Just curious as to what artists you orgers feel are the most diverse lyrically.

On a side note i am not going to include Bob Dylan cause that would take to damn long

And include song examples if you can i'll start

Stevie Wonder

Love- Once In My Life, Signed sealed delivered

Politics- Living For The City, Big Brother, Jesus Children Of America, Front Line, Heaven Help Us All

Sci-Fi- Saturn

Break Ups- Never Dreamed You Would leave In Summer, Summer Soft

Secrets- Skeltons

Jammin- Boogie On Reggie Woman

Race- Black Man, Jungle Fever

Fishbone

Politics- Party With Sadam, Fight The Youth, Party At Ground Zero

Greed- So Many Millions, M.S Hoe

Drugs- Pray to the junkiemaker, junkies prayer, lick the yellow juice

Gay Sex- Gittin' In That Ass, Slowing the right load

Turning Into Dr. Pepper- The drink that killed me

Custody Battles- Ma and Pa

Murder- The Death Of Fishbone, Skat man raid

Hidden Messages- Subliminal Fascism

Fingers In Cheese Dip- Fingers In Cheese Dip

Cheaters & Liars- Lyin' Ass Bitch

Weight Gain & Loss- The Tube

Ratchetness- Let Dem Ho's Fight

Lonoeliness- I Wish I Had a Date

Religion- Catholic Boys and glue

Race- Racists Cat, Asian penis on high

Orgies- 3-some orgy fight pt.666

Feet Love- Fetish

Masta Ace

End Of The World- Another good day

Fashion Wars- Style Wars

People Fronting with suberficial Items- Jeep Ass Niguh, He golden

Political- The Big East, A Walk Thru The Valley

Retiring & Being Remembered- No Regrets

Danceing- Sature Nite Live

Stealing from the hood- Who U Jackin

Joni Mitchell

Traveling- California, Looking To See

Being Lost In America- Hejira, Blue Motel Room

Choices On Life, Love & Work- Amelia

Confusion On The Past- Stuck On The Inside

Faith No More

Politics- We Care Alot

Psyopath Stories- Ashes To Ashes

The ruins of fame, life & poverty- Crashing

Shit That Happens After A Bad Night- The Morning After

Rise And Fall Of Any Capitalist Economic System- Everything Ruined

Gay Sex- Be Aggresive

Drugs and Crime lords- Crack Hitler

Getting Violated- Jizzlober

Getting Caught Masterbating- Orange Juice

Racism- Cotton Blood

Satan Dancing To Disco On Drugs- Faster Disco

Girl Infauation- From Out Of Nowhere

Sex, Media & Angst- Epic

School And Kid Punishment- Kindergarden

There are dozens more but these are a few that always capture my imagination.

Post some more

Prince: Every subject matter under the Sun........including the son.

Graycap23 said:

Prince: Every subject matter under the Sun........including the son.

I think Fishbone has it beat when it comes to subject matter

But he is definitley top 10.

I like the lyrics of Rick James.

Very creative Thread!

I will do my personal favorites each by each because the post will be to long

Stevie Wonder

Childhood-I Wish- Focuses on aspects of his childhood with anecdotes, conversations, and things he experienced and long for those days to come back

Politics-Frontline- Describes War and the affect it can have on a person mentally

Racism- You Havent Done Nothin- Talking about the "indirect white privelidge/white man"

Superwoman- is very very abstact and can be interpreted in many ways. It exactly can be broken up into 2 songs. I think it focuses on woman liberation vs. male dominance because he talks about "Marys" hopes and dreams and dismisses that insisting it cant be accomplished and makes it clear he has most of the power in the relationship at least in his mind and then he switches his attitude with feeling despair that she is no longer with him...

Love- Ribbon in the Sky

Sci-Fi- Saturn

Rejection/Stigma by housing institution- I guess this can be political to- Cash In Your Face

Daughter/ Family- Isnt She Lovely

Infidelity-Lately

Persuades a lover to love- Did I hear you say you love me

Being optimistic/having fun despite issues and problems- Master Blastin (Jammin)

Improv and him just playing harmonica-FingerTips- my favorite probably

Mistrust of Society- Aint Gonna Stand For It- Basically questions why he should trust people or things because they fail to be real or has let him down and not taking being taken of advantage of anymore

Urban Lifestyle and Living Conditions- Village Ghetto Land- Discusses hardships of living in the ghetto and what people have to go through who do.

(Acceptance) Having his woman accept him for him despite being a average joe/broke- Uptight (Everything is Alright)

Religion/Christianity- Jesus Children of America-

Higher Ground- Now I think this song is a Gospel/ Political song wrapped in one. He acknowledges the social problems and issues of the world and suggest the world doesnt care. Despite this he is glad that God has given him another chance at life which will give him another shot at reaching his goals, "higher ground" and believes people should trust in God and not allow people to stop them from accomplishing their goals. Its very uplifting and so darn groovy

He has a lot and plenty plenty more... I will be all day with Stevie

Michael Jackson

Political- They Dont Really Care About Us

Drugs- Morphine

Loneliness-Stranger in Moscow

Childhood/Judgement-Childhood

Greed-Money

Love-Rock With You

Death/Despair-Little Susie- This song was inspired by a 1972 murdered of a young girl named Susie. He questions why someone didnt hear her despair or her crying and talks about how she was murdered..

