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Thread started 11/27/02 6:47am

Metalbabe699

Best Lyricist?

Besides Prince...who is the best?
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Reply #1 posted 11/27/02 6:49am

paisleypark4

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Metalbabe699 said:

Besides Prince...who is the best?


Hmmm some who get me are:



Stevie Wonder


Eminem


Nas


Meshell Ndgochello


D'Angelo
Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #2 posted 11/27/02 7:07am

MrBliss

Roger Waters from Pink Floyd
i also think Bono writes some pretty good shit







duck
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Reply #3 posted 11/27/02 8:13am

DorianGray

Metalbabe699 asked:"Besides Prince...who is the best lyricist?"

confuse Joni? Dylan? Costello? Robinson? Mozza? Rather depends on ur perspective, sensitivity, taste, sense of humour & even ability 2 appreciate effective & inspired use of language.
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Reply #4 posted 11/27/02 9:18am

gooeythehamste
r

I love these different answers.
SO many different people, so many different tastes.
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Reply #5 posted 11/27/02 9:20am

gooeythehamste
r

Costello indeed.
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Reply #6 posted 11/27/02 9:51am

Serious

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Metalbabe699 said:

Besides Prince...who is the best?


Don't forget about Sananda Maitreya / Terence Trent D'Arby, he's a true poet!
With a very special thank you to Tina: Is hammer already absolute, how much some people verändern...ICH hope is never so I will be! And if, then I hope that I would then have wen in my environment who joins me in the A....
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Reply #7 posted 11/27/02 9:55am

Jasper

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Sananda Maitreya/TTD´s lyrics really make you think. I think he´s really great at it.
--------------------------------------------------
Her face was my favourite magazine
Her body was my favourite book to read
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Reply #8 posted 11/27/02 2:04pm

EllisDee

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bob dylan

elvis costello

steve earle

willie dixon
oral Mr. Ellis Dee-licious, the Official NPGigolo pimp2

Candy Dulfer is my boo... razz
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Reply #9 posted 11/27/02 2:35pm

Cloudbuster

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Kate Bush

David Bowie

Bjork

John Lennon
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Reply #10 posted 11/27/02 2:38pm

VinnyM27

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Costello and Bowie and Young (that would be a good supergroup...kind of)
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Reply #11 posted 11/27/02 3:22pm

abierman

Ryan Adams, Adam Duritz
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Reply #12 posted 11/27/02 3:28pm

kisscamille

Bob Dylan is the greatest lyricist ever. Hands down!!
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Reply #13 posted 11/27/02 6:52pm

Metalbabe699

uh...Eminem is good...but he had Dre write a lot of his better stuff...
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Reply #14 posted 11/27/02 10:14pm

camille2002

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Metalbabe699 said:

uh...Eminem is good...but he had Dre write a lot of his better stuff...


Dre can't write for shit, who told you that lie. Snoop wrote most of his first lp, and Jay Z wrote a lot of shit on the chronic 2001. But anyways here are my fav...

Prince (of course)
Stevie Wonder
Joni Mitchell
2pac
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Reply #15 posted 11/28/02 3:59am

mistermaxxx

Smokey RObinson,Curits Mayfield,Gil Scott Heron,Bernie Tauplin,Burt Bacharach,Stevie WOnder,Sly Stone,Maurice White,&about 88 more.
mistermaxxx
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Reply #16 posted 11/28/02 3:59am

Insatiable7

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Prince

The Doors (Jim Morisson)

Eminem/Dre

Tom Petty
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
.>hello operator, can you give me number 9? can i see you later? can you give me back my dime?<.
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Reply #17 posted 11/28/02 4:01am

mistermaxxx

mistermaxxx said:

Smokey RObinson,Curits Mayfield,Gil Scott Heron,Bernie Tauplin,Burt Bacharach,Stevie WOnder,Sly Stone,Maurice White,&about 88 more.
gotta say Michael jackson,Prince,Rick James,Jimi Hendrix,Bob Dylan,Carol King,Joni Mitchell,the Beatles,George Michael,Lionel Richie,
mistermaxxx
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Reply #18 posted 11/28/02 4:06am

Insatiable7

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--Definitely The Beatles
-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_-_
.>hello operator, can you give me number 9? can i see you later? can you give me back my dime?<.
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Reply #19 posted 11/28/02 7:07am

