Great lyricists.

[Francis Albert]

1 hour ago, weehammy said:

👍 Johnny Mercer was another of my favs.

 

And mine. But even some obscure lyricists could write wonderful stuff, Eric Maschwitz and These Foolish Things for example - who has heard of him?. 

 

My favourite though is probably Lorenz Hart. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered is beautiful.  Many verses pass of well written but relatively conventional sentiment before a few towards the end that must have shocked some back in that era. They are generally omitted from covers but Ella included them in a 7 or 8 minute version. 

 

"I'll sing to him, each spring to him

And worship the trousers that cling to him,

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I

 

When he talks, he is seeking,

Words to get off his chest

Horizontally speaking, he's at his very best

 

Vexed again, perplexed again

Thank god, I can be oversexed again

Bewitched, bothered and bewildered am I"

 

I doubt they would feature in say a Doris Day cover!

[Boris]

44 minutes ago, EIEIO said:

Nobody's mentioned John Cooper Clarke or Half man half biscuit yet, so I will.

Shite Day by HMHB is genius!

[EIEIO]

2 minutes ago, Boris said:

Shite Day by HMHB is genius!

What is Chatteris is my favourite.

Elvis Costello, Squeeze and 10CC also had some great lyrics in the olden days.

[redjambo]

52 minutes ago, EIEIO said:

Nobody's mentioned John Cooper Clarke or Half man half biscuit yet, so I will.

 

[davemclaren]

I’m a big fan of Jackson Browne’s lyrics..also his tunes and his voice. 

[FWJ]

Well how about -

 

He said “d’ya want it pasteurised

Because pasteurised is best?“

She said, “Ernie, I’ll be happy

If it comes up to me chest”
 

That’s genius.

[Tazio]

2 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

I’m a big fan of Jackson Browne’s lyrics..also his tunes and his voice. 

Co-writer of one of the best known  lyrics in a song. A verse that inspired a piece of public art. Though his version of the song isn’t as well known as the original by another band. 
 

[davemclaren]

8 minutes ago, Tazio said:

Co-writer of one of the best known  lyrics in a song. A verse that inspired a piece of public art. Though his version of the song isn’t as well known as the original by another band. 
 

I actually prefer his version. 

[Tazio]

4 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

I actually prefer his version. 

It’s missing the great banjo part though. 

[davemclaren]

Just now, Tazio said:

It’s missing the great banjo part though. 

Got pedal steel instead giving a more laid back version. 

[Tazio]

Just now, davemclaren said:

Got pedal steel instead giving a more laid back version. 

I do like a bit of pedal steel. Bloody complicated things to play though. 

[Cruyff]

35 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

I’m a big fan of Jackson Browne’s lyrics..also his tunes and his voice. 

Take it easy. 

[davemclaren]

8 minutes ago, Tazio said:

I do like a bit of pedal steel. Bloody complicated things to play though. 

Never played with or personally played one but I think they can sound hauntingly beautiful in the right song. 

[Tazio]

2 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

Never played with or personally played one but I think they can sound hauntingly beautiful in the right song. 

I worked with a band that had pedal steel on some tracks so the band’s guitarist was put on a crash course to learn it. Fascinating device with 10 strings tuned to an E9 chord with pedals and knee levers to either raise or lower the pitch on certain strings at the same time as using the slide. 

[davemclaren]

Just now, Tazio said:

I worked with a band that had pedal steel on some tracks so the band’s guitarist was put on a crash course to learn it. Fascinating device with 10 strings tuned to an E9 chord with pedals and knee levers to either raise or lower the pitch on certain strings at the same time as using the slide. 

Yip, a bit Heath Robinson. 

[Tazio]

Anyway, great lyricists. 
In addition to my earlier mention of Joni Mitchell I could add Fiona Apple and Tori Amos to great female writers. Tori Amos doesn’t exactly do cheery stuff though.
Also worth mentioning that Paul Simon has written some amazing stuff over the years but is often overlooked for some reason as time has gone by. 

[ri Alban]

6 hours ago, Robbo-Jambo said:

Setting Sons and All Mod Cons are brilliant albums and considering Paul Weller was only 19 years old when he wrote AMC makes it even more impressive. 

 

Number one albums in each of the last 5 decades shows some staying power and no little talent. 

AMC is an absolutely astonishing piece. I love it. 

[Brighton Jambo]

I misread the title and thought it said Greek lyricists.  I thought wow that’s a niche thread 

[Tazio]

1 minute ago, Brighton Jambo said:

I misread the title and thought it said Greek lyricists.  I thought wow that’s a niche thread 

Wouldn’t be the first time I’d started a pretentious and obscure thread. 

