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- - Your favorite Lyricists? (https://thetfp.com/tfp/tilted-music/81859-your-favorite-lyricists.html)

Your favorite Lyricists?

I have a pretty high criteria for what I consider to be great lyricists. Just because the words to a song are cool or clever doesn't cut it. The lyrics have to move me, or I have to be in disbelief that someone could write something so touching or beautiful. Likewise, I consider anyone who can shape the english language seemingly without effort as a great lyricist.

Here is my short list:

Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel
Ralph Covert
Roger Waters
Steven Stills
Eminem

I would have to go with Tom Waits. Especially the early stuff ... unbelievable stuff there.

Neil Young.

or to a more modern extent, Gord Downie of The Hip.

Both write great tunes that make you think and keep you grooving, whether it be with a nice joint, with your significant other by your side, or just rockin out with your head flailing from side to side.

Marc Anthony Thompson (a.k.a Chocolate Genius)
Robert Hunter
The Dude of Life
Bob Dylan

Common Sense
Adam Duritz
Brian Vanderark
Jim Croce
Tupac Shakur
Eddie Vedder
Rodger Waters/David Gilmour
Bernie Taupin
Neil Pert
Daniel Johns
Stevie Wonder
John Lennon/Paul McCartney/George Harrison
Robert Smith
Talib Kweli
Inspectah Deck/Method Man/Ghostface Killah/Rza/Gza
Soulheir Tha Manchild
Johnny Reznik
Axle Rose
Gavin Rosdale
Lauren Hill
Bret Scallions
Darius Rucker
Carly Simon
David Gates
Don McLean
Cat Stevens
David Gray
Damien Rice
Gavin Degraw
Jason Mraz
Freddie Mercury/Brian May/John Deacon/Roger Taylor
Neil Young
Justin Hayward
Billy Joel
Justin Hayward
Aesop Rock
Sage Francis
One Man Army/?
Sub Conscious
Eminem
Canibus
Mos Def
Fran Healy
Babyface
Richard Ashcroft

Hmm drawing a blank...I'll prolly have more....theres also people out there who are strictly singer songwriters that don't usually sing their own songs like Diane Warren, etc.

Asta!!

Bernie Taupin and Neil Young are definitely ones I missed on my list. Good calls.

James Hetfield (from Ride the Lightning to the Black album)
Mike Patton
Neil Fallon (Clutch)

Aimee Mann
Tom Waits
Elvis Costello

Throw my 2 cents in here...

Hip-Hop N Rap
Tu Pac
Eminem

Rock
Roger Waters
Sting

Country
Allison Krauss
Willie Nelson

Just a few... but there are hundreds more

OneManArmy (K-wise, if you're looking for his binary star partner, it's Senim Silla)
Saul Williams
John K. Samson (Weakerthans/Propagandhi)
The Gift of Gab (Blackalicious)
Del (...The Funky Homosapien, ...tron3030, New Black Elvis, Etc)
Kevin Barnes (Of Montreal)
Frank Black (Pixies... sorry, cant remember his real name off hand.)
Bob (Mother Fucking) Dylan
Cee-Lo Green
and as much as i hate to admit liking anything that has to do with Saddle Creek Records...
Tim Kasher (Cursive, Good Life)

Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel) and Don Van Vliet (Captain Beefheart).

While I think the team of Lennon/McCartney is one of the best writing duos in quite some time, I think Lennon's lyrics were much better.

While I'm not exactly a fan of either Dylan or Neil Young, I respect their writing abilities.

Lately I'm a fan of Steven Paige and Ed Robertson of Barenaked Ladies, especially Steven's stuff. My favorites are "Brian Wilson" "War on Drugs" "Good Boy" and "Baby Seat"

The boys of Taking Back Sunday
Paul Simon
John Mayer
Chris Ender C.
Elton John
David Grey
Robert Cray
Sting

Fran Healy (Travis) hands down. :)

HipHop:

Goldenarms
Gza
Inspectah Deck
Immortal Technique
Jus Allah
Canibus
Mr Lif
Sean Price
Raekwon
RzaRectah
Planetary
Tragedy Khadafi
Diabolic
Tek & Steele
Nas
Pete Rock
Gangstarr
Ikon
Big L
B Real
Xzibit
Eightball
Defari
ODB (Old Dirty Bastard) Taken from us to soon.
Ghostface
Talib Kweli
Black Thought
Eminem (The angry Eminem..Hate the slim shady side of eminem)

Everything else:

Kurt Cobain
Jim Morrison
Jimi Hendrix

I love alot of classic rock from the 70's, but i am not sure of all the names.

That's all i can think of right now.

I am surprised no one said this yet...

Greg Graffin (of Bad Religion)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coppertop

Jimmy Pop for sure.

that made me laugh, but he does have some good lyrics
i heard they are having a new cd soon

i think slug from atmosphere writes great lyrics

In no particular order:

Mike Patton
Neil Fallon
Eminem
GZA
Daryl Palumbo
Maynard Keenan
Robert Plant
Freddie Mercury
Jim Morrison

There are more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Coppertop

Jimmy Pop for sure.

hahaha. as far as being "moving" I wouldn't say Jimmy Pop, but as far as just clever and hilarious, he's definitely way up there.