Children/ Family-You Are My Life

Invasion of Privacy-Leave Me Alone

Media, Lies, Cant Believe what you hear and see/question things-Tabloid Junkie

Love being seen as just sex when its more-Superfly Sister- the song talks about how Love is viewed differently than it once was,, "Love aint what it use to be, that is what they tellin me, push it in stick it out, that aint what love is all about, Susie likes to agitate hit the boy and make him wait, mothers preachin Abraham, brothas they dont give a damn" I exactly think in this song he views the love of just sex or tricking men into having sex negatively in the sense that some women just have sex without any emotional attachment and describes this by using the character"Susie" and discusses ways in how she uses her body and ways to get sex and how some men dont care about it. m

Is It Scary- the song is very self therapuetic and I would say the theme is false public perception. He talks about his image in the media and how it is presented as a "freak"/"scary" and suggests if that is how the media is portraying him then that will be how he will be (since it does not matter either way) but the irony is they are the ones that haunting him and persuading him to be "scary" when he is not

" I'm gonna be exactly what you wanna see..It's you whose haunting me..Your warning me.. To be the stranger In your life.. Am I amusing you Or just confusing you.. Am I the beast You visualised"

Gospel/ Positive Motivation- Keep The Faith- The song discusses how people should follow their dreams and can be anything they desire as long as they "Keep the faith" and dont allow people to turn them around

Asking for acceptance, love and validation for someone to be there/ Gospel-Will You There,

Hold Me
Like The River Jordan
And I will then say to Thee
You are my friend

Political/ Discusses issues that people need to be aware, his own, and issues people go through but despite that it doesnt take to much to Jam" or be optimistic-Jam- I Have To Find My Peace Cuz
No One Seems To Let Me Be
False Prophets Cry Of Doom
What Are The Possibilities
I Told My Brother
There'll Be Problems,
Times And Tears For Fears,
We Must Live Each Day
Like It's The Last

Women falsely accusing men that they are their baby's fathers/ Groupies- Billie Jean, Wanna Be Startin Something

Corrupt Law System -D.S.

Halloween Theme/ Ghosts/ Sci Fi- Thriller, Ghosts

Gang Violence- Beat It

-There are plenty plenty PLENTY more but just to name a few, I will be all day and night talking about the pinapple of my music eye and music heart

Oh yea and ALL these songs were written by Michael Jackson HIMSELF except Rock With You and some of these songs were even produced by MJ alone.......

just saying..

mjscarousal said:

Dont you wanna come?

3121

Gonna be so much fun

3121

Thats where the party Be

3121

You can come if you want

but you can never leave

If you exactly read, (instead of jumping to trash MJ because you live to) you would see I posted some of the lyrics to support why I chose the subject matter for certain songs.

[Edited 1/3/13 17:01pm]

I like Morrissey.

And Neil Tennant.

Wait. Maybe that's cleverest.

HuMpThAnG said:

TTD has very diverse lyrics...

TTD DA GAWD

Terrib3Towel said:

There's only so much one can write about..love, sex, politics, slapping bitches, etc. Most artists find their niche and stick with it because it works for them and the fans like it. From my limited musical knowledge I would say Prince is the most diverse artist I've listened to.

It seems that way at first.

But you can go REALLY out there

I mean Fishbone has a song about the POV of a man turned to Orange Juice and then it swallowed by OJ Simpson & the it tells the story of how they fought on his insides during his trial and got turned into piss

Or a song about Rim Jobs that turns to an inspirational song about Gay Liberty...

Politics are my favorite subject matter in music... but i won't lie it gets old when EVERY song is a political song

Gil Scott-Heron covered politics , racism, racial politics (i.e., "Brother"), love, war, Christmas, and personal demons. "B-Movie" is about as prophetic as it gets. I'd put him up there.

That applies to Curtis Mayfield as well.

mjscarousal said:

Graycap23 said:

Prince: Every subject matter under the Sun

Has Prince done songs about a crossdressing truck driver or smashing weasels?

Graycap23 said:

Mj will never be known 4 his deep lyrics.

I agree generally, Temperton wrote some of his best songs; that being said, "Man In The Mirror" had some substance to it. There are probably others I'm not thinking about.

David Bowie:

Ziggy Stardust - Ziggy Stardust, Rock 'N' Roll Suicide

Dancing - Let's Dance

Sci-Fi - Space Oddity, Starman, Ashes To Ashes

Girl wondering about humanity after seeing a movie - Life On Mars?

Fame- Fame

Fashion - Fashion

Future world where people have to look at porn to remember how to have sex - Drive-In Saturday

1984 - 1984, Big Brother

Love - China Girl, "Heroes"

Glam Rock - Rebel Rebel

Telling your gay lover you're only dancing with a girl who turns you on: John, I'm Only Dancing

"young people, just before the two wars, wanting to go and screw girls and kill foreigners" (David Bowie) - Aladdin Sane

Andy Warhol - Andy Warhol

Lust - Cat People

Marc Bolan - Lady Stardust

Bob Dylan - Song For Bob Dylan

Iggy Pop - Jean Genie

Girlfriend crawling into a TV - TVC 15

I could go on and on but I think people will get the point

Graycap23 said:

mjscarousal said:

Dont you wanna come?