[Boof]

Another to add to the list should be Kris Kristofferson.

[Swahili Jambo]

Neil Young (with Ray Davies a close(ish) second).

[redjambo]

1 hour ago, Brighton Jambo said:

I misread the title and thought it said Greek lyricists.  I thought wow that’s a niche thread 

 

Lina Nikolakopoulou must be in with a strong shout.

 

https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Λίνα_Νικολακοπούλου

[willie wallace]

There are a lot of good ones out there but Bob Dylan is the master.

[ri Alban]

56 minutes ago, willie wallace said:

There are a lot of good ones out there but Bob Dylan is the master.

These boys wrote a few good tunes. 

 

[Brighton Jambo]

1 hour ago, redjambo said:

 

Lina Nikolakopoulou must be in with a strong shout.

 

https://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/Λίνα_Νικολακοπούλου

We have a winner!  

[Greedy Jambo]

Chas and Dave are up there for me.

 

RABBIT RABBIT RABBIT 

 

 

[felix]

53 minutes ago, Greedy Jambo said:

Chas and Dave are up there for me.

 

RABBIT RABBIT RABBIT 

 

 

 Rabbit's good, but nowhere near like  :-

 

Trudging slowly over wet sand
Back to the bench where your clothes were stolen
This is the coastal town
That they forgot to close down
Armageddon, come Armageddon!
Come, Armageddon! Come🤘..

 

 

[leginten]

Joni

Richard Thompson

Tom Waits

Elvis Costello

Nick Cave

Nick Drake

Keith Reid

 

Basically all my favourite songwriters. I’m not so interested in the music when the lyric isn’t good, generally.

 

The last named was the lyricist for Procol Harum, who were about the only band in the 1960s and 1970s to have a lyricist as a fully integrated member of the band even though he never appeared on stage. A bit obscure and whimsical at times, but often interesting.

[leginten]

5 hours ago, davemclaren said:

I’m a big fan of Jackson Browne’s lyrics..also his tunes and his voice. 

‘Of Missing Persons’ (about the late Lowell George) is an absolutely outstanding and very moving Jackson Browne lyric. 

[Biko]

Nigel Blackwell
 

 

 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Biko

[Tazio]

9 minutes ago, leginten said:

Joni

Richard Thompson

Tom Waits

Elvis Costello

Nick Cave

Nick Drake

Keith Reid

 

Basically all my favourite songwriters. I’m not so interested in the music when the lyric isn’t good, generally.

 

The last named was the lyricist for Procol Harum, who were about the only band in the 1960s and 1970s to have a lyricist as a fully integrated member of the band even though he never appeared on stage. A bit obscure and whimsical at times, but often interesting.

In reference to the non band member lyricist thing Pete Brown is similar but not as a member of the band but very much part of the process on some material after the band had approached him to write with them. 

[Biko]

Anyone out of the Brill Building, Leiber & Stoller, Goffin & King, Shadow Morton etc

Edited May 15, 2021 by Biko

[Malinga the Swinga]

Imo, Eminem is a genius of a lyricist, yet goes unnoticed because of his genre. 

Toy Soldiers, Stan & Love the Way you Lie and many others are classic bits of writing. 

Edited May 15, 2021 by Malinga the Swinga

[The Mighty Thor]

I always thought Neil Hannon wrote great stuff. 

Another shout for Paul Heaton too. 

[Biko]

8 minutes ago, Malinga the Swinga said:

Imo, Eminem is a genius of a lyricist, yet goes unnoticed because of his genre. 

Toy Soldiers, Stan & Love the Way you Lie and many others are classic bits of writing. 

Agree Lose Yourself from 8 mile is so clever.

 

[Toxteth O'Grady]

It took a lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam
And double pneumonia in a single room
And the sickest joke was the price of the medicine
Are you laughing at me now?
May I please laugh along with you?

[leginten]

1 hour ago, Tazio said:

In reference to the non band member lyricist thing Pete Brown is similar but not as a member of the band but very much part of the process on some material after the band had approached him to write with them. 

I just looked at Wiki to check whether or not Pete Brown was still with us. Strangely enough he co-wrote the lyrics for a 2017 Procol Harum album - the only one Keith Reid didn’t work on. Procol Harum should have knocked it on the head in the mid-1970s but unfortunately are still occasionally releasing a fairly dreadful heap of dad-rock. Not that they were everyone’s cup of tea to start with.

 

There’s a thread in there somewhere - bands who should have called it a day decades ago but still drag themselves round small venues in Denmark, Italy and Germany either because they can’t let go or because they need the money. I’m sometimes scared to visit small towns in Germany in case Barclay James Harvest pitch up.

