Favorite Lyricist

[gsmorgan]

Peter Gabriel and Leonard Cohen have already been mentioned - so I'll add another one of my favourites - Michael Penn

What a shame
I know nothing's ever
been this tough
out of blame
and out of all of that other stuff
but when you're alone with
what you've left
and you've done bereaved and
been bereft enough
you have reached the point
where you must choose
between what you've lost
and what you stand to lose
isn't it high time

[Slashboi]

Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam

[metalhead27]

Jackson Browne is my idol as far lyricists go. Maybe he just fits my personality, because I can be pretty melancholy sometimes, but the guy has madesome amazingly emotioal yet mature and complex songs over the years. Just reading the lyrics of The Pretender, Sky Blue and Black, Fountain of Sorrow, Before The Deluge... makes me say "Holy ****." About the closest I've ever come to appreciate poetry, and he is a poet in every sense of the word. Not to mention a stud. (Let the record show that I am straight, just comfortable with my sexuality and my man-crush of said artist )

I don't usually listen to lyrics that closely because: 1) I have a hearing impairment that makes it hard for me to pick the words out of the other layers of sounds (some people's voice and delivery makes it easier than others); and 2) I find most lyrics lacking in depth anyway. So I usually just listen to music for tone, texture, and composition, not messages in the lyrics. But when I am in a reflective mood nothing beats JB.

[Schmeal]

I tend to like the politically outraged or "think for yourself " lyricists like Greg Graffin, Zack de la Rocha, Ice Cube, Jello Biafra, Ian MacKaye, and Tim McIlrath come to mind.

The one that I can think of that doesn't fit that mold is Julie Christmas of Made out of Babies and Battle of Mice. I can't think of a good way to describe them so I'll just go with "they're pretty awesome".

[JukeBoxHero]

Many of my favorites have been mentioned so far, so I'll post the others that haven't been posted.

Eric Bloom/Buck Dharma(Blue Oyster Cult)- Solid song writers, plus I like their humor.

Catholic school girls have thrown away their mascara
They chain themselves to the axles of big mac trucks
The sky is filled with herds of shivering angels
The fat lady laughs, gentlemen, start your trucks

Jon Anderson(Yes)-A good portion of his lyrics doesn't make sense, but it flows very well with the music.

Geddy Lee(Rush-Odd choice, but I think he does a great job on some of the songs he wrote lyrics to. Cinderella Man being a great example of what he can do.

Phil Lynnot(Thin Lizzy)-Great lyricist that I'm surprised only a few have mentioned. Romeo And The Lonely Girl and Dancing in the Moonlight are great examples of his work.

[supernova1324]

I tend to like the politically outraged or "think for yourself " lyricists like Greg Graffin, Zack de la Rocha, Ice Cube, Jello Biafra, Ian MacKaye, and Tim McIlrath come to mind.

If you like them, you'll like Daron Malakian's lyrics as well as Frank Zappa's.

[Schmeal]

If you like them, you'll like Daron Malakian's lyrics as well as Frank Zappa's.

Yeah, I dig SOAD, too.

I never did get in to Zappa. Interestingly I was going to borrow some from my old man this weekend...

[Lolicat]

I don't like Malakian's lyrics personally, even though I dig the political infusion. same with de la Rocha. Zappa is cool though.

[supernova1324]

I don't like Malakian's lyrics personally, even though I dig the political infusion. same with de la Rocha. Zappa is cool though.

What's so bad about it? He has some great lyrics as shown in songs like Soldier Side, Boom!, and P.L.U.C.K. Add that to Serj's unique voice, and you have a pretty good band. Not a big fan of his vocals though.

[Lolicat]

What's so bad about it? He has some great lyrics as shown in songs like Soldier Side, Boom!, and P.L.U.C.K. Add that to Serj's unique voice, and you have a pretty good band. Not a big fan of his vocals though.

I don't know, I just don't enjoy his lyric writing especially, it is very disjointed. Also, he rhymes a lot, I hate rhyming.