/lit/ - Literature

And the best of them all, Leonard Cohen.

Also, Bruce Cockburn, Ron Sexsmith, Bruce Springsteen, Billy Joel, and Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix.

>>2672719
Oh wow. Leonard Cohen completely slipped my mind; I feel a bit foolish now.

Steely Dan

>>2672724

It happens to all of us.

NEIL YOUNG, MAN, NEIL YOUNG.

>ctrl+F
>Nick Cave
>0 results

>no bob dylan
>wat
are you trying to be contrarian or something

Isaac Brock

Langston Hughes

This guy.

Bob Dylan
Bob Seger
Pink Floyd
Led Zeppelin
Otis Redding
James Taylor
Simon and Garfunkel
Peter Gabriel
David Bowie
The Rat Pack
Nat King Cole
Buddy Holly
Van Morrison
Tom Petty
Eric Clapton
Ray Charles
Sam Cooke

ghostface killah

supreme clientele is the rap ulysses

>>2672761

>Peter Gabriel

Fuck off

>The Rat Pack

Lyricists? Now you making yourself look like a fool.

FACT: COLE PORTER WAS A GENIUS

>>2672751
OP here; I was just posting a few artists to get the thread started. Also, I find that most early work of Dylan was well-written, but once he realized that he was "the voice of a generation" he started phoning it in; still good lyrics, but not up to par with his earlier stuff.

>>2672765
Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin... They could produce interesting lyrics at times.

And fuck you for not liking Peter Gabriel.

>>2672775

pic related

>>2672761
>Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd are musicians and/or writers.

Oh yeah, totally, Lynyrd Skynyrd is a pretty cool guy too, right?

>>2672775

I think most of Sinatra's songs were written by others. He's just a good signer.

Violent J, yo!

>>2672790

>He's just a good signer.

I never even knew he was deaf.

>>2672763


No. That would be Saturday Night Uptown.

>>2672761

The Beatles
Billie Holiday
Woody Guthrie
Bing Crosby
Bob Marley
Randy Newman
The Doors
Tom Waits
Stevie Wonder
Neil Young
Ella Fitzgerald
Peggy Lee

>>2672790
It was half and half, but the lyrics he did write were generally good. Especially the songs he wrote for films back in the 1940s.

Ricardo Arjona

>Johnny Cash

A boy named Sue was witty. But what about his Christian crap like "When the man comes around."

I hate religious people.

>>2672780
Oh no, someone has a different opinion than you. It must be a troll.

>>2672785
They are a group of people. It counts.

Paul Simon and Bob Dylan

>>2672831
Came here for Paul Simon.

>>2672819

The Rat Pack didn't write their songs, you fucking diskhead.

So you're actually not a troll - you're an ignoramus.

Happy now?

>>2672834
Do you have any favorites?

>>2672816

>The hairs on your arm will stand up
>At the terror in each sip and in each sup
>Will you partake of that last offered cup?
>Or disappear into the potter's ground
>When the Man comes around

I guess you prefer Katy Perry singing about what she did last Friday night?

Don't bother reading Blake, Donne, or Milton - you hate religious people.

>america

>>2672842

johnny cash is american as all fuck dude

>>2672836
How about this - Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra were known to write their own lyrics. Frank Sinatra even wrote lyrics for films he was in back in the 1940s. So, my mistake to say The Rat Pack, but I will stand by what I say about the above.

>>2672840
duncan & papa hobo are particularly inventive and moving.

>>2672842
>hating america
>liking Johnny Cash

Hahaha

I shit you not, go read any Marduk lyric post-2003

>>2672816

You're allowed to dislike Cash, and all, but:

>I hate religious people.

You're probably an asshole. And Cash's tortured faith doesn't make him a poor lyracist. It's sort of a shitty thing that you should dislike him because he's a Christian.

>>2672847

How about this? Nobody can remember a single lyric that those crooners wrote, so they're probably not admissable to a discussion about the best lyricists. the fact that you're seriously sad that you'll never know the feel of Sinatra coming in your anus is not actually relevant.

Sinatra was a mediocre singer at best. Right place, right time

>>2672850

My mind is broad, it contains contradictions.

So fuck you, you cunt.

I think the lead singer of Metallica was actually circa And Justice for All an excellent songwriter.

>>2672858
Completely agree.

>>2672861

you spelled st. anger wrong

>>2672860
>My mind is broad, it contains contradictions
>I am large, I contain multitudes
>nice try

the tallest man on earth, brand new, mewithoutYou

>>2672855

>lyricist

Fix'd.

>>2672858

>Sinatra was a mediocre singer at best. Right place, right time

It actually really sounds like your opinion is more informed by your biases than his is. Not to mention the music community, as a whole, just thinks you're wrong.

Though I don't know why anybody would remark that Sinatra was a great lyricist. By virtue of the fact it wasn't his primary function, of course.

>>2672816

>>2672858
>>2672858
.....

Did you seriously say one of the biggest names for the Greatest Generation was medicore at best and forgettable? What the flying fuck.

And to say his music are forgettable too? Completely false.

I don't even care about the man that much, but jesus christ you've gone full retard. I think I am being trolled, here.

>>2672865

>criticism for not employing a cliche
>/lit/

OK fucktoad, I think we've found your level. You can go back to sucking your dad's dick now.

>>2672873
no dad. immaculate conception brah you should try it sometime.

>>2672871

>biggest names for the Greatest Generation

>Mafia stooge

>giving a fuck about that "greatest generation" bullshit.

>allmywhy.jpeg

>>2672869
I say he was damned decent, and that's what I meant. To be honest, I have low opinions of Frank Sinatra, but that doesn't mean I won't recognise the talent he had.

>>2672875
Stop trolling.

>>2672874

So God's your dad, you fool. Go suck his cock. That's what he's into.

>thinking the immaculate conception doesn't mean Mary took it in the shitter off an angel
>Final year before the rapture

I shiggy higghe god don't diggy.