3121

Gonna be so much fun

3121

Thats where the party Be

3121

You can come if you want

but you can never leave

If you exactly read, (instead of jumping to trash MJ because you live to) you would see I posted some of the lyrics to support why I chose the subject matter for certain songs.

[Edited 1/3/13 17:01pm]

Mj will never be known 4 his deep lyrics.

....And neither is Prince. In fact the only artists I can think of that are known for their deep lyrics are Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Marvin Gaye

namepeace said:

Graycap23 said:

Mj will never be known 4 his deep lyrics.

I agree generally, Temperton wrote some of his best songs; that being said, "Man In The Mirror" had some substance to it. There are probably others I'm not thinking about.

what deep songs written for him by Temperton? Thriller? Rock with you?
and in what way any of these songs are "deeper" than Stranger in Moscow or Earth Song?
most of his songs - entertaining product, they have to cheer up, so there is a bit of depth.
He is a very good songwriter for the type of music, where he worked.
But he could write a song with depth too.
----------------------------
usually more prolific songwriter = more the subjects and issues he raises in his songs.
Therefore, the standard set: Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Prince, David Bowie, etc.

LiLi1992 said:

usually more prolific songwriter = more the subjects and issues he raises in his songs.
Therefore, the standard set: Paul McCartney, Bob Dylan, Prince, David Bowie, etc.

Good point

namepeace said:

Gil Scott-Heron covered politics , racism, racial politics (i.e., "Brother"), love, war, Christmas, and personal demons. "B-Movie" is about as prophetic as it gets. I'd put him up there.

That applies to Curtis Mayfield as well.

ahhhh.....good one

aardvark15 said:

Graycap23 said:

mjscarousal said: Mj will never be known 4 his deep lyrics.

....And neither is Prince. In fact the only artists I can think of that are known for their deep lyrics are Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, and Marvin Gaye

There more then 3 artists who have deep lyrics

Curtis Mayfield

Atmosphere

Leonard Cohen

Tori Amos

Rakim

Chuck D

Patti Smith

Terence Trent D'arby

Bruce Spirngsteen

Paul Simon

Chrissie Hynde

Gill Scott-Heron

Bob Marley

Beck

Thom Yorke

Immortal Technique

Cat Stevens

Mike Patton

Neil Young

Smokey Robinson

Tom Waits

Lou Reed

Maynard James Keenan

Are all known for their deep lyrics

Dylan is my all time favorite artists with Stevie right behind... but i can't say he is the be all end all lyrical master that kills everyone.

Gunsnhalen said:

Dylan is my all time favorite artists with Stevie right behind... but i can't say he is the be all end all lyrical master that kills everyone.

Come on, None of those artis are known for their deep lyrics if they are known at all Plenty of artists have deep lyrics, whether or not they are known for them is another thing. I love Dylan's lyrics and music, but his voice is just so bad I can't listen to his music. I routinely listen to Dylan trying to get my ears to tolerate his voice but to no success

[Edited 1/4/13 16:07pm]

aardvark15 said:

Gunsnhalen said:

Dylan is my all time favorite artists with Stevie right behind... but i can't say he is the be all end all lyrical master that kills everyone.

Come on, None of those artis are known for their deep lyrics if they are known at all Plenty of artists have deep lyrics, whether or not they are known for them is another thing. I love Dylan's lyrics and music, but his voice is just so bad I can't listen to his music. I routinely listen to Dylan trying to get my ears to tolerate his voice but to no success

[Edited 1/4/13 16:07pm]

What so you are saying 3 artists in the history of music only 3 are known for deep lyrics? come aardvark

You saying Dylan is the only person who is known for the deepest lyrics?, Radiohead, Curtis Mayfield, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley, Paul Simon have been known for deep lyrics for years were you been

But you know i got love for you aardvark

Gunsnhalen said:

aardvark15 said:

Come on, None of those artis are known for their deep lyrics if they are known at all Plenty of artists have deep lyrics, whether or not they are known for them is another thing. I love Dylan's lyrics and music, but his voice is just so bad I can't listen to his music. I routinely listen to Dylan trying to get my ears to tolerate his voice but to no success

[Edited 1/4/13 16:07pm]

What so you are saying 3 artists in the history of music only 3 are known for deep lyrics? come aardvark

You saying Dylan is the only person who is known for the deepest lyrics?, Radiohead, Curtis Mayfield, Neil Young, Leonard Cohen, Bob Marley, Paul Simon have been known for deep lyrics for years were you been

I'll agree with Marley (forgot about him) and Curtis, don't know about the rest, especially Radiohead.

namepeace said:

You may wanna throw R. Kelly up in there. All the songs he has plus what he was wrote for others is an overall very diverse, versatile catalogue.