As far as lyrics that really do something for me, I'd have to say:

-Brandon Boyd (Incubus)
-Dustin Kensrue (Thrice)
-Mos Def
-Thom Yorke (Radiohead)
-John Mayer...I know it can get cheesy and cliche at times, but I have to give the guy some credit
-Jack Johnson...I'm a sucker for positive, benevolent lyrics
-Matt Embree (Rx Bandits)...one of the few lyricists of the younger generation who can do politically charged lyrics correctly
-Slug (Atmosphere)

ben gibbard
rufus wainwright

Trent Reznor
Mike Patton
Saafir
P.J. Harvey
Ian MacKaye

Brian Vander Ark (solo, The Verve Pipe) - good at simplicity without being simplistic
Ted Leo (Ted Leo and the Pharmacists) - intelligent politically-charged lyrics - a rarity
Mark Stewart (Stew/The Negro Problem) - confident songwriting, alternately witty, somber, and whacked-out
Stuart Murdoch (Belle & Sebastian) - "And so I gave myself to God, there was a pregnant pause before he said OK."

Quote:

Originally Posted by kutulu

Neil Fallon (Clutch)

YES!! It is refreshing to see another Clutch fan here. Too few people listen to them. His lyrics seem to range from every conceivable concept and then some, but he makes them work. I love listening and trying to figure out what he singing about now.

Others I like:

Jimmy Pop - I love the humor in his lyrics. One Fierce Beercoaster is one of my favorite albums of all-time.

Jim Morrison - Some strange stuff there

George Thorogood - Just love his "working man" type lyrics

Maynard (Tool) - I love his lyrics

Quote:

Originally Posted by thinktank

To my knowledge Senim Silla is another alias for OMA. Lots of people have told me the other emcee was nameless and went by nothing thus the "?" instead of a name. A friend of mine once said that in an interview some guy asked him "So you go by anonymous?" and he says "No I just go by nothing...I have no name..if I went by anonymous then I'd have a name." or something like that. And props on Saul Williams man I forgot him. Love that guy

Oh and PunkMusic Elton John is not a lyricist. Bernie Toupin and Tim Rice write just about all of his songs and Bernie has written damn near every single hit Elton ever had. Elton only writes the music...they make a really great team. Bernie is a genius.

Asta!!

Trent Reznor, James Maynard Keenan, Thom Yorke, Mos Def, Nas, and anybody from the Wu-Tang Clan.

Wu-Tang's "Triumph" is one of the best hip-hop/rap songs, ever.

Quote:

[Ol Dirty Bastard]
What y'all thought y'all wasn't gon' see me?
I'm the Osirus of this shit
Wu-Tang is here forever, motherfucker
It's like this ninety-seven
Aight my niggaz and my niggarettes
Let's do it like this
I'ma rub your ass in the moonshine
Let's take it back to seventy-nine

[Inspectah Deck]
I bomb atomically, Socrates' philosophies
and hypothesis can't define how I be droppin these
mockeries, lyrically perform armed robbery
Flee with the lottery, possibly they spotted me
Battle-scarred shogun, explosion when my pen hits
tremendous, ultra-violet shine blind forensics
I inspect you, through the future see millenium
Killa B's sold fifty gold sixty platinum
Shacklin the masses with drastic rap tactics
Graphic displays melt the steel like blacksmiths
Black Wu jackets queen B's ease the guns in
Rumble with patrolmen, tear gas laced the function
Heads by the score take flight incite a war
Chicks hit the floor, diehard fans demand more
Behold the bold soldier, control the globe slowly
Proceeds to blow swingin swords like Shinobi
Stomp grounds and pound footprints in solid rock
Wu got it locked, performin live on your hottest block

[Method Man]
As the world turns, I spread like germs
Bless the globe with the pestilence, the hard-headed never learn
It's my testament to those burned
Play my position in the game of life, standin firm
on foreign land, jump the gun out the fryin pan, into the fire
Transform into the Ghostrider, a six-pack
and +A Streetcar Named Desire+, who got my back?
In the line of fire holdin back, what?
My peoples if you with me where the fuck you at?
Niggaz is strapped, and they tryin to twist my beer cap
It's court adjourned, for the bad seed from bad sperm
Herb got my wig fried like a bad perm, what the blood
clot, we smoke pot, and blow spots
You wanna think twice, I think not
The Iron Lung ain't got ta tell you where it's coming from
Guns of Navarone, tearing up your battle zone
Rip through your slums

[Cappadonna]
I twist darts from the heart, tried and true
Loop my voice on the LP, martini on the slang rocks
Certified chatterbox, vocabulary 'Donna talkin
Tell your story walkin
Take cover kid, what? Run for your brother, kid
Run for your team, and your six camp rhyme groupies
So I can squeeze with the advantage, and get wasted
My deadly notes reigns supreme
Your fort is basic compared to mine
Domino effect, arts and crafts
Paragraphs contain cyanide
Take a free ride on my dart, I got the fashion
catalogues for all y'all to all praise to the Gods