>>2672878

Your opinion of Sinatra is as irrelevant as mine - this thread was about lyricists, and only the most retarded fan of Sinatra would say that he was one of the great lyricists of the 20th century.

Saged because this is off-topic and fucking boring. How old are you? Because this is like arguing with my nanna.

>>2672869

here

>>2672878

This is fair enough. I'll agree with you on this.

Oh Mother, I can feel
the soil falling over my head~

>>2672816

Since you only have an MTV level knowledge of Cash anyway you'll get this:

>Be Cash
>Cover Hurt by Nine Inch Nails
>Subtly change a couple lyrics, keeping the mood and meaning of the original while simultaneously making it extremely personal to himself
>Even Trent Reznor admits it's better than the original

Stay edgy brah

>>2672889

So you agree with that cunt, but think I'm a troll even though we have the same argument

Go fuck your mother's git - you can't even into reading.

Stephin Merritt

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYIAvZ2Gggg&hd=1

>>2672890

>>2672897

Not really, I just want to put the argument to rest.

>>2672886
The real question: How old are you? And who calls their grandmother "nanna" on the internet?

>>2672906

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bj9dFsxxHQM

>>2672898


YES! Love the Magnetic Fields, even though his voice is a little deadpan.

>>2672906

>Bumping your own retarded argument after a sage
>summer

>>2672912
>don't blame summer.
>sage does nothing.

Elton John song lyrics were written by Bernie Taupin.

>>2672923

And Johnny Cash was primarily a cover artist.

OP is a dumbass.

>>2672939

>And Johnny Cash was primarily a cover artist.

Poseur.

>>2672923
>>2672939
OP here. Just wanted to clarify that you two are fucking retarded. First off, Elton John COWROTE many songs with Bernie Taupin, but he still wrote them; in addition, he wrote most of the songs to the Lion King soundtrack, and if you're going to say that "Circle of Life" isn't pure poetry then you're even more fucking retarded than I thought. Second, if you think that Johnny Cash was a cover artist; congratulations, you've heard about 7.5% of his total discography, and therefore have no right form an opinion on his lyrics.

this thread needs more hip-hop

>>2673070

>>2673070
Grandmaster Flash
Tupac Shakur
Dr. Dre
Brother Ali

>>2673059
Snap, Crackle, and Pop, OP. Snap, Crackle, and Pop.

>>2673061

Magnum's lyrics are beautiful. GOOOOOD IS A PLAAAAACE WHEEERRE SOME HO-LY SPEC-TA-CLE LIES

>>2673079
Dre, foreela? dude has some good records but he is not particularly gifted lyrically

>>2673070

>>2673091
What about Biggie?

>>2673059
Wrong again. 'i can't write lyrics,' Elton John.

Tim Rice wrote the lyrics to the Lion King.

>>2673101
Biggie is a really good MC and he is a million times less cheesy than Pac.

/lit/ should check out Efrim Menuck's lyrics, in his band The Silver Mt Zion. They're very poetic, they almost feel out of place with the music.

In gated chambers
They did meet
With cardboards stocking
Upon their feet
And tattled long
Their tattered road
And none did ease
No others load
The leaden lips
Of spittled gloom
Where leaders lunch
On meat and ruin
And depth light
Have long been truant
While our nation shores
Go on bleeding into
The ocean...
Let it fall down. And let it be soon...
13 blues for thirteen moons

>>2673142

"We Are Alone..." is a great album and dedicated to his late dog, Wanda, which I find touching. I was very fond of the song God Bless Our Dead Marines off of Horses in the Sky until we had to put our dog to sleep, and I realized exactly what he meant. ("They put Angels in the electric chair / the electric chair / the electric chair.") Now I love the song but it tends to make me melancholic. On the other hand, Horses in the Sky makes me think of my nephew, who turned 1 about a weak ago ("And all I true love / is the light / in my sister's darling eyes.") I really love Ephrim's unrefined speech for lyrics and the insistence on repetition, although it doesn't always work.

Pardon my faggotry, just felt like sharing. Black Ox Orkestar is also awesome, btw.

>>2673194

Sorry, "He has left us alone..." Haven't listened to it in a while.

>>2673142

>posting asmz lyrics
>not "horses in the sky"

(but yeah agreed)

This bitch right here, can write some fucking great songs.

mother fucking Sting.

>>2673257
oh, and let's not forgot about David fucking Bowie.

Leonard Cohen, bitches.

Josh Ritter.

Ozzy Osbourne

Cedric from the Mars Volta

Yo, it's about that time
to bring forth the rhythm and the rhyme.
I'm a get mine so get yours.
I wanna see sweat comin' out your pores.
On the house tip is how I'm swinging this
strictly hip hop boy I ain't singing this
Bringing this to the entire nation
black, white, red, brown
feel the vibration.

>>2673296

>dat Marky

>>2672750
Musician who is also great lyricist, composer, screenwriter and novelist

Jim Morrison

>>2673317

silly rabbit, he wasnt a musician

>conor oberst

>95 posts and 21 image replies omitted
>not a single mention of Joanna Newsom

I just died a little inside.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UUe3Q54qFg

>>2673330

fevers and mirrors is unironically a good goddamn album

Who ever writes the songs for Clutch

>>2673330
Listening to that shit right now.

Yep.

>>2672732
true dat.
>>2672761
respect for Seger
>>2672763
>>2672797
y'all both mah niggas. Also, Posdnuos, Mos, Aceyalone, and especially Guru.
>>2672769
"good authors who knew better words/now only use four-letter-words, heaven knows! anything goes!" oh yeah.
>>2672794
good catch
>>2672816
fuck you, nigger
>>2672960
doom is nice, no doubt
>>2673070
"what is the meaning of crime? is it
criminals
robbing
innocent
motherfuckers
every time?"
>>2673072
yep
>>2673079
>Grandmaster Flash
that's the DJ, homie. You mean the Furious Five (and you're correct)
>Dr. Dre
nope
>>2673101
yep

adding Exene Cervenka and John Doe. I think I read they met at a poetry workshop, even.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hFgEV9koyc
pic related

>>2673312
And the Ass Saw The Angel fucking sucked

thom yorke

>>2673354
>>2672752
>>2673354
>>2673366
all of this^
and i'd have to add theodore hilton

Can't be fucked going back through this list, so I will add what I believe to be two of the most underrated lyricists of our generation.

