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[Ned Flanders]

I'll tell you, I'm such a picky fuck sometimes about music, particularly with regard to lyrics, because there's so much covered ground and room for cliche thanks to the limitations of the language. Its extremely easy for a band or artist to have a fantastic song going and then abruptly soil it with booty lyrical content. This has given me a greater appreciation for bands and artists who avoid the cliche without coming across as trite or too deliberately obtuse. Its a delicate balance.

Having recently discovered The Shins, they qualify as my inspiration for this thread. Its highly refreshing to hear a band who, in spite of the fact that they like all bands are largely treading previously covered lyrical ground (relationships, introspection etc), keep things stimulating. It's so easy to play down to the audience when it comes to the words of the song, but The Shins manage to spice up the vocabulary and play with the prose without sounding corny or forced. The delivery probably has something to do with it, as I'm sure that from the wrong lips their songs could come off as pretentious, but taken as they appear on the album, I dare describe the lyrics of anything off "Chutes Too Narrow" as simply delightful. I can't remember the last time I heard an album that didn't contain a cringe-worthy line or two, either through dumb convention (crazy/baby/lady, weather/forever/together etc) or deliberate peculiarity (Mars Volta).

 

[Mr. Spinnington]

The Books

 

[Property of Jumpship]

Tool
Interpol
Kyuss
Meshuggah
U2
Coldplay

 

[ToxicAdam]

Is this a thread where everyone posts the most obscure bands/singers to prove how musically elite they are?

 

[Property of Jumpship]

Is this a thread where everyone posts the most obscure bands/singers to prove how musically elite they are?

Nah, that's this thread.

http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=32156

 

[Manics]

Bob Dylan has said many things well in lyrical form as has Leonard Cohen.

 

[FnordChan]

Any of Stephen Merritt's projects (The Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes, his solo stuff, etc.) will feature top-notch lyrics: clever, blackly humorous, and sometimes just plain black. Anyone who doubts me is ordered to go listen to 69 Love Songs posthaste.

FnordChan

 

[Nerevar]

that depends on how you define "good".

I would definitely say Bad Religion. They don't get bogged down in "boo-hoo I'm so sad and lonely" bullshit that 90% of music is about. They don't dumb down what they're saying. And they generally make good, insightful points about modern society. But I have a feeling this might not be what you're thinking about ...

 

[bud]

Coldplay

 

[Teflar]

I'm gonna have to step up for Mr. Joel on this one. So many good songs, a great lyrical style and a lot of his songs, especially his earlier stuff, has so much heart and energy... I love that man. Billy Joel +1!

 

[Manics]

I'm gonna have to step up for Mr. Joel on this one. So many good songs, a great lyrical style and a lot of his songs, especially his earlier stuff, has so much heart and energy... I love that man. Billy Joel +1!

Brenda and Eddie were the popular steadies and the king and the queen of the prom, riding around with the car top down and the radio on...

 

[WHOAguitarninja]

Opeth
Edge Of Sanity
Pain of Salvation
Dark Tranquillity

 

[Foreign Jackass]

I like Wilco's mostly non-sensical great sounding lyrics.

 

[Hawksley]

The Servant.

 

[jobber]

Fountains of Wayne

 

[BigJonsson]

Bad Religion
Smashing Pumpkins

 

[DCharlie]

Half Man Half Biscuit
Belle and Sebastian

 

[Foreign Jackass]

Belle and Sebastian

Yah.

 

[Mario_Hugo]

Magnetic Fields lyrics are amazing. I don't mind his voice, but it's certainly not one of my favorites. That's my only issue though. I'm particularly fond of his entire nonchalant/melancholic vibe, though I'm not quite sure how it even works.

"You tell me I'm not not cute, it's truth or falsity is moot, 'cause honesty's not your strong suite, and I don't believe you."

 

[Jason]

Interpol

Can't....let that....go......mind baffled.

Seriously, man. Interpol is a good band but lyricists they are not.

 

[Sullichin]

Radiohead

 

[Kon Tiki]

Bob Dylan
John Lennon/Beatles
Roger Waters/David Gilmour/Pink Foyd
Frank Zappa
Leonard Cohen
Tool
The Doors
Neil Young
The Who
Paul McCartney/Beatles
The Kinks
Simon & Garfunkel
Bob Marley
Elvis Costello
Joni Mitchell
Van Morrison
CRedice Clearwater Revival
Pearl Jam
David Bowie
Rolling Stones
Warren Zevon
Nirvana
The Eagles
Velvet Underground
Nick Cave

 

[Dilbert]

Bob Dylan...I mean, how can EVERY list of best lyricists not start with this guy?