[leginten]

 

[Shapes]

Some people may stick their noses up at this, but Taylor Swift. The bridges she writes in songs are just incredible. She's always been a great lyricist, but some of the stuff she's written on Folklore and Evermore with Aaron Dessner from The National (also a great lyricist),Jack Antonoff & William Bowery (Joe Alwyn) have been stunning. Folklore is an incredible album. So many stories told and so many characters and so many different ways to interpret them. Three of the songs focus on a love triangle between Betty (the song cardigan is from her perspective), Augustine (she's the 'other girl' and the song August is from her perspective) and James (Betty's boyfriend who has a fling with Augustine - the song Betty is from his perspective). However, it can also be interpreted that illicit affairs is from Augustines perspective too. I know some of these might seem too 'girly' but honestly, a lot of her lyrics I just think are very cleverly written and very relatable. 

 

Anyway, here are some of my favourite lyrics. I could honestly write for hours about TS lyrics. And I could also probably do a whole other post on Phoebe Bridgers, Regina Spektor & Robert Smith. 

 

 

Basically the entire song 'illicit affairs'  but in particular these lyrics

 

You taught me a secret language
I can't speak with anyone else
And you know damn well
For you I would ruin myself
A million little times

 

and

 

Take the words for what they are: a dwindling, mercurial high; a drug that only worked the first few hundred times.

From Illicit Affairs (folklore album)

 

 

If I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake, cursing my name, wishing I stayed?

from My Tears Ricochet (folklore album)

 

 

Remember when I pulled up and said 'get in the car' and then cancelled my plans just in case you called, back when I was living for the hope of it all.

from August (folklore album)

 

You drew stars around my scars, but now I'm bleeding

from Cardigan (Folklore album)

 

And I couldn't be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
This pain wouldn't be for
Evermore

From Evermore (Evermore album)

 

Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life

From Tolerate it (Evermore album)

 

There's so many more from just these two albums but I'd be here all night so I'll end with 'all too well' from the album Red. The whole song is a lyrical masterpiece but in particular

 

And maybe we got lost in translation
Maybe I asked for too much
But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up
Running scared, I was there
I remember it all too well

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all
Too well

 

[Tazio]

8 minutes ago, Shapes said:

Some people may stick their noses up at this, but Taylor Swift. The bridges she writes in songs are just incredible. She's always been a great lyricist, but some of the stuff she's written on Folklore and Evermore with Aaron Dessner from The National (also a great lyricist),Jack Antonoff & William Bowery (Joe Alwyn) have been stunning. Folklore is an incredible album. So many stories told and so many characters and so many different ways to interpret them. Three of the songs focus on a love triangle between Betty (the song cardigan is from her perspective), Augustine (she's the 'other girl' and the song August is from her perspective) and James (Betty's boyfriend who has a fling with Augustine - the song Betty is from his perspective). However, it can also be interpreted that illicit affairs is from Augustines perspective too. I know some of these might seem too 'girly' but honestly, a lot of her lyrics I just think are very cleverly written and very relatable. 

 

Anyway, here are some of my favourite lyrics. I could honestly write for hours about TS lyrics. And I could also probably do a whole other post on Phoebe Bridgers, Regina Spektor & Robert Smith. 

 

 

Basically the entire song 'illicit affairs'  but in particular these lyrics

 

You taught me a secret language
I can't speak with anyone else
And you know damn well
For you I would ruin myself
A million little times

 

and

 

Take the words for what they are: a dwindling, mercurial high; a drug that only worked the first few hundred times.

From Illicit Affairs (folklore album)

 

 

If I'm dead to you, why are you at the wake, cursing my name, wishing I stayed?

from My Tears Ricochet (folklore album)

 

 

Remember when I pulled up and said 'get in the car' and then cancelled my plans just in case you called, back when I was living for the hope of it all.

from August (folklore album)

 

You drew stars around my scars, but now I'm bleeding

from Cardigan (Folklore album)

 

And I couldn't be sure
I had a feeling so peculiar
This pain wouldn't be for
Evermore

From Evermore (Evermore album)

 

Now I'm begging for footnotes in the story of your life

From Tolerate it (Evermore album)

 

There's so many more from just these two albums but I'd be here all night so I'll end with 'all too well' from the album Red. The whole song is a lyrical masterpiece but in particular

 

And maybe we got lost in translation
Maybe I asked for too much
But maybe this thing was a masterpiece 'til you tore it all up
Running scared, I was there
I remember it all too well

And you call me up again just to break me like a promise
So casually cruel in the name of being honest
I'm a crumpled up piece of paper lying here
'Cause I remember it all, all, all
Too well

 

In terms of female lyricists of the past few years that can really cut you with their words there aren’t many better than Tori Amos. Though a lot of her stuff is quite abstract and poetic as opposed to straight storytelling. She’s got the knack of putting a single line in that stops you dead in your tracks. Like in Blood Roses, a song about women being used by men, the line “And I shaved every place that you’ve been boy” A brutal depiction of cleaning someone from your life. Not quite as impactful now as when it was written due to, erm, changed grooming habits in women. 