1. Connor Oberst of Bright Eyes
2. Neil Finn of Crowded House

Absolutely amazing pair of musicians, if you are interested I'd highly recommend checking out Neil Finn's acoustic session with Roddy Frame on YouTube - it's nothing short of breath taking and he also gives you some insight into his writing process.

micheal larsen aka eyedea

MF DOOM

>>2673722

Mah nigga.

>>2672960

bob dylan.
morrissey
leona cohen
manic street preachers
paul weller

>>2673732
oh fuck how did i miss the RD. i swear every time i mistype something it changes the meaning of a word or phrase drastically. i never just make nonsense mistakes

>>2672712
>Johnny Cash

If you're referring to 'Hurt' then I have some bad news for you.

>I destroy more pussy than cervical cancer

Del the Funky Homosapien.

I like Joy Division's lyrics.

Bob Dylan, Ian Curtis, Neil Young. That's it.

Elliott Smith, Leonard Cohen, Nick Drake...

>>2674211
>that's it
Enjoy your dad-rock.

>>2673770

Also mah nigga.

>>2673072

Jim Morrison, Lenon/Mcartney, Pete Doherty, Bob Dylan, Eminem, Leonard Cohen

>>2674223
whats wrong with dads?

>lol i dont like him because he's not hip and cool and down with the young people!

thats what you sound like right now.

I think that musicians are too
musicians are too
musicians are too

I think that musicians are too, fucking repetitive to be poets.

At least one person mentioned Tom Waits.

What the fuck is wrong with the rest of you.

>>2674223

Enjoy liking music based on what it will make you look like.

>>2672816

Boy Named Sue was written by Shel Silversteen, not Cash.

>>2673360

he made up for it with Bunny Munro

Normally I fucking despise rap music, but give Aesop Rock a try. He's a pretty decent lyricist on top of being melodically decent for the most part, which is rare in this particular genre.

>>2674289

>>>on top of being melodically decent

I love Aesop Rock, but this sounds like utter bullshit to me.

>>2674274

Personally, I thought they were both awesome, but The Ass Saw The Angel is from a very different time in Cave's life.

The Proposition, for which Cave wrote the screenplay and co-wrote the score, is an astonishingly good film.

He's also not a bad actor.

>>2674293
I suppose "melodic" isn't the correct word for it, what I mean is that you can whistle along with the song, he's not one of those shit-heads that talk over a beat and try to call it music.

>>2674228
>Eminem

Mah nigga.

Em could rhyme circles around the rest of the clowns in this thread.

I can't say much about the lyrics but Paul Banks from Interpol is extremely well read. He was an English major in NYU.

>>2674299

Ok. You're right. Some of my favourite rappers are "shitheads who talk over a beat" like GURU.

>>2674300
>Listens to rap birthed by an atrocious wigger
>Has shit opinions
Surprisingly, you're not the first person to spout this bollocks; I refuse to believe anyone that came up with

>Shit I got full blown AIDS and a sore throat

could ever conceive anything of worth.

>>2674314
Adding insult to injury, the song from which this is is called 'Cum on everybody'

>amgi'msodeepbecauseicanmaketehequivokee

>>2674314
>>2674314
I hate people that challenge the status quo, and troll the fuck out of the conservative middle class with purposely offensive lyrics too.

>>2673741

Go away, samefag

>>2674319

>implying Eminem isn't the status quo of mainstream tripe
>implying he isn't listened to almost exclusively by children of the conservative middle class

>>2674323
Who the fuck are you calling a samefag?

>>2674327

>implying Eminem isn't the status quo of mainstream tripe
No, that would be Katy Perry, Will I am, Justin Beiber, One direction.... 'Mainstream tripe" is stuff written my record executives for miming dancers. Eminem started rapping because he loved doing it, he never thought he would become famous.

Also, when Eminem first achieved mainstream success it was a welcome break from the Brittany Spears and N-sync music that had flooded the charts
>implying he isn't listened to almost exclusively by children of the conservative middle class
He is now because of the cultural effect he had. His lyrics were considered so offensive that there were global calls for censorship. Middle class parents actually protested, so of course their kids wanted to listen to him.

>>2674336
> Katy Perry, Will I am, Justin Beiber, One direction

also never thought they would become famous. there's no wall of separation there. Eminem belongs on that list.

Conor Oberst, Bob Dylan, Andrew Jackson Jihad, floyd,

some german ones: Thees Uhlman, Gisbert von Knypshausen, Ja Panik! and a couple more.

>>2673332 knows what's up.

Additionally:
mewithoutYou's new album (Ten Stories) is great. Pic related. Also, Aaron Weiss, who wrote it, did so while a PhD candidate and adjunct professor.

>>2674342
Ja, Panik!'s Austrian, not german bro. Cool that you know 'em though. DMD KIU LIDT stays one of my favorite songs, although I only understand like a third of it.

>>2674346

mewithoutYou ftw. I saw Aaron play an acoustic set by himself at the Troubadour. Kicked ass.

>>2674348
The lyrics are pretty badass. I could translate them, if you want. My german's pretty decent.

>>2674356
DO IT!!!

I mean: please do it.

>>2673741
Because that's his only song, right? Songs like "Folsom Prison Blues" and "The Ballad of Ira Hayes" never existed, right?

>>2674341
Dont be silly. They (with the exception of will i am) responded to ads looking to manufacture a pop artist.

