is that for better or worse?

The best rock lyricists are still those who rose to prominence in the '60s: Dylan, Cohen, Morrison and Krieger, Reed, Mitchell, Barrett and Waters, Zappa, Hendrix, Anderson, Sinfield, etc. There have been a few come along since then who are up in that category, but not many.

frank zappa? okay. sure.

haha, no kiddin.

hendrix's lyrics were better than he got credit for i think, because people always talk about his guitar playing. but alot of his songs were real poetic likes.

The morning is dead
And the day is, too
There's nothing left here to meet me
But the velvet moon
All my loneliness I have felt today
It's like a little more than enough
To make a man throw himself away

And I continue
To burn the midnight lamp
Alone

Now the smiling portrait of you
Is still hangin' on my frowning wall
It really doesn't, really doesn't bother me too much at all
It's just the ever falling dust
That makes it so hard for me to see
That forgotten earring layin' on the floor
Facing coldly towards the door

I continue
To burn the midnight lamp
Lord, alone

Loneliness is such a drag

So here I sit to face
That same old fire place
Gettin' ready for the same old explosion
Goin' through my mind
And soon enough time will tell,
About the circus in the wishing well
And someone who will buy and sell for me
Someone to toll my bell

But I continue
To burn the midnight lamp
Lord, alone
Darlin' can't ya hear me callin' you?
So lonely
Gonna have to blow my mind
Lonely

Zappa
Muffin man :

The muffin man is seated at the table in the laboratory of the utility muffin
Research kitchen... reaching for an oversized chrome spoon he gathers an
Intimate quantity of dried muffin remnants and brushing his scapular aside
Procceds to dump these inside of his shirt...
He turns to us and speaks:

Some people like cupcakes better. I for one care less for them!

Arrogantly twisting the sterile canvas snoot of a fully charged icing
Anointment utensil he poots forths a quarter-ounce green rosette (oh ah yuk
Yuk... lets try that again...!) he poots forth a quarter-ounce green rosette
Near the summit of a dense but radiant muffin of his own design.
Later he says:

Some people... some people like cupcakes exclusively, while myself, I say
There is naught nor ought there be nothing so exalted on the face of gods grey
Earth as that prince of foods... the muffin!

Girl you thought he was a man
But he was a muffin
He hung around till you found
That he didnt know nuthin

Girl you thought he was a man
But he only was a-puffin
No cries is heard in the night
As a result of him stuffin

at your house the smell of our still living human bodies and oven gas
you pray to nothing out loud
two first names and an ampersand
embroidered proudly on a kitchen towel
you're a beautiful and violent work
with a skinny neck of a chinese bird
in a fading ancient painting
and if you're in heaven waiting
you made it there fighting
the tightest kite string
in a bad storm with lightning

and now these few presidents
frowning in my pocket
can persuade no god
to let me let you talk, oh
these few presidents
frowning in my pocket
can persuade no god
to let me let you off

even though i haven't seen you in years
yours is a funeral i'd fly to from anywhere

i thought i had a pebble in my sock
i pulled it off and shook out a wasp
it stumbled out lost, and without a pause
i'm stung as i was, still i stomped it
i thought, there is no paved street worthy
of your perfect scandanavian feet
my crooked chinese fingers groped
the machinery of your throat

and now these few presidents
frowning in my pocket
can persuade no god
to let me let you talk, oh
these few presidents
drowning in my pocket
can persuade no god
to let me let you off

even though i haven't seen you in years
yours is a funeral i'd fly to from anywhere

and:
Rain is millions of tiny speech bubbles unused
The collected breaths of mutes
And all our silent exhalations
Where we should've put words
Or words we had no one to tell
Emptied from clouds like clearing horns spit valves
Coming back to us now
To remind us what we meant to say
Or that we meant to say something

Coming down and dying
In one giant quiet
On the streets and cars
Huzzled like jewels in girls' hair
On the fake wool collar of my bomber jacket
And on my glasses and feet

Cut 'em deep and weap out loud
Just dust and just a hair in your mouth
You drink and think you're tonguin' something to shout
But it's just dust and just a hair in your mouth

And now these empty breaths reflect
The feedback of headlights
Push leaves and coffee cups
To lower altitudes and gutters
Rain is confession weather
And we become booths of prayer if we let us

And now these empty breaths reflect
The feedback of headlights
Push leaves and coffee cups
To lower altitudes and gutters
Rain is confession weather

Zappa was the best of the '60s humourists as far as lyricists go. The Absolutely Free album, in particular, has some great lyrical snapshots of postwar U.S.; 'Brown Shoes Don't Make It' and 'Status Back Baby' are especially good.

I've said "NO!" several times to myself in the course of this thread. Bright Eyes I can let pass, but Bob Dylan is just shit.