The rest, in no particular order:

Leonard Cohen
Will Sheff (of Okkervil River)
Beck Hansen
Stuart Murdoch (of Belle & Sebastian)
Morrissey
Thom Yorke (of Radiohead)
Neil Halstead (solo work; also from Slowdive)
Neil Young
Paul Simon
Randy Newman
Ryan Adams
Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan)
David Byrne (of Talking Heads)

 

[Property of Jumpship]

Can't....let that....go......mind baffled.

Seriously, man. Interpol is a good band but lyricists they are not.

Dont fuck with my favorite band. It aint Shakespeare, but it's good in that stream of consciousness sort of way.

 

[human5892]

I third the Bad Religion nomination.

Also consider the Dead Kennedys.

 

[Ignatz Mouse]

Elvis Costello, for sure. Certainly the artist with the most clever lines and a huge range of topics. Plus probably hte best bitter and angry music at his most bitter and angry.

Another vote for Stephen Merritt, too, and Belle and Sebastian.

Aimee Mann, also.

Add Liz Phair, anything but the most recent album.

And also, a bit more obscure and older, but Game Theory and/or the Loud Family (the Louds are the direct descendants of Game Theory). Get "The Big Shot Chronicles" by GT or "Plants and Birds and Rocks and Things" by Loud Family.

"I used to get A's in Psychology Class, but that didn't make my life OK."

More favorites from a Lyrics perspective:

Ben Folds
Beautiful South
Bob Mould/Sugar
Cracker
Frank Black
Breeders
Pixies
Smiths
Madness


I'm also a big fan of the general weirdness for the following:

Brian Eno
They Might Be Giants
Talking Heads
Laurie Anderson
Stan Ridgway

And the angry vocal of early ('85 and before) punk. Clash is a good place to start.

 

[Dilbert]

Dont fuck with my favorite band. It aint Shakespeare, but it's good in that stream of consciousness sort of way.

No, just....no.

 

[Matt_09]

The Cure
Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible and Gold Against the Soul in particular

 

[Kon Tiki]

Manic Street Preachers: The Holy Bible and Gold Against the Soul in particular

I thought I missed a big one.

 

[Eminem]

Tool

 

[=W=]

Gotta give a nod to Ben Folds.

I'm also in love with The Decemberists lyrics.

 

[Rei_Toei]

Eels
K's Choice
Josh Ritter
Matthew Good

 

[FnordChan]

Laurie Anderson

Shit. I'm kicking myself for forgetting to plug Laurie Anderson. In penance, I'm going to spend the rest of my work day listening to United States Live.

FnordChan, who also really digs Stan Ridgeway

 

[Tarazet]

I'll tell you, I'm such a picky fuck sometimes about music, particularly with regard to lyrics, because there's so much covered ground and room for cliche thanks to the limitations of the language. Its extremely easy for a band or artist to have a fantastic song going and then abruptly soil it with booty lyrical content. This has given me a greater appreciation for bands and artists who avoid the cliche without coming across as trite or too deliberately obtuse. Its a delicate balance.

See, I'm the exact opposite. I don't pay any attention to lyrics whatsoever. It comes from being weaned on classical music - even when I was listening to lyrics, they were in German and Italian and I couldn't understand them - and even when I had translations handy, I quickly realized that they were either bad poems or bad scripts. So I basically ignore "the text," as a musicologist would say. Even Bjork's pseudo-pretentious babblings don't bother me, because the sound of it is just so compelling.

 

[Prospero]

Any of Stephen Merritt's projects (The Magnetic Fields, Future Bible Heroes, his solo stuff, etc.) will feature top-notch lyrics: clever, blackly humorous, and sometimes just plain black. Anyone who doubts me is ordered to go listen to 69 Love Songs posthaste.

And once again, a post from FnordChan results in money flying out of my wallet. 69 Love Songs is on its way.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Nah, that's this thread.

http://forums.gaming-age.com/showthread.php?t=32156

:lol

 

[fallout]

Tool.

(Maynard is a lyrical God)

 

[Jonnyboy117]

Bob Dylan
John Lennon/Beatles
Roger Waters/David Gilmour/Pink Foyd
Frank Zappa
Leonard Cohen
Tool
The Doors
Neil Young
The Who
Paul McCartney/Beatles
The Kinks
Simon & Garfunkel
Bob Marley
Elvis Costello
Joni Mitchell
Van Morrison
CRedice Clearwater Revival
Pearl Jam
David Bowie
Rolling Stones
Warren Zevon
Nirvana
The Eagles
Velvet Underground
Nick Cave

LISTEN TO THIS MAN

 

[FnordChan]

And once again, a post from FnordChan results in money flying out of my wallet. 69 Love Songs is on its way.

I'd better watch my ranting in the DVD threads, else I'm going to bankrupt you. At any rate, I'm confident you'll dig the hell out of 69 Love Songs and look forward to a full report.