Even if you don't like him or find his lyrics to vulgar, listen to a song like "lose yourself", try and pick out the complex rhyming patterns, then try to find another popular artist who even comes close to that level of complexity.

You have just hardwired yourself to respond to things a certain way. You will hear words like rap, techno or hip-hop, and subconsciously remind yourself that you are supposed to act negatively to these buzzwords.

His lyrics may not be intellectually deep, or politically based, but there is virtually no one who has ever been able to sculpt language as well as him.

>>2674374
Katy Perry started as a contemporary Christian singer. Next time you want to act like you know shit, make sure that you actually do know shit first.

>>2674374

I love hip-hop. I love good hip-hop. I can listen to Eminem and enjoy him but he's mainstream tripe, that's just a fact.

Have you listened to Heiroglyphics, Souls of Mischief, MF Doom? There's many more, all of these artists craft language in a more lucid and more enjoyable way than Mr. Mathers does. I think it's ludicrous to say no artist can sculpt language as good as him. I suppose this is where the argument ends, this is a subjective matter in any case.

>>2674356
pleeeease?

>>2674336

>implying he isn't listened to almost exclusively by children of the conservative middle class

It was the biggest part of the fanbase. I was around when his first couple of albums came out, and nearly all the fanbase was white and at university.

That's not to say he's not a good lyricist. The Slim Shady album was pretty well done, and handled some good narrative and character development. It was also pretty funny, which a lot of hip hop lacked at the time.

Dunno if he's one of the best lyricists of the century, but he had chops at one stage.

>>2674401
I'm on it. It's a long song, have some patience.

Bill Callahan (a.k.a. Smog).

>>2674379
>>2674379
Katy perry started as a good "wholesome" gospel christian singer. She even tried to release an album. When this failed she turned to more edgy pop music and recorded some songs (which were actually quite good). She still failed to achieve success, but had sparked interest in an A&R scout for Capitol. She eventually signed to CMG under the condition that she change her stage name name, and used songs written by the marketing execs. What followed was trash like "I kissed a girl"

Next time you want to act like you know shit, make sure that you actually do know shit first.

>>2672761
>Pink Floyd
>Led Zeppelin
As much as I like them, no. Most of their lyrics are either high school level philosophy or complete gobbledegook.

Douglas Pearce

>>2674410
ok, thanks anyway. I'll wait, mainly cause I love the song and always wanted to know the lyrics.

>>2674460
Here you go bro. Took longer than expected. Hope you're still on.

DMD KIU LIDT- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rt5wQd15qXQ
Finally, I’ve packed my bags
Got me a ticket and rode far away
I wrote down what I’ve long forgotten
Looking for a couple of lost years
In the end I wasn’t more up than down
But yes, I never was in the middle
I went out for Love and for Hate
Can’t really say that I’ve arrived home okay.

(English part=EP)
And now there is nothing
where I used to sit
but DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)

What’s coming now,
Won’t leave me anymore
This I know, and I know much more
Oh, I’ve wasted what was there to lay waste to
The days that are coming
They’ll be long and empty
First I’ll lock my door properly
And just maybe the windows as well
And then I’ll lie down for a terribly long time
I already feel something cold, an icy wind

(EP)
I'm afraid this is nothing
but the old dirty trick
You know, DMD KIU LIDT
(/EP)

>>2674488
aybe I’ll go to Grande Dame ‘cross the road
Maybe Hanky will come over sometimes
I’ll say:”Hanky
How’s the world out there?”
And hanky will lie, he’ll say “All is okay”
When it’s dark, then I’ll go grab my boots
And look for myself what’s going on out there
I’ll soon realize they took more than just the streets
And here’s someone talking
Who’s sticking on the road

(EP)This is no adventure, not even a trip
This is DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)

So I really went out
I was more cold than hot, but okay
It was worth starting again
There’s nothing beautiful to share than the rage
And I light a cig, and I go look around
Yes it’s true at Susis Parties
The most beautiful boys are dancing, and the most cool ones, of course
And I dance, till the answer to the question who’s the most beautiful seems clear

(EP)You think all these nights have made you feel sick,
but it's DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)

>>2674494
A few days later, I’ve woken up
On the other side, east part of the city
I don’t know who took me here
And couldn’t it be that somebody, secretly changed myself?
It’s probably true, that we loose color while living
And we accept things from others
So you take others wherever you go
And you gotta see, how to get rid of the dirt

(EP)There is nothing I can do
Everything I do
is for the benefit of DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)

So I finally let it be for a while
Wanted to see what happens
When you go farther than far
Oh, how fast the images fade
If you finally turn your back to Europe
Watched the world with big eyes
But in Cairo, it already got me
In NYC I nearly went mad
Only in Rio I got down
They gave me baldrian and hashish

(EP)No, nothing could change nothing,
not a little bit,
I'm lost in DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)

>>2674498
Thanks. Do you have the other lyrics as well? I know the songs longer than that.

The Mountain Goats

>>2674501
>>2674498
I don’t know when, but yeah,
I came back to the city
Although, there wasn’t really that much left
They ask me who, the ask me what has made this mess of me
And to be honest I’m not entirely sure myself
I tried to write it down and
Tried to express it
But it just didn’t want to be thought
If I have to live, I’ll probably have to live with it
This is my frame and my passé partout
Only in there I’ll ever fit

(EP)There is a fire that I have lit,
named DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)

On a Friday I meet her again
At friends of friends, you know how it works
She looks weary, heavy her eyelids hang
I shrink for a second, when she calls my name
I say “Ah, let’s see, so this is your new lover,
That shadow there, in your pretty face?”
Well, the times they are hard, modern and always bitter
And how you thought it would, most of the times it does not happen that way.