DorianGray

mistermaxxx said:

Smokey RObinson,Curits Mayfield,Gil Scott Heron,Bernie Tauplin,Burt Bacharach,Stevie WOnder,Sly Stone,Maurice White,&about 88 more.



confuse Errr, don't u mean Hal David ?
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Reply #20 posted 11/29/02 2:17am

mistermaxxx

DorianGray said:

mistermaxxx said:

Smokey RObinson,Curits Mayfield,Gil Scott Heron,Bernie Tauplin,Burt Bacharach,Stevie WOnder,Sly Stone,Maurice White,&about 88 more.



confuse Errr, don't u mean Hal David ?
there are so many I could go on for days!!
mistermaxxx
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Reply #21 posted 11/30/02 8:50pm

lovemachine

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Tom Waits and Bruce Springsteen are tops in my book.

Although I like him Lenny Kravitz is probably the worst lyricist in music history.



BTW for the people who are choosing Prince have you not listened to his music? Just listen to the NPS album or the Rave album and try tell me he is the best lyricist of all time rolleyes Very often Prince's lyrics either don't make sense or are just stupid. Don't get me wrong he has written some GREAT songs such as NC2U, IIWYG, but he also tends to write lyrics like:

"I know you got a young man
You don't care about Me
darker than quicksand
and taller than a tree"

What?...rolleyes Darker than quicksand lol



.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 30 12:54:16 PST 2002 by lovemachine]
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Reply #22 posted 12/01/02 5:14pm

Marmelstein

Leonard Cohen
[This message was edited Sun Dec 1 9:15:19 PST 2002 by Marmelstein]
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Reply #23 posted 12/01/02 6:25pm

narcotizedmind

Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Michael R. Gira, basically anyone who writes happy lyrics. Tori Amos too. Cute redhead with a brain. Gotta like that! wink
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Reply #24 posted 12/01/02 7:04pm

Harlepolis

Cool thread!

Prince

Stevie Wonder

Lauryn Hill(I relate 2 her words in the scariest ways)

Rod Temperton

Rick James

I.Simpson(The main writer from India Arie's "Voyage 2 India" the one who wrote the amazing "Complicated melody")

Maya Angelou(Spelling?)

Nicole Renee

Mariah Carey(She's very anderrated writer-check out the non-released songs)

Tweet

Static of Playa
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Reply #25 posted 12/01/02 7:43pm

Bladerunner

lovemachine said:


BTW for the people who are choosing Prince have you not listened to his music? Just listen to the NPS album or the Rave album and try tell me he is the best lyricist of all time rolleyes Very often Prince's lyrics either don't make sense or are just stupid. Don't get me wrong he has written some GREAT songs such as NC2U, IIWYG, but he also tends to write lyrics like:

"I know you got a young man
You don't care about Me
darker than quicksand
and taller than a tree"

What?...rolleyes Darker than quicksand lol



.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 30 12:54:16 PST 2002 by lovemachine]


That same thing could be said of any number of artists who have recorded a boatload of songs over a 25 year period. I think some of Dylan's lyrics don't make sense either but he's supposed to be the world's greatest lyricist.
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Reply #26 posted 12/01/02 7:48pm

lovemachine

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Bladerunner said:

lovemachine said:


BTW for the people who are choosing Prince have you not listened to his music? Just listen to the NPS album or the Rave album and try tell me he is the best lyricist of all time rolleyes Very often Prince's lyrics either don't make sense or are just stupid. Don't get me wrong he has written some GREAT songs such as NC2U, IIWYG, but he also tends to write lyrics like:

"I know you got a young man
You don't care about Me
darker than quicksand
and taller than a tree"

What?...rolleyes Darker than quicksand lol



.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 30 12:54:16 PST 2002 by lovemachine]


That same thing could be said of any number of artists who have recorded a boatload of songs over a 25 year period. I think some of Dylan's lyrics don't make sense either but he's supposed to be the world's greatest lyricist.



