Which artist (or band) do you think write or have the best lyrics. Lyrics that make you think about life, love, sorrow, joy etc... Lyrics that you can learn lessons from.

DiamondGlove said:

Without a doubt, Sananda Maitreya (formerly known as Terence Trent D'arby).

Pointless

Wisest? Probably Joni. Or Stevie.

Bob Dylan

More a genre than a band, I'd say listening to good blues lyrics can give you a guide to most things in life ...

Gosh, a combination of folks



Mary Chapin Carpenter -- always has something to say about social and personal things. Great songwriter and singer


Vic Chestnut - when he's not being too weird, he writes some beautiful things


Peter Murphy - Subway, I'll Fall with Your Knife, Strange Kind of Love--the list goes on and on.


Tracy Chapman - You can pick out a gem from any of her albums. Any single one of them.


Bob Dylan - If he doesn't get mentioned then

I'm going to get laughed at for this but Alanis Morrisette's "Supposed former Infatuation Junkie" had all manner of spiritual ponderings that spoke to me and seemed wise way way beyond her years--especially the "Would not Come" song.


Simon & Garfunkle -


Bruce Springsteen - I can't get enough of him.




so so many though. It's not just that they pick the perfect words..I mean, Ani De Franco can do THAT. It's that they apply the words to just the right tune or just the right musical 'moment' so effortlessly most of them.

Sometimes Prince does this, but more times than not, his words...when he's trying to say something, either get muddled, or they're drowned in some silly chorus.

Paul Simon
Bob Dylan
Ani Difranco

The wryest, slyest and skillfull for my money...



...Steely Dan



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

joni.bob.neil.

I also think PM Dawn are up there. I love most of the lyrics in their song. Very wise.

GangstaFam said:

Ditto.

david (bowie or byrne, that is) and john (lennon, that is).

Miles said:

Dig. Blues sooths and educates at the same time.

Curtis Mayfield.

Marvin Gaye

Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Curtis Mayfield, Bob Marley, Bob Dylan, John Lennon, David Bowie and Sam Cooke.

morrissey, sometimes arrogant, sometimes whiney, but his logic SOMETIMES does ring quite truthfully. but then again he writes with oscar wilde hand.

Cat Stevens

Chuck D

baroque said:

Agreed- Morrissey is one of the best lyricists- you can actually sit and read the lyrics to the album "The Queen Is Dead" and it has the same emotional punch as a good book- but it's amazing what he can say in just a few lines rather than over the course of a chapter.

Bruce Springsteen is one of the best I reckon....


....its been said that he can say more with one line than most others can say in one song.

stevenpottle said:

Totally with ya there, Pottle.

Joan Armatrading.

"The government is coming and it wants to be your friend,
It wants to show you how to be a snitch
Inform upon your children, the inevitable end,
Is everyone's a victim but the filthy fucking rich,
And religion, like the monster that it is
Keeps telling you to turn the other cheek
God is on your side, but I don't think that you're on his,
If Jesus showed up now he'd be in jail by next week"



That's a sample lyric from, of all people, Lemmy.

I actually think he's a damn fine lyricist, it's just that all most people remember is "Ace of Spades"

theAudience said:

You beat me to it.....some of he wisest and most intellectual lyrics.....

Some children died the other day
We fed machines and then we prayed
Puked up and down in morbid faith
You should have seen the ratings that day

Well, I have to admit, the single wisest line I ever heard in a song was written by Liverpudlian wife beater John Lennon. In "All You Need Is Love" he said, "There's nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be". No-one else has written a single line as profound and true as that, but on a general level I'd have to say Joni, Paul Simon, and Stevie are the wisest writers I can think of.

There are a lot of great lyricists, but the first one off the tip of my tongue is Leonard Cohen.

stevenpottle said:

The thread is about wise lyrics. Morrissey writes great lyrics, but I wouldn't call them wise. I'd call them arch, funny, clever, honest, but not wise.

Imago said:

I love Dylan, but he's written some dumb, wrongheaded songs like "Joey", "Lenny Bruce" and dozens more, which disqualify him from being listed as too wise a lyricist.

I agree that Alanis Morrisette is/was a BRILLIANT lyricist. It's shocking how overlooked she is when people talk about great songwriters. Her work went downhill in the '00s, but for a while there, she was bringing the heat big time.