(EP)You look somehow in love,
but you also look sick,
I'm sure you sleep with DMD KIU LIDT

>>2674507
“DMD, what? I don’t get a single word”
She looks at me, aghast
“Well, it is hard to explain, one does not get it the first time
It’s something like an interior compulsion
One, that you can’t name anymore.
Same say it is much more an opiate,
A distraction maneuver, maybe you’ve read about it.!

(EP)So I grab my guitar just to sing her the smash-hit
You know, DMD KIU LIDT(/EP)


“Oh, pretty personal”, she says astounded
No, it’s not really a pamphlet
She looks at me and she says
“You’ve always believed
That it’s about more than our own few problems”
Yes, exactly, precisely, that is the point
That all our problems seem like our very own
The stuffed empty Days full of content, without meaning
And the hours in the rooms
When we lonely weep for someone

I feel like a troll right now. But you want the rest as well, I guess.

>>2674514
You're not a troll. You've translated a beautiful song. PLS post the rest.

You know, by now I’m sure, and that’s not personal at all
The coming community lies behind our depressions
‘Cause what and how we are destroyed, unites us as well
They are the wheels of a zone, we all secretly live in
But Attention, Attention, Attention of the healing that’s all too fast
Because what destroys us, will repair us immediately
Our pain, it must not fall
Because it falls with this order
That conspires to get us up again, to amputate us healthy
And yet, we all fall for it again and again
For the pills and for the doctor, for the clinic and the love
They revive ghosts here
The living they are buried
And they call them Terrorist, deserters, useless layabouts
But in the occupied zones, where we spend our lives
The Druggies become partisans, the suicidant anarchists
Don’t you see the strange powers
That throne in your body?
What’s up with you
With Your Identity, don’t you see all those cracks?

>>2674525
But that is fine like this, because you’re nothing but a thousand versions
You are how, when and where, in which mood, which background
When you suddenly start crying, can you feel that somethings wrong
But don’t draw the wrong conclusions
Don’t worry for now, because it’s not you who’s in the crisis, but the form
That is forced on you
Atomized loneliness, north east south west
Filled up with strategies you run as a stranger through this world
And that you care to change that
That is one of those strategies.

You mutter something ‘bout pacifism, and let yourself get fucked for a handful of change
And you didn’t even cry
I don’t care if they send bombs, to that disgusting bagage (Austrian word for a certain group of people)
I won’t even think about, squashing a tear
Not for Angela, and definitely not for Nicolas
I’d rather send bonboniere to prison
You see, all things considered, everything’s as usual,
Only that I think, it is time to stop, because…

As mentioned, everything’s as usual
Only that I think, It is time to stop
To think hat bit of Kling Bim, Lalala is so important
If there is still a world, waiting to be destroyed
Every song needs one song for restoration
The Champaign revoluzzers and the bards, all in white
You ridiculous Mercenaries, have all of my scorn
I’m out and you’re in
Up to your head you’re deep in shit
So, let me finally finish it
Let me finish my strange song now
You can listen or leave,
Just be silent please
There are still a few verses are ahead
Which mean more to me than all the others.

FINISHED.
That was tedious. Hope you liked it though.

>>2674533
thanks a lot. I'm so gonna make a youtube video.

Wow. This thread is sad.

/lit/ has no idea where most of their favorite musician's lyrics come from. Elton John didn't write a single lyric to any of his songs, and "A Boy Named Sue" was a Shel Silverstein poem.

towns van zandt;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SjwO17gsqU
If you haven't listened to Pancho and Lefty well.. >ISHYGDDT

>>2672816
>hating johnny cash or anything just because it has religious tones
listen to "graystone chapel" and tell me thats in any way a bad song.
i can understand why you can hate religious things because of fundamentalist bullshit, but to disregard everything that has any hint of it is to basically discredit around 99% of any art form.

Rou from Enter Shikari, a post-hardcore band from the UK, writes quite poetic lyrics. In my opinion anyway. I'm not expecting any of you to like the music genre but here are some examples of the lyrics.

>Sometimes I do wish apples were our currency, so your hoarded millions would rot in their vault! And that'll teach you to lay off the assault that you're barraging on the lands of the poor!

>Instead of staring at your Stella desperately for inspiration, BELT UP and quiver at your indignation. I'm not saying anything that can be construed as an apology, there's another case study for anthropology.

>Our gracious queen should grasp her crown, and take a good fucking swing at Blair and Brown, for leading our country into illegal warfare, and trying to pass it off that we're doing it 'cause we care!

>Institutions are established and invested. Pause to ask are they tried and tested. No just force fed and digested. It's about time we damn contested!

>I'm losing my rip on reality I can not simply agree that we are civilised. Acting like this Earth is infinite is a chessboard of likes, which will generate Stalemate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I2PoGwl-7x4

Here's an example of one of the latest songs. Get past the shouting to see the singing parts.

Bump.

The ghost of 'lectricity howls in the bones of her face
Where these visions of Johanna have now taken my place

You've gone to the finest school all right, Miss Lonely
But you know you only used to get juiced in it
And nobody has ever taught you how to live on the street
And now you find out you're gonna have to get used to it

Idiot wind blowing every time your move your mouth
Blowing down the backroads heading south
Idiot wind blowing every time you move your teeth
You're an idiot babe
It's a wonder that you still know how to breathe

>>2674299
that's because rapping isn't supposed to melodic, it's supposed to be percussive. you don't whistle along to drums, you clap along with them, you ignorant cunt.

>>2674448
agree with both points, but I think Floyd was a bit more successful producing lyrics with some depth/universal truth/pathos or whatever

>>2674751

I find your lack of Gordon Lightfoot disturbing.

