Your Favourite Lyricists Of All Time... Any Number Of Artists & Any Genre Welcome!!!

Wow, very much appreciate all the input people!!!

Much more than I expected to wake up to
A nice surprise!!!

Some great choices all round!!!


Peace everybody!!!

Leonard Cohen has SO many amazing lyrical songs, I believe he was purely a writer/poet before he turned to the musical form of expression. If you are a fan of music (or can handle folky story telly and or more energetic and musical tunes he does have too...but always deep and well thought out and powerful lyrics, I implore you to check out lots of Leonard Cohen music, start from the beginning of his career)



I dont know how many songs ive heard the Mississippi John Hurt wrote himself, and how many were passed down through the generations, but I love the simplicity and universality of his songs and lyrics, they are like archtypically perfect. And hes a guitar wizard.



Same thing I said about Leonard Cohen, applies to Harry Nilsson (besides the poet part I think).

favorite rap lyricists I have some I cant think of that I like,

All Wu Tang, and Nas - Illmatic





Big Daddy Kane


Biggie...

Guru (lots of great ones...as with all these dudes)


Slick Rick


Rakim



MF Doom (best beats ever)



Big L

a reply to: CharlieSpeirs

My favourite lyricist of all time has to be Morrissey, there are so many of his songs that I love.

'There is a light that never goes out'

Take me out tonight
Take me anywhere, I don't care
I don't care, I don't care
And in the darkened underpass
I thought oh God, my chance has come at last
(But then a strange fear gripped me and I
Just couldn't ask)

'What difference does it make?'

All men have secrets and here is mine
So let it be known
For we have been through hell and high tide
I think I can rely on you...
And yet you start to recoil
Heavy words are so lightly thrown
But still I'd leap in front of a flying bullet for you

The devil will find work for idle hands to do
I stole and I lied, and why?
Because you asked me to!
But now you make me feel so ashamed
Because I've only got two hands
Well, I'm still fond of you, oh-ho-oh

So, what difference does it make?
Oh, what difference does it make?
Oh, it makes none
But now you have gone
And your prejudice won't keep you warm tonight

'Ask'

So, if there's something you'd like to try
If there's something you'd like to try
Ask me - I won't say "no" - how could I?

Spending warm summer days indoors
Writing frightening verse
To a buck-toothed girl in Luxembourg

You get the idea!

Difficult one - obviously changes with the moods.

But got to say Joe Strummer.
Joe wrote some of the cleverest lyrics ever.


Joe at his angry best.

Not just with The Clash - Joe did some really good stuff later on with The Mescaleros.

www.sing365.com...


Not my favourite Clash song by any means - but it contains some of the greatest lyrics ever written, classic Strummer.

Far too many to list here, for me Strummer was probably the best lyricist ever.

In my mind, other great lyricists include;

Mike Ness.
A true living legend and a one-off.





The Levellers are one of my favourite bands. All songs are attributed to the entire band but Mark Chadwick and Simon Friend are the main lyricists.




www.sing365.com...

Ian Curtis.
He could have been the greatest of all, but........



Love or hate him, either way can't deny Pete Doherty is a great lyricist and viewed as the poet for a generation by many.



And finally, for now.......

There's just far too many for me to go on, but Jake Burns and SLF have had such an enormous effect on me over the years.
Jake lives in Chicago now and is still recording new material with the band.

Not SLF's best song - nowhere near it - but a great example of Jake's powerful lyrics.





Bugger it, one more from Jake.

It would be no surprise to those who know me that If we are talking lyrics I would have to say The Smiths!!

a reply to: Freeborn

One of my favorite Joy Division songs



The kinks have a lot of good lyrics, so many great songs really.

Best rapper would be a toss up between R.A The Rugged man or Del the Funkee Homosapien.