FnordChan

 

[enjoy bell woods]

The Handsome Family:

"Emily Shore 1819-1839"

She'd been coughing up blood since the dogwoods bloomed. Seventeen that spring and confined to her room. At night her heart pounded holes in her chest. Death, like a bird, was building its nest. She'd laughed at the graveyard on one sip of wine and kept a pet duck till the cat crushed its spine. But, waltzing one night in a red velvet dress, she noticed a whistling down in her chest. Propped up on pillows, she watched the snow fall, trying to picture an end to it all. By spring there'd be picnics and merry-go-rounds, but she'd be nothing but bones in the ground.
And so, on the last day of her short life, Emily called for her father's penknife. She sawed at her head till the floor pooled with hair and braided a watch chain for father to wear.

"Amelia Earhart vs. the Dancing Bear"

Amelia, Amelia Earhart, after her plane was torn apart and bursting through the trees She remembered picking lemons with William Randolph Hearst and how a spinning plane propeller turned liquid in the sun. And as the cockpit burned, her hair filled with sparks, but when the glass exploded in, everything went dark.
She remembered sipping consommé with William Howard Taft and a boy with perfect skin who smelled like mustard gas. And as the cockpit burned, she couldn't help but smile, recalling a dancing bear she'd seen as a child.

"The Woman Downstairs"

Chicago is where the woman downstairs starved herself to death last summer. Her boyfriend Ted ate hot dogs and wept with the gray rats out on the fire escape. In a thrift store chair I drank cases of beer and dreamed of lying down on the el tracks. The trains roared by under smoke-gray skies. Lake Michigan rose and fell like a bird. And when the wind screamed up Ashland Avenue, the corner bars were full by noon and the old stewbums sliding down their stools ate boiled eggs and fed beer to the dogs. The woman downstairs lost all her hair and wore a beret in the laundryroom. I borrowed her soap and bought her a Coke, but she left it on a dryer. She died in June weighing 82. Her boyfriend went back to New York. The cops wandered through her dusty rooms. One of them stole her TV.

They also sound really good. I can't think of better lyrics, either.

 

[hXc_thugg]

Bob Dylan
Conor Oberst/Bright Eyes
Shane McGowan

 

[tt_deeb]

Try to name some stuff that wasn't mentioned yet:

Bjork
Rush
Live ("Throwing Copper")
XTC (never heard anyone comment on their stuff but I sure as hell love it)

 

[Gorey]

Nick Cave

Amen, thank the lord for Saint Nick and the heavenly Bad Seeds. And the Birthday Party too, while yer at it.


And my personal favorite....
Clutch

 

[kablooey]

Bob Dylan...I mean, how can EVERY list of best lyricists not start with this guy?

The rest, in no particular order:

Leonard Cohen
Will Sheff (of Okkervil River)
Beck Hansen
Stuart Murdoch (of Belle & Sebastian)
Morrissey
Thom Yorke (of Radiohead)
Neil Halstead (solo work; also from Slowdive)
Neil Young
Paul Simon
Randy Newman
Ryan Adams
Donald Fagen (of Steely Dan)
David Byrne (of Talking Heads)

As usual for a -jinx- post, IAWTP.

A few additions:
Isaac Brock (of Modest Mouse)
Black Francis (Pixies)
Jeff Mangum (Neutral Milk Hotel)
Stephen Malkmus (Pavement)

edit: GAHH! How did I forget my all-time favorite lyricist?

TOM FUCKING WAITS!!!

 

[spangler]

I wholeheartedly agree with the Handsome Family suggestion.
The lyricist for the duo, Rennie Sparks, has a book of short stories out entitled Evil that is rather good. Right up there with the best of her lyrics, anyway.

 

[SD-Ness]

Some hip-hop since it hasn't been mentioned...

Talib Kweli
Mos Def
Common
K-Os
Da Grass Roots
Jurassic 5
A Tribe Called Quest
Run DMC
Public Enemy
De La Soul

 

[kumanoki]

Um...Counting Crows?

 

[Dilbert]

Um...Counting Crows?

I thought about listing Adam Duritz, but when I think about his lyrics now, most of them are cringeworthy. His writing has been going downhill ever since August and Everything After...and this is coming from a fan.

 

[J2 Cool]

I like Alkaline Trio a lot the more I listen to em. Lots of great metaphors, irony, etc. You have to be in the mood for em though. They're so amazing when on though. And the manner in which they play the songs is what makes em. No yelling for the sake of yelling, or any of the baggage bullshit in most bands. Some of my favorite lyrics...

Bleeder
97
5-3-10-4

 

[AntoneM]

Shannon Hoon - Blind Melon
John Hermanson - Alva Star