>>2673260
We passed upon the stair, we spoke of was and when
Although I wasn't there, he said I was his friend
Which came as some surprise, I spoke into his eyes
I thought you died alone, a long long time ago

Oh no, not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With The Man Who Sold The World

I laughed and shook his hand, and made my way back home
I searched for form and land, for years and years I roamed
I gazed a gazely stare at all the millions there
We must have died alone, a long long time ago

Who knows? Not me
I never lost control
You're face to face
With the Man who Sold the World

Gabba gabba we accept you we accept you one of us (x2)

I don't want to be a pinhead no more
I just met a nurse that I could go for (x8)

D-U-M-B, Everyone's accusing me (x2)

I don't want to be a pinhead no more
I just met a nurse that I could go for (x4)

Gabba gabba hey (x8)

LOU

REED

>>2673201
There's fresh meat in the club tonight, God bless our dead marines. Someone had an accident above the burning tree, whilst somewhere distantly, peacefully, our vulgar princes sleep. Dead kids don't get photographed, God bless our dead marines.
The hungry and the hanged, the damaged and the done, striving on this spinning rock tumbling past the sun; get through this life without killing anyone and consider yourself golden.
Lost a friend to cocaine, couple friends to smack.
Troubled hearts map deserts and they rarely do comeback.
Lost a friend to oceans,
Lost a friend to hills,
Lost a friend to suicide,
Lost a friend to pills.
Lost a friend to monsters.
Lost a friend to shame.
Lost a friend to marriage,
Lost a friend to blame.
Lost a friend to worry and lost a friend to wealth. Lost a friend to stubborn pride and then I lost myself.

The man is the real voice of our generation, if you read some of the text his bands put on their releases it's also immensely powerful. This is written on one of the record sleeves for Godspeed You! Black Emperor's album 'Lift your Skinny Fists like Antennas to Heaven':

this tape recording was a broken road.
& in the end, it was just a tentative stagger towards the pale & holy fading light...
(IT WAS A COLD AND LONELY WINTER.)
this tape recording is the last stanza of a 3page
chapter; we dedicate this stanza to quiet
refusals, loud refusals and sad refusals. we dedicate it
to every prisoner in the world...
(we dedicate it to empty streets at dawn.) <-- (Wet Streets)

>>2674934

lel

KILL THEM
INJURE THEM
RIP OUT THEIR HEARTS
TEAR OUT THEIR TONGUES
HURT THEM
I WANT TO

FIGHT THEM
THOSE PEOPLE
TEAR THEIR FLESH TO BITS
RIP THEM TO PIECES
WITH MY FINGERNAILS
THEY COULD REVEAL
PEOPLE WHO HATE ANIMALS

Nobody in here listens to Every Time I Die, I take it?

>>2675126
No, because they're awful metalcore garbage that only 14 year olds that don't know any better listen to. Although a friend of mine that used to be a huge scene kid did once have their lead singer try to solicit him for sex on myspace.

What is wrong with you people? What about Elvis Costello?

>>2675157
>Elvis Costello
With the exception of Olivers army and shipbuilding, all of his songs were wank.

John Cage and the Bad Seeds

>>2675162

And, to be fair, Oliver's Army is pretty much wank as well.

>>2675177
>John Cage and the Bad Seeds

Its Nick Drake and the Bad Seeds

Hello /lit/

Does anyone have an electronic copy of Birdsong by Sebastien Faulks? I've heard only wonderful things about it (especially from the almighty Stephen Fry).

Bonnie Raitt

>>2672791
>Violent J
>not Shaggy 2 Dope

Fuck out of here, pleb.

costello is a top, top lyricist at his best, and he's damn good even when he's phoning it in (but not so much recently)

'i'll wear it proudly', 'beyond belief', 'big sister's clothes', 'the loved ones' and 'little palaces' all spring to mind as being wonderful, wonderful lyrics

also, a song that i was struck by massively recently is 'rainy night in soho' by the pogues; one of the most beautiful and sincere love songs i've ever heard, the last line of which, 'you're the measure of my dreams', blows me away more and more the more i think about it

>>2675573
What? you missed these posts:
>>2675162
>>2675188
And shane macgowan did have good lyrics, but means shit when all you can hear is slurred belching

>>2675588

I'd actually forgotten what a good lyricist Shane MacGowan is/was. His unique delivery and distracting appearance can be distracting.

And of course, the fact that he can't stay away from the Irish Vice means that his career was always going to be marginal. Shame really.

One summer evening drunk to hell
I stood there nearly lifeless
An old man in the corner sang
Where the water lilies grow
And on the jukebox Johnny sang
About a thing called love
And it's how are you kid and what's your name
And how would you bloody know?
In blood and death 'neath a screaming sky
I lay down on the ground
And the arms and legs of other men
Were scattered all around
Some cursed, some prayed, some prayed then cursed
Then prayed and bled some more
And the only thing that I could see
Was a pair of brown eyes that was looking at me
But when we got back, labeled parts one to three
There was no pair of brown eyes waiting for me

And a rovin' a rovin' a rovin' I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes

I looked at him he looked at me
All I could do was hate him
While Ray and Philomena sang
Of my elusive dream
I saw the streams, the rolling hills
Where his brown eyes were waiting
And I thought about a pair of brown eyes
That waited once for me
So drunk to hell I left the place
Sometimes crawling sometimes walking
A hungry sound came across the breeze
So I gave the walls a talking
And I heard the sounds of long ago
From the old canal
And the birds were whistling in the trees
Where the wind was gently laughing

And a rovin' a rovin' a rovin' I'll go
For a pair of brown eyes

all lyrical music besides hip-hop is false and a sock it'll never fill

lil wayne
biggie
ghostface killa

>>2675623
By Irish vice do you mean drink or smack?

It was the combination that fucked him though, one or the other isn't usually so bad. Its sad to hear him now, he can't even talk properly, yet he used to be so articulate.

Paul Simon

>>2675638

I mean the drink.

Smack is the Scottish Vice.

Immortal Technique

itt: /lit/ embarrasses itself

>>2675693
keep in mind /lit/s age base is a little higher than /mu/s

>bjork
>eddie vedder
>chris cornell
>lane staley

Goddamn lit, you fucking disappoint me sometimes.