Now that's just silly, isn't it.

I can honestly say that I'm not joking, and that those are great lyrics.

By that logic: I have a rhyming dictionary, and a non-sequitur dictionary. I'm also incredibly good at stealing from better writers, and I'm incapable of singing or writing a single chord sequence that's interesting. Can I have an exasperatingly shit but well-paid career forever now please?

Jim Morrison is horribly overrated.

what subject do you teach again?

Have you thought of applying for a job at Vice magazine? ;)

PS. When the supergroup that is Cunt finally gets serious, I nominate you to be the Richard Melzer of the group. What's good enough for Blue Oyster Cult is good enough for us, say I.

i posted some of cave's lyrics.

Actually, I think there are two or three Morrison-penned pieces that are the best, period, untopped by anyone before or since.

I would assume the latter.

I'm fond of a lot Robert Pollard's lyrics. Also, the dudes from Mclusky wrote awesome lyrics. They were genuinely funny too.

Not better or worse, just different.

Syd Barrett writes the most interesting lyrics in my opinion

So equally over a valley, a hill
wood on quarry stood, each of us crying
a velvet curtain of gray
mark the blanket where the sparrows play
and the trees by the waving corn stranded
my legs move the last empty inches to you
the softness, the warmth from the weather in suspense
mote to a grog - the star a white chalk
minds shot together, our minds shot together...

patti smith's lyrics are awesome lyrics too!

I feel like that every other day, but you can't deny the fact that he "defined" a hell of a lot of people. He's a bit too old for me to completely get, but he definitely has something that could be considered genuine talent.

I don't think Sonic Youth is great with lyrics, but they have some brilliant spots.

She said Jesus had a twin who knew nothing about sin
She was laughing like crazy at the trouble I'm in
Her light eyes were dancing; she is insane
Her brother says she's just a bitch with a golden chain
---
I got a catholic block
Inside my head
I let it play around
Iron to gold
---
Now he's kicked in the gut, they fucked him up, just enough
They got me down on my knees, I kiss his ring, God is love
---
I see you shaking in the light, reading the headline news
The others they're not quite so bright, you want them to choose you
I could almost see your face tonight, singing simple rhythm'n'blues
You'll always be a star

This is a pretty pointless thing for me to pursue at this point, I'm not going to convince anyone on this matter. Nevertheless... Dylan is the most popular of a very particular form of 'American folk'. Folk is a highly politicised genre, and in popularising it Dylan robbed all the particulars of political lyrics and replaced them with vague non-sequiturs. As I say, there's not much point me mentioning this, and it's ultimately my opinion rather than fact, but I do feel that it's quite a stretch to suggest Dylan did anything original.

i haven't posted in here because 99.99% of lyrics suck.

You ought to read 'How Bluegrass Music Destroyed My Life' and you'll understand even more why I can't stand Dylan's lyrics and probably why you can't too.

Who by? I'm not particularly inclined to find out more about why I hate something that isn't an issue 99% of my daily life, but I'm going through a heavy bluegrass phase at the moment.

Edit: oh, the Fahey book. I'm gonna be all over that like AIDS on antibodies.

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david berman from the silver jews and david bazan of pedro the lion.

Haha Bazan. Great lyricist, but it's a pity his voice is like a ceiling fan.

By the way
that was probably the best first post ever...

sometimes it's not bad. i kind of like that schlubby 30-something guy singing voice he has going on.

but i'm odd.

i wish my first post here was like that guy's.

hutch harris from the thermals writes some neat lyrics. their last album was a concept about escaping from a christian fascist society, but it's a huge power pop rock album.

I think I actually used to like Bazan's voice, but I can't stand it anymore. They played something by Pedro on the PA in between sets at a show last night, and I'd never heard the song but I recognized it instantly. I think I cringed before it even registered.

That said, he does write incredible lyrics. I read somewhere that his wife had some serious problems with a couple of his songs (Rapture was one of them that I can remember). That's honest writing.

oh, rapture is hard to listen to for me. david is someone i look up to as a writer because i'm never entirely honest- how i write and talk used to be super similar, but just personal events that have been going on are starting to keep it from flowing. i'd love to just pen stuff like that.

Gibby Haynes' lyrics from the Butthole Surfers' peak period can't be beat, in me humble opinion.

Hiya, schizogirl, how goes it with you?

i smoke elvis's toenails when i wanna get high

I'm not a big lyrics person but:

sun city girls
jandek
captain beefheart
gastr del sol
old pavement
the fall
jesus lizard
and stereolab


Have some good lines.

Since I love Fahey more than anybody to have ever existed ever, I should have read this by now but it's really expensive, even used :/

i didn't even think about gibby! good call.

i'm well. waiting for everyone to go to bed so i can leave again. how are you, dear?