[scott herbertson]

Bernie Taupin's lyrics made some of Elton John's best songs

 

Wire's lyrics might be great, if only I could understand them

[been here before]

2 hours ago, Toxteth O'Grady said:

It took a lost weekend in a hotel in Amsterdam
And double pneumonia in a single room
And the sickest joke was the price of the medicine
Are you laughing at me now?
May I please laugh along with you?

 

I almost included Lloyd Cole on my list. But his is a bit more pretentious than those I originally included.

 

3 cracking albums though so on reflection, I concur.

[BudgeUp]

Bernie Taupin to add to the above.

 

Agree with Tazio about Paul Simon. Simons songs always evoke personal memories, not necessarily about his song. Something which is pretty damned special.

 

some great shouts on here and I'll add Chris Stapleton to the mix. I've became a very big fan of his, Which started with the Jompson Brothers.

[Greedy Jambo]

I'll be honest, i couldn't tell you all the lyrics to any song. 

A lot of the best songs don't even have good lyrics.

Top of my head, and probably not a song that any of you old boys like but...

What are the lyrics...

 

 

[davemclaren]

3 hours ago, leginten said:

I just looked at Wiki to check whether or not Pete Brown was still with us. Strangely enough he co-wrote the lyrics for a 2017 Procol Harum album - the only one Keith Reid didn’t work on. Procol Harum should have knocked it on the head in the mid-1970s but unfortunately are still occasionally releasing a fairly dreadful heap of dad-rock. Not that they were everyone’s cup of tea to start with.

 

There’s a thread in there somewhere - bands who should have called it a day decades ago but still drag themselves round small venues in Denmark, Italy and Germany either because they can’t let go or because they need the money. I’m sometimes scared to visit small towns in Germany in case Barclay James Harvest pitch up.

The good thing is you don’t actually have to attend their concert. However, I do agree in that I saw Procol Harum in 73 at the Empire and thought they were great. I then saw them in 77 at Potterrow and they were like a pub band. Every band has it’s time and not many have infinite longevity. 

[Greedy Jambo]

12 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

The good thing is you don’t actually have to attend their concert. However, I do agree in that I saw Procol Harum in 73 at the Empire and thought they were great. I then saw them in 77 at Potterrow and they were like a pub band. Every band has it’s time and not many have infinite longevity. 

 

Driving home for christmas by chris rea is pretty good lol

Just out of curiosity, how do you manage to stay up all night most days without your wife going off her nut? 

 

p.s don't take that the wrong way. 

 

Edited May 16, 2021 by Greedy Jambo

[leginten]

22 minutes ago, davemclaren said:

The good thing is you don’t actually have to attend their concert. However, I do agree in that I saw Procol Harum in 73 at the Empire and thought they were great. I then saw them in 77 at Potterrow and they were like a pub band. Every band has it’s time and not many have infinite longevity. 

I was at both gigs. Can’t remember much about the one at the Empire, but by the time of the Potterrow concert they were touring some really crap material from their later albums and had introduced synthesisers to their armoury, which just didn’t fit. I think they finished with their albatross-round-the-neck song, which they had always previously avoided when I saw them live. 

[Robbo-Jambo]

16 hours ago, ri Alban said:

AMC is an absolutely astonishing piece. I love it. 

Yip, my favourite album 👍

 

Still sounds as good today as it ever did. 

[davemclaren]

7 hours ago, leginten said:

I was at both gigs. Can’t remember much about the one at the Empire, but by the time of the Potterrow concert they were touring some really crap material from their later albums and had introduced synthesisers to their armoury, which just didn’t fit. I think they finished with their albatross-round-the-neck song, which they had always previously avoided when I saw them live. 

I think we discussed all of this about 20 years ago on here. 😄 I still like their early stuff and during lockdown rediscovered a lot of it. The good friend I went to both gigs with died after a short illness about 5 years ago so their music still resonates with me. 

[micole]

Frank Zappa......the only guy who never wrote a song about the usual love theme ect, also a musical genius.