Also, props for the dude who mentioned cole porter.

>>2675693

Im pretty certain most of the replies come from /mu/tants trying to justify their shitty tastes by saying the lyrics are good.

>>2675720

Layne Staley was sometimes a good lyracist. Sometimes. Some of their better songs were written by Jerry Cantrell, though.

>>2675720
>eddie vedder
Ohhhoohh whooa oaaim still alive, ooow owwwee ohhhh whhoooaaa im still alive ehhhooww eh owwwwwooo im still alive

Chris cornell is good though, post-soundgarden and pre-RnB

>>2675731
I was listening to Alice In Chains, "Jar of Flies" album with my grados headphones and the lyrics on that album gave me fuckin chills. Good stuff.

Ian Curtis from Joy Division wrote great lyrics.
Bob Dylan
Pink Floyd
Some of Grateful Dead's songs have excellent lyrics. "Friend of the Devil" comes to mind.
Dax Riggs wrote good lyrics. In addition to solo albums, he is on albums by the following bands: Acid Bath, Agents of Oblivion, and Deadboy and the Elephantment.
Harvey Danger [I imagine /lit/ will think their lyrics are awful and superficial, but I really like them.]
Love [I think their lyrics are both good and quite weird. Their appeal is kind of strange. I particularly recommend "The Red Telephone."]
Simon & Garfunkel

I immagine most of /lit/ would not look favorably upon recommendations of rappers, so I'll list the ones I particularly like separately:
Aesop Rock
Sage Francis
Astronautalis
Eyedea

I loved the lyrics on the latest AnCo EP, I thought they did a very good job at conveying their emotions.
I really like Iselia's lyrics as well, but that is always dwarfed by their ability to make me feel like I'm running through a field under a blue sky.
Snowmine's are generally pretty good, as well as Slint.
I love the lyrics of la dispute and the Unicorns and bands that mix Emotive Hardcore, Post-Hardcore and Post-Rock well (I Hate Myself, I Would Set Myself On Fire For You, City Of Caterpillar, Merchant Ships, and The World Is A Beautiful Place And I Am No Longer Afraid To Die). And I love Comadre's stream-of-consciousness style lyrics.
I'm trying to think of others... I mean, I LIKE Pink Floyd and the Beatles and most of their lyrics, but I know they're not amazing.

>>2675748
Alice In Chains... is pretty terrible. Most grunge styled stuff is, to be honest. I enjoy Nirvana sometimes, and I fucking love Heroin, but that's about it.

>John Darnielle
>John Darnielle
>John Darnielle
Easily one of the best contemporary lyricists. And if I'm allowed to include rappers, MF Doom and Watkin Tudor Jones are both skilled individuals.

>>2675755

>I fucking love Heroin,

It is a bit moreish, isn't it?

>>2675755
I forgot to add the rap, cause fuckin Aesop Rock, MF Doom and Shabazz Palaces all have excellent lyrics

>>2675747

Yeah, boy, go and judge a whole artist just by his most popular song. Way to go!

>>2675755
Well, I guess I just connect with the music emotionally. I also enjoy nirvana but get nothing from the lyrics. I find some of Kurt's lyrics as clever though. AnCo is fuckin great.

>>2675771
Can I judge half an artist by his most popular song, then?

>>2675768
o u
the band, not the substance.
I will say that listening to Wish You Were Here and Strawberry Jam after smoking a few bowls of hash (and comparing my vinyl to my digital copies) gave the vinyl a weirdly... warm, glowing feel to it. It was beautiful, I don't know why it was so different but I loved it.
The Avalanches sounded the same digitally though, but it had that warm glowing quality to it on vinyl AND digital.

>>2675777
Shit dude I love La Dispute, their lyrics make me cry sometimes. I mean, I know a lot of people find it contrived but I just connect with it.
What I'm saying is I definitely get that. I dunno, I just can't into grunge for the most part.

Anybody here listen to Penderecki?
That shit gives me nightmares. I love it.

Mark E. Smith.

I can't believe nobody mentioned him yet.

>>2675798

scientists and their bloody childish reading habits

>>2675800

>scientists

lolwut

>>2675826

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BWtwyxWyrps

>>2675798
>>2675798

The dwarf plays pool to prove his height
People play games when they lose at life
There's no sport, lad, just acid tension stomach flared.

>>2675798
>I can't believe nobody mentioned him yet.
I can believe since The Fall is 2deep4 most people.

>>2675837

They're the best band in the world. It's almost an objective fact. They may not be my absolute favourite, but no-one else is as consistently good.

>He told me I didn't understand, that we were from the bleak industrial wastes of North England, or something, and that we didn't understand the Internet. I told him Fall fans invented the Internet. They were on there in 1982.

WHERE'S THE CURSOR
WHERE'S THE ERASER
WHAT'S A COMPUTER

>>2673792
temptation especially is a beautifully written song

and darby crash actually wrote some incredibly poetic lyrics once in a while. at the age of 18-22 at that

jurassic 5 is a rap group with some pretty fine lyricism

>ctrl+f Neil Peart
>no results
Welp, I'm outta here.

>>2675922

Rush is easily one of the most overrated bands of all time, maybe even the most.

>>2675846

Computer doesn't work for me
I had a Sinclair back in 1983
OL2QU, pre-warranty
And don't forget he's still up to it
That Steve Albini
He's in collusion with Virgin trains
Against me

I'm a fifty year old man
I'm a fifty year old man

But it won't get me

Go down Manchester town
Can't navigate it
The club scene, man
You can't compare with it
One third of securities count
I can't understand that
Again

You're not real boy
I say you're not real boy
You're a gym [teacher]
You're a Cancer and I expect
A little shit

>>2672712

Greg Graffin of Bad Religion writes some pretty great lyrics from time to time.

