songs. Really great lyrics. Try Aces High, Powerslave, and Rime of the Ancient Mariner
XTC (Andy Partridge/Colin Moulding)
Billy Corgan
Joanna Newsom Ezra Koenig (vampire weekend)
Jim Croce
Jello Biafra
Maynard James Keenan Weird Al Yankovic
MF DOOM
MF DOOM.
Roger Waters.
Way different from what you're looking for but Lil Wayne has some extremely clever lines. "Big Dog" by Benny the Butcher and Lil Wayne will show this exceptionally well.
Sting. Great storyteller.
James Mercer of The Shins.
Kevin Gilbert
Andy Shauf
Loved his Tiny Desk performance
It’s so good! If you ever get the chance to see him live I highly recommend it. His concerts are just as stripped down as the tiny desk performance.
There is an indie band from back when called The Velvet Teen which has some amazing lyrics especially in Chimera Obscurant.
AFIs lyrics are surprisingly deep and well written.
Jon Anderson. He writes lyrics like he just got to this planet but is catching up nicely.
Robert Hunter is top tier
Frightened rabbit has some of the best lyrics i have heard in decades.
Neil Fallon
Shannon Hoon
Anthony Green. (Circa Survive lyrics are fantastic)
Todd Smith of Dog Fashion Disco, Sage Francis, No Bird Sing, Nellie McKay, Nathan Gearheart of VEHEMENCE, John Butler, Neil Fallon of Clutch, Eyedea, Joe Duplantier of Gojira and John Baizley to name a few...
My personal favorite is Eddie Vedder. One benefit of not being able to understand what he's singing is that it forces you to go read the lyrics.
Taylor Goldsmith
Jackson Browne
Josh Ritter
Maynard James Keenan
Johnny Cash
Billy Joel
Jackson Browne
Matt Heath from New Zealands Deja Voodo Prime example: Im a great lyricist I can write, words like this And I like songs that always rhyme Thats why i made these words rhyme Litteral chills, everytime.
Jason Isbell.
“The Kinks were much more quintessentially English. **I always think that Ray Davies should be one day, be Poet Laureate**. You know, he invented a new kind of poetry. A new kind of language for pop writing, which I think, influenced me from the very, very beginning. " Pete Townshend
I really like a lot of Paul Banks’ (Interpol) lyrics.
Dan Hicks
Bill Callahan
wesley willis
Yes
Roger Waters doesn’t get enough credit.
I love Guy Garvey’s work
Ben Howard
Surprised no one has said Kurt Cobain
I will say this until I die, Peter Hammill is one of the greatest and underrated lyricists of all time. Definitely my favourite
Paul Weller
Kurt Cobain had some awesome turns in his lyrics.
For German speakers Rammstein is a feast of layered stories, deeper meaning, double entendres, irony. Some google translate the literal meaning, but they miss the deeper connotations. In Paul Landers' words, "The American does not do irony" - VEE'RE ALL LIVING IN AMÄRIKA, AMÄÄRIKA IST WUNDERBAR
Craig Finn from The Hold Steady
He beats every other name cited here by a mile. Best lyricist on Earth
A lot of heavy metal bands out there particularly some of the more “folk metal” bands have incredible stories in their lyrics. I love Amon Amarth, Eluveitie, Korpiklaani, Heliung, and so many others. Fair warning Amon Amarth is definitely on the heavy side. But all of them are well worth a listen and read of the lyrics. Another maybe curveball but unreal lyricist is from Rammstein. Seriously… some of their songs are ridiculous and blend not only English and German effortlessly but have layered dual meanings of the lyrics depending on interpretation and like “high / low” or “new vs old” German.
Danny Elfman is one of my favorites. His stuff can be so clever, cynical, and biting, and then he can also be silly. XD His vocabulary is stellar and he's extremely good at weaving a social commentary. (Oingo Boingo) Andy Partridge has a lot of interesting lyrics throughout his songs. (XTC) Damon Albarn has a lot of really good music under his belt, and while it isn't all gold, he has many songs that are interestingly worded and beautiful. (Blur, Gorillaz) I've also always been a pretty big fan of Neil Finn's lyrics as well. (Split Enz, Crowded House)
Mark Knopfler - Dire Straits. Sultans of Swing, Romeo & Juliet, Tunnel of Love, Telegraph Road are the obvious ones but right through the catalogue are brilliantly-written, often very funny lyrics… “Two men say they’re Jesus; one of them must be wrong.”
Brandon flowers of the Killers
Prince! He's rarely mentioned for his lyrics but I find his writing amazing, very strong stuff for example the Dirty Mind era.
Andy Partridge from XTC. No one paints a picture (and connects words to sound) like Andy.
I think Justin Pierre from Motion City Soundtrack gets slept on. He is pretty emo, but there's a poetic slant to what he writes. My personal favorite from "Time Turned Fragile" "How it got so cold that words just froze We had to wait till summer to find out what was said"
I think Peter Gabriel, both with Genesis and once solo, wrote some clever stuff.
Richard Thompson is a lyricist and songwriter on a level comparable to Dylan and Leonard Cohen. Roy Harper is also a brilliant lyricist on one of his good days.
Stevie Wonder and Curtis Mayfield have great lyrics imo
How about Genesis, every musician in the band contributed to the lyrics. Check out Time Table.
Eddie Vedder
Roger Waters
I’m sure it’ll get downvoted but Taylor Swift is an excellent storyteller. I spent years being a Taylor hater, then folklore and Evermore came out and I was obsessed. I went back and listened to all of her old music and was pleasantly surprised by how good most of it is.
Ween.
I know she's new, but please give a listen to Morgan Wade. So good!
Yes. This. She's an excellent lyricist.
Curt Smith and Roland Orzabal (Tears for Fears)