Cobain, DOOM, and....uhhh.....ummmm......uhhhh.......

oh the Souls of Mischief crew.

Bob Marley
James Maynard Keenan
Chino Moreno

Esham

Leonard Cohen for this song:

It's four in the morning, the end of December
I'm writing you now just to see if you're better
New York is cold, but I like where I'm living
There's music on Clinton Street all through the evening.

I hear that you're building your little house deep in the desert
You're living for nothing now, I hope you're keeping some kind of record.

Yes, and Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear
Did you ever go clear?

Ah, the last time we saw you you looked so much older
Your famous blue raincoat was torn at the shoulder
You'd been to the station to meet every train
And you came home without Lili Marlene

And you treated my woman to a flake of your life
And when she came back she was nobody's wife.

Well I see you there with the rose in your teeth
One more thin gypsy thief
Well I see Jane's awake --

She sends her regards.

And what can I tell you my brother, my killer
What can I possibly say?
I guess that I miss you, I guess I forgive you
I'm glad you stood in my way.

If you ever come by here, for Jane or for me
Your enemy is sleeping, and his woman is free.
Yes, and thanks, for the trouble you took from her eyes
I thought it was there for good so I never tried.

And Jane came by with a lock of your hair
She said that you gave it to her
That night that you planned to go clear --

Sincerely, L. Cohen

Nick Cave for this song:

As I sat sadly by her side
At the window, through the glass
She stroked a kitten in her lap
And we watched the world as it fell past
Softly she spoke these words to me
And with brand new eyes, open wide
We pressed our faces to the glass
As I sat sadly by her side

She said, "Father, mother, sister, brother,
Uncle, aunt, nephew, niece,
Soldier, sailor, physician, labourer,
Actor, scientist, mechanic, priest
Earth and moon and sun and stars
Planets and comets with tails blazing
All are there forever falling
Falling lovely and amazing"

Then she smiled and turned to me
And waited for me to reply
Her hair was falling down her shoulders
As I sat sadly by her side

As I sat sadly by her side
The kitten she did gently pass
Over to me and again we pressed
Our different faces to the glass
"That may be very well", I said
"But watch the one falling in the street
See him gesture to his neighbours
See him trampled beneath their feet
All outward motion connects to nothing
For each is concerned with their immediate need
Witness the man reaching up from the gutter
See the other one stumbling on who can not see"

With trembling hand I turned toward her
And pushed the hair out of her eyes
The kitten jumped back to her lap
As I sat sadly by her side

Then she drew the curtains down
And said, "When will you ever learn
That what happens there beyond the glass
Is simply none of your concern?
God has given you but one heart
You are not a home for the hearts of your brothers

And God does not care for your benevolence
Anymore than he cares for the lack of it in others
Nor does he care for you to sit
At windows in judgement of the world He created
While sorrows pile up around you
Ugly, useless and over-inflated"

At which she turned her head away
Great tears leaping from her eyes
I could not wipe the smile from my face
As I sat sadly by her side

John Lydon
Jandek
Gil Scott Heron

though somewhat arbitrary as trying to limit my choices to 3 is apt to be

MES, Low (the best at lyrical parity for my money), Hank Willilams.

Matt Johnson, Morrissey, Howard Devoto.

3 More:

Patti Smith
David Thomas
Burt Bacharach

MES (it seems we may have a consensus)
Richey Edwards
Hard to pick a third, but ill go for Nas.

These things depend alot on delivery, hard to determine how id react to any of their lyrics if i could see them deaf.

I am the god of fuck, i am the god of fuck
virgins sold in quantity, herded by heredity
red-neck-burn-out-mid-west-mind, "who said date rape isn't kind?"
porno-nation, evaluation
what's this, "time for segregation"
libido, libido fascination, too much oral defication
white trash get down on your knees, time for cake and sodomy
time for cake and sodomy
(I am the god of fuck, i am the god of fuck)
vcr's and vasoline, tv-fucked by plastic queens
cash in hand and dick on screen, who said god was ever clean?
bible-belt 'round anglo-waste, putting sinners in their place
yeah, right, great if you're so good explain the shit stains on your face
white trash get down on your knees, time for cake and sodomy
time for cake and sodomy

David Tibet and Mark E Smith are the only two that come to mind at the moment.

The problem with Tibet is that when it works, he's amazing, but when it doesn't, it really is laughably bad. I quite often like the idea of Tibet's lyrics more than what they actually sound like (ie, a hysterical teenage goth with a 'my first gnostic dictionary')

Elizabeth Fraser.
Jeff Buckley.
Ian McCulloch.

You seem to have chosen a clothes manufacturer in that list.

Well, yes, but I'm think almost exclusively of when it works. Brilliant, like some kind of God-forsaken lunatic priest shouting from the lectern.

Kittens, Pussydoms, and goodship lollypops beside.

Hard to say. Lyrics are the last thing I pay attention to when it comes to music.

I don't really know what I like lyrically, just what I don't like.