There's an endless disposition and it doesn't mean a god damn thing.
There's space for a paper airplane race in the eye of a hurricane.
And if pigs could fly then surely so could I.
But this pedestrian knows better than to even try.
My divinity is caught between the colors of a butterfly

>>2677003
I like Bad Religions angsty intellectual-punk lyrics. But it does sometimes sound like Greg wrote the lyrics and then went through each word with a thesaurus afterwards.

"Hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation,
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations"

Its a little too verbose for a pop-punk song. But still good.

>>2677003
thesaurus-core


>>2675588
and no, i didn't miss those posts, i was disagreeing with them based on the fact that they're completely fucking wrong

also seconded on darnielle

also, steve malkmus is a good and very erudite lyricist- 'gardenia' is a song by someone who's very well read

>>2677015

I just love the paper-airplane race line. It's a great image.

Astronautalis, guys.
Astronautalis.

>>2677018
agree with your opinions, subscribe to your newsletter, etc etc etc

Maynard James Keenan
Isaac Brock
And whoever writes the lyrics for the band Mother Mother.

>>2677155
oh, Tyler the Creator.

>>2677163
and Conor Oberst.
All genre love, ftw.

John K. Samson from the weakerthans is the best lyricist of all time, no question, no contest.

I do believe Dani Filth deserves some attention.

Most lyrics make bad literature - exceptions: Cohen, and sometimes Dylan

I would have thought that /lit/ would know better than endorse wack ass Joanna Newtsome

John Lennon, Regina Spektor, Ian Anderson, Billy Joel,

Stephan Jenkins of third eye blind

Kurt cobain

>>2672712
It's fairly common knowledge that Elton John is a shit lyricist, he gets another guy to write all the lyrics for him whilst he writes the melodies

Mike Shinoda

>>2677299
May day, every day, my day
Could've had a heart attack, my heart
We don't know anything, my heart
We all want something fair, my heart

Hey(5x)

Out of town, out of sight, is my heart
Queen of lies, today, my heart
One more on the phone, my heart
One more at the door of my heart

Hey(5x)

Mean heart
Cold heart(7x)

Yeah...

Uhh....

This is a whole song.

>>2677323
There's a mugi tripfag now?

Laurie Anderson, am I rite guise?

>>2677191
forgot about samson- he and darnielle are two of the best lyricists working at the top of their game (or at least close to) today.

someone else who's a great lyricist and is very, very unique is robyn hitchcock- his lyrics are often really strange and surreal, but they're funny and sad in really direct ways too

'the yip song' is a good example, a moderately (but blackly) humorous song about his dad dying of cancer

>>2677376
not really characterised 'the yip song' very well there, but it is really good, amongst many of his other lyrics

>ctrl+f
>Ray Davis

>0 results

Are you fucking wretched cunts even fucking trying?

Seriously?

Wankers.

A man lives at the corner of the street,
And his neighbors think he's helpful and he's sweet,
'Cause he never swears and he always shakes you by the hand,
But no one knows he really is a plastic man.


Also, Ray Davis is the author of the novel X-Ray, which is, errrm, welp, innarestin. So that's kinda back on-topic cos of the literature an alla dem ting.

>>2678129

>
Oh demon alcohol,
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would say,
Damn it all and blow it all,
Oh demon alcohol,
Memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.
Sad memories I cannot recall,
Who thought I would fall a slave to demon alcohol.


If only Jack Kerouac had been so fucking concise. It would have spared me a whole wasted semester at college.

Dirty old river, must you keep rolling
Flowing into the night
People so busy, makes me feel dizzy
Taxi light shines so bright
But I don't need no friends
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Every day I look at the world from my window
But chilly, chilly is the evening time
Waterloo sunset's fine

Homage to Wordsworth, or spitting in his face? You decide, fuckers.

Terry meets Julie, Waterloo Station
Every Friday night
But I am so lazy, don't want to wander
I stay at home at night
But I don't feel afraid
As long as I gaze on Waterloo sunset
I am in paradise

Millions of people swarming like flies 'round Waterloo underground
But Terry and Julie cross over the river
Where they feel safe and sound
And they don't need no friends
As long as they gaze on Waterloo sunset
They are in paradise

Waterloo sunset's fine

>>2675846

YOU CANNOT LEGISLATE
AGAINST WRONGFUL ENCOURAGEMENT.

>>2674416
My god, Bill Callahan writes some of the most poetic lyrics I've ever heard. Incredibly personal, but he plays with the structure and phrasing and comes across as disconnected or even jaded despite these intense emotions he comes up with. Sometimes it's hard to tell what's a metaphor for what, but he's actually very gifted at crafting song-length metaphors full of very poignant moments, even if it's just a phrase.

>>2678222

Is /lit/ the most old-fashioned board on 4chan?

It's liek hey fucken Amish in here.

>>2678242
What do you mean?

>>2678245

What do you mean, "what do i mean"? What the fuck do you mean, you cunt? Because I don't mean a damn thing.

>>2678252
I dunno, you just quoted my post and wasn't sure what you meant with the Amish comment. I guess most of the music that people posted is somewhat older, but some people also posted hip-hop artists, so I figured you weren't making a remark regarding the general musical tastes of /lit/.

Was it something I said?

>>2678262

Are you fucking Amish or something?

I used to play pool for ten pounds a day.

>>2677221

What's wrong with Newsom, kiddo?

>>2678270
I'm not Amish, but I know some very nice Mennonites. I know it's not the same thing, but they're very kind people, and they come to my local farmer's market several weeks out of every month. Last month, I bought a fantastic smoked pig jowl from the Mennonites. It was delicious- not too smoky.

>>2678275

I find pork repellent.

Mennonites should be extirpated.

They need rubber sheets because they piss the bed.

>>2678286
Good night, Mr. Reilly.

>>2678299

Imperial Wax Solvent.

Illogic
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJqvPCuNsOw

The Antlers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i-BFLjyIb04

just incredible lyrics both of them