Best lyrics you've ever read (written)?

[Qasper]

Who blew you away? Bob Dylan's got some, but I'm also a big Ani Difranco fan. She tackles some pretty heavy issues with flair and strong narration. Anyone have particular songs or songwriters who just demolished your ego out of pure talent? Care to share?

[KingNothing]

Slipknot, Tool

[gibs]

dammit, the search is down, but we had a similar post a few months back and it got lots of responses.....but "A Day In The Life" by the Beatles rang my bell nicely....gibs

[dobro]

That one, yeah, and For What It's Worth stopped me in my tracks, too, but then I was soooo young.

[technicolorprawn]

Paul Simon, in "Homeward Bound".
"and all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity..." I think it's beautiful in its simplicity and truth, because nothing sounds as futile to you as your own lyrics, no matter what people say about them.

[Emeric]

"In My Life" Beatles. John.

[Emeric]

that or "oops, i did it again" by Britney Spears.

[James HE]

Ani! Ani! Ani! love it!

however the best, the absolute greatest lyricist of all time ever is Leonard Cohen!

..."one of us cannot be wrong"
(a few lines escape me but...)

i lit a thin green candle to make you jealous of me,
but the room just filled up with mosquitoes,
they heard that my body was free....

I recently went to the doctor he said "you just have to quit"
then he wrote himself a perscription, and your name was mentioned in it.
Then he locked him self in a library shelf with the details of our honeymoon
And I hear from the nurse that he's gotten much worse and his practice is all in a ruin.

I'd heard of a saint that had loved you, so I studied all night in his school
He taught that the duty of lovers was to tarnish the golden rule
And just when I was sure that his teachings were pure he drowned himself in the pool.
(his students are gone??) but back here on the lawn his spirit continues to drool.

(I recently met an eskimo?? something...) who had taken a movie of you.
The poor man could hardly stop shivering
his lips and his fingers were blue
I suppose that he froze when the wind took your clothes and I guess he just never got warm.
(And I must confess) that I tortured the dress that you wore for the world to look through....


(if i remember I'll edit this)

-jhe

[Shana]

Winner-MMmBop-Hanson
Runner up- the Bangles

"Its just another manic Mon-day
I wish it were Sun-day
cuz that's my fun-day
my I-dont-have-to-run-day"


Sorry I couldnt resist.
Shana

[KingNothing]

Slack brought up perhaps the best lyrics ever in another thread.

Give me the strength to be strong.

Christina Augulara....I mean, what insite. These lyrics require deep thought, and an intelligence level that is unmatched. The bad thing is, she pays writers to write these for her.

[Cooperman]

Brittany Spears, Christine Aguilera...

Now Shana there mentioned some real hard rockin' babes... The Bangles.

Thanks Shana!! I'll have to ask my sister if I can borrow her "Walk like and Egyptian single" ...hehehe

[Qasper]

He he. Yeah. The demise of the professional songwriter came when singer-songwriters took over the scene. Now, except in Country (and don't get me started) and some Jazz (new stuff is harder to come by, though - everyone just sticks to the classics or writes their own) the only professional songwriters out there seem to be from the marketing department of your average major label (and we're down to what... Three now? Who's left?). The "hook" is there in some cases (Face it: Aguilara's "Genie in a bottle" is a hook phrase) but there just isn't any depth. Then again, shallow pop has always existed. I just find that there isn't any Motown anymore. Y'know, the songs that had some BITE!

And James, I'd agree with you if only Cohen could sing. I can't STAND his voice, and to me, there really has to be a symbiosis between melody and phrasing for it to knock me out. Then again, I'd read him ALL day long... He is quite the storyteller.

Another Beatles: All you need is love.

There's nothing you can do that can't be done.
Nothing you can sing that can't be sung.
Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game.
It's easy.

Nothing you can make that can't be made.
No one you can save that can't be saved.
Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

Nothing you can know that isn't known.
Nothing you can see that isn't shown.
Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be.
It's easy.

All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.

All you need is love (All together, now!)
All you need is love. (Everybody!)
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need (love is all you need).

[Qasper]

Ok. I'm corny. I'll admit to that. But it struck a chord when I got down on myself for not being a brilliant enough composer/lyricist. It basically made me smile, something I hadn't done in a while. Perspective, y'know?

[Snowdog]

Pretty much anything penned by Neil Peart!

[Tao Jones]

Maybe a personal best:

Box of Troubles

Box of troubles given me by God
who knows that I am so clumsy
box of troubles given me by God
to show how he is thinking of me

He brought Pandora into my life
and I wanted to have her for my wife
and now everything has changed
nothing stays the same
'cause the very same power that takes me high
is the very thing that makes me cry

Box of troubles given me by God
who knows about my curiosity
box of troubles given me by god
He placed inside the only hope for me

Now here is Pandora in my life
and I needed to have her for my wife
and now everything has changed
nothing stays the same
'cause the very same power that takes me high
is the very thing that makes me cry
that female touch,that female sound
pulling me up and down
He must be laughing at his clown
while she's pulling me up and down
thank him anyhow

Copyright 1999 Elliott

[Tao Jones]

But Dylan has the effect on me of being too far beyond my reach and though it inspires me, it also depresses me in a way.

[OneLouder]

Suzanne Vega has some pretty good stuff wouldn't you say? I kinda like most Soundgarden songs too... I think Cornell has his head screwed firmly on as a lyricist.

[Dougster]

"Aint no use to sit and wonder why babe, if you don't know by now"

"The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face"

"It's not dark yet, but it's gettin' there"


Early middle and late Dylan, the breadth and power over all these years from the old tamborine man. Far as I can see.
Dougster

[Qasper]

From Ani DiFranco's "Everest":

from the depth of the pacific
to the height of everest
and still the world is smoother
than a shiny ball-bearing
so i take a few steps back
and put on a wider lens
and it changes your skin,
your sex, and what your wearing
distance shows your silloutte
to be a lot like mine
like a sphere is a sphere
and all of us here
have been here all the time
(...)

And from Ani's song "Virtue":

virtue is relative at best
there's nothing worse than a sunset
when you're driving due west

Yeah, she's hardly has a song out which doesn't have at least one line that makes you wonder: "damn, why didn't I think of something like that..."

Hey Snowdog: You mean, Neil Peart of Rush fame? I didn't know he was the lyricist! For a drummer, I'm impressed!

[jitteringjim]

Qasper: I think Peart wrote/writes most of the lyrics for Rush, (right guys?)

But I have to agree, John Lennon always gets to me. Best lyrics? Dunno, but he always got it said and understood.

[jitteringjim]

Oh, and I liked the part in the film Imagine where John tells the guy camping in his garden "they're just songs" that they really don't mean anything and he just "makes them up" - yeah, right.

[KingNothing]

Slipknot - Surfacing

Fuck it all
Fuck this world
Fuck everything that you stand for

Don't belong
Don't exist
Don't give a shit
Don't ever judge me

Don't you fucking judge me

[JimH]

I kind of like Don McLean on the American Pie album: Empty Chairs, Vincent, and American Pie. (Not that anyone knows what the lyrics in AP mean after the first part )

[Krystof01]

Some good names floating around here.

Bob Dylan-of course.

Leonard Cohen-great suggestion-did you know he lives in a monestary now.

The beatles-Lennon-the better songwriter, Paul the more melodic.

What about Neil Young.

What about Lou Reed-well he does speak his mind.

Tom Waits?-I think so.

What about Van Morrison?

[Krystof01]

Oh-I just realised I forgot to add my name.