But out of the thousands of songs that Prince has written how many could be considered truly great from a lyrical standpoint? I would say the answer is maybe 15-20 (if he is lucky). This is why Prince would never be mentioned in a question like this anywhere else but on Prince.org
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Reply #27 posted 12/01/02 9:08pm

Bladerunner

lovemachine said:

Bladerunner said:

lovemachine said:


BTW for the people who are choosing Prince have you not listened to his music? Just listen to the NPS album or the Rave album and try tell me he is the best lyricist of all time rolleyes Very often Prince's lyrics either don't make sense or are just stupid. Don't get me wrong he has written some GREAT songs such as NC2U, IIWYG, but he also tends to write lyrics like:

"I know you got a young man
You don't care about Me
darker than quicksand
and taller than a tree"

What?...rolleyes Darker than quicksand lol



.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 30 12:54:16 PST 2002 by lovemachine]


That same thing could be said of any number of artists who have recorded a boatload of songs over a 25 year period. I think some of Dylan's lyrics don't make sense either but he's supposed to be the world's greatest lyricist.



But out of the thousands of songs that Prince has written how many could be considered truly great from a lyrical standpoint? I would say the answer is maybe 15-20 (if he is lucky). This is why Prince would never be mentioned in a question like this anywhere else but on Prince.org


That's my point. With as many songs as he has written you're going to find some not so great ones and that's the case with anyone who writes as many. As far as the number of 'truly great' songs, it's not something I've sat down and thought about or looked into to come up with a number. And apparently he's thought of as good enough for many other artists to cover his songs over the years.
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Reply #28 posted 12/01/02 9:11pm

lovemachine

avatar

Bladerunner said:

lovemachine said:

Bladerunner said:

lovemachine said:


BTW for the people who are choosing Prince have you not listened to his music? Just listen to the NPS album or the Rave album and try tell me he is the best lyricist of all time rolleyes Very often Prince's lyrics either don't make sense or are just stupid. Don't get me wrong he has written some GREAT songs such as NC2U, IIWYG, but he also tends to write lyrics like:

"I know you got a young man
You don't care about Me
darker than quicksand
and taller than a tree"

What?...rolleyes Darker than quicksand lol



.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 30 12:54:16 PST 2002 by lovemachine]


That same thing could be said of any number of artists who have recorded a boatload of songs over a 25 year period. I think some of Dylan's lyrics don't make sense either but he's supposed to be the world's greatest lyricist.



But out of the thousands of songs that Prince has written how many could be considered truly great from a lyrical standpoint? I would say the answer is maybe 15-20 (if he is lucky). This is why Prince would never be mentioned in a question like this anywhere else but on Prince.org


That's my point. With as many songs as he has written you're going to find some not so great ones and that's the case with anyone who writes as many. As far as the number of 'truly great' songs, it's not something I've sat down and thought about or looked into to come up with a number. And apparently he's thought of as good enough for many other artists to cover his songs over the years.


But this thread isn't about great songs, it's about great lyrics and lyrics are probably/typically the weakest park of Prince's music.
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Reply #29 posted 12/01/02 9:30pm

Bladerunner

lovemachine said:

Bladerunner said:

lovemachine said:

Bladerunner said:

lovemachine said:


BTW for the people who are choosing Prince have you not listened to his music? Just listen to the NPS album or the Rave album and try tell me he is the best lyricist of all time rolleyes Very often Prince's lyrics either don't make sense or are just stupid. Don't get me wrong he has written some GREAT songs such as NC2U, IIWYG, but he also tends to write lyrics like:

"I know you got a young man
You don't care about Me
darker than quicksand
and taller than a tree"

What?...rolleyes Darker than quicksand lol



.
[This message was edited Sat Nov 30 12:54:16 PST 2002 by lovemachine]


That same thing could be said of any number of artists who have recorded a boatload of songs over a 25 year period. I think some of Dylan's lyrics don't make sense either but he's supposed to be the world's greatest lyricist.



But out of the thousands of songs that Prince has written how many could be considered truly great from a lyrical standpoint? I would say the answer is maybe 15-20 (if he is lucky). This is why Prince would never be mentioned in a question like this anywhere else but on Prince.org


That's my point. With as many songs as he has written you're going to find some not so great ones and that's the case with anyone who writes as many. As far as the number of 'truly great' songs, it's not something I've sat down and thought about or looked into to come up with a number. And apparently he's thought of as good enough for many other artists to cover his songs over the years.


But this thread isn't about great songs, it's about great lyrics and lyrics are probably/typically the weakest park of Prince's music.


Well now you're nitpicking. If a song doesn't have great lyrics its not considered a great song.
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