[Ol Dirty Bastard]
The saga continues
Wu-Tang, Wu-Tang

[U-God]
Olympic torch flaming, we burn so sweet
The thrill of victory, the agony, defeat
We crush slow, flamin deluxe slow
For, judgment day cometh, conquer, it's war
Allow us to escape, hell glow spinning bomb
Pocket full of shells out the sky, Golden Arms
Tune spit the shitty Mortal Kombat sound
The fateful step make, the blood stain the ground
A jungle junkie, vigilante tantrum
A death kiss, catwalk, squeeze another anthem
Hold it for ransom, tranquilized with anesthetics
My orchestra, graceful, music ballerinas
My music Sicily, rich California smell
An axekiller adventure, paint a picture well
I sing a song from Sing-Sing, sippin on ginseng
Righteous wax chaperone, rotating ring king

[RZA]
Watch for the wooden soldiers, C-Cypher-Punks couldn't hold us
A thousand men rushin in, not one nigga was sober
Perpendicular to the square, we stamp gold like Fleer
Escape from your Dragon's Lair, in particular
My beats travel like a vortex, through your spine
to the top of your cerebrum cortex
Make you feel like you bust a nut from raw sex
Enter through your right ventricle clog up your bloodstream
now terminal, like Grand Central Station
Program fat baselines, on Novation
Getting drunk like a fuck, I'm duckin five-year probation

[GZA]
War of the masses, the outcome, disastrous
Many of the victim family save they ashes
A million names on walls engraved in plaques
Those who went back, received penalties for the axe
Another heart is torn as close ones mourn
Those who stray, niggaz get slayed on the song

[Masta Killa]
The track renders helpless and suffers from multiple stab wounds
and leaks sounds that's heard
ninety-three million miles away from came one
to represent the Nation, this is a gathering
of the masses that come to pay respects to the Wu-Tang Clan
As we engage in battle, the crowd now screams in rage
The high chief Jamel-I-Reef take the stage
Light is provided through sparks of energy
from the mind that travels in rhyme form
Givin sight to the blind
The dumb are mostly intrigued by the drum
Death only one can save self from
This relentless attack of the track spares none

[Ghostface Killah]
Yo! Yo! Yo, fuck that, look at all these crab niggaz laid back
Lampin like them gray and black Puma's on my man's rack
Codeine was forced in your drink
You had a Navy Green salamander fiend, bitches never heard you scream
You two-faces, scum of the slum, I got your whole body numb
Blowin like Shalamar in eighty-one
Sound convincin, thousand dollar court by convention
Hands, like Sonny Liston, get fly permission
Hold the fuck up, I'll unfasten your wig, bad luck
I humiliate, separate the English from the Dutch
it's me, black nobled you Ali
Came in threes we like the Genovese, is that so?
Caesar needs the greens, it's Earth
Ninety-three million miles from the first
Rough turbulence, the waveburst, split the megahertz

[Raekwon]
Aiyyo that's amazing, gun in your mouth talk, verbal foul hawk
Connect thoughts to make my manchild walk
Swift notarizer, Wu-Tang, all up in the high-riser
New York Yank' visor world tranquilizer
Just a dosage, delegate my Clan with explosives
While, my pen blow lines ferocious
Mediterranean, see y'all, the number one draft pick
Tear down the beat God, then delegate the God to see God
The swift chancellor, flex, the white-gold tarantula
Track truck diesel, play the weed God, substantiala
Max mostly, undivided, then slide in, sickenin
Guaranteed, made em jump like Rod Strickland

Wu-Tang Forever.

Bob Seger
Bob Dylan
Lennon/McCartney
Bernard Edwards / Nile Rodgers (Basically because they made every good disco song ever.)
The Neils (Young and Diamond)
John Fogerty
Don Henley
Jimbo Morrison
Jim Croce
Billy Joel
Neil Peart (Just because he wrote most of Rush's stuff)
Donald Fagen/Walter Becker
Steve Winwood

VAN MORRISON!

Looks like Leonard Cohen's been neglected. The guy was a published poet before he was making records, so you know his lyrics must be good.

Leonard Cohen is a great lyricist, definitely. But I like his songs better performed by other people.

Off the top of my head and in no particular order

Ben Harper
Johnny Cash
Mike Ness
Neil Fallon
Chuck Treece
Milo Aukerman/Bill Stevenson
Neil Diamond
Billy Joel
HR
Joe Strummer
Keith Morris

Hmm forgot Pete Townshend

Asta!!

Neil Peart (drummer for Rush), hands down. 30 years of provocative lyrics that still have people trying to figure them out. What makes him special is that he didn't need drugs to aid in the creative process (Beatles, Stones, Aerosmith etc...).

There's a lot of great names already on the list... So I won't repeat.

The one name I can think of that isn't on there, that is totally awesome, but not the same without STP is Scott Weiland. His stuff is great. Now with Velvet Revolver, his stuff is proving as good as before. We'll see on the next album how good it really is.

gotta agree with Jimmy Pop...heh.

a few more off the top of my head:
Chris Cornell
2Pac
Beastie Boys, all of them
Gord Downie
Hugh Dillon