Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Wednesday, August 15 2012 @ 01:56 AM CDT

David Bazan of Pedro the Lion/Headphones/solo fame is, in my opinion, one of the finest lyricists out there. In response to a Ryan Schreiber article (of Pitchfork Media), David penned what is quite possibly my favorite line ever. "You're so creative with your reviews / of what other people do / How satisfying that must be for you". Ouch. (Check out David Bazan "Selling Advertising" for the whole song)

But he's also a master at taking poetic license to it's limit. This song is a fantastic example.

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Wednesday, August 15 2012 @ 03:01 AM CDT

I can throw you some names, though lyrical 'genius' isn't quite a justifiable term for ANYONE (even Dylan).

In rap/hip hop, I've always found Eminem's multisyllabic and internal rhyme to be pretty outstanding. Dude knows how to tell a story. Aesop Rock has this stream of consciousness flow that appeals to the senses like no other, and coaxes out visceral reactions in bunches. Edan is very impressionistic and offbeat -- his words match his music outstandingly. Soul Khan is an up and coming guy with a thunderous voice (sounds a bit like Biggie) who has a soft touch with his imagery and a capacity for diverse topical references. Saul Williams (originally a slam poet) has done some cool things with words, but I think he ultimately falls short due to the fact that he thinks his poetry is better than it is.

The fact is that few if any lyricists in any genre can truly write in a disciplined manner, but their execution and emotional engagement with the words brings it all together. Dylan once tried to write a book of poetry, and it was god awful. Great songwriter, though (obviously).

In terms of folk/rock/blues, I've got a whole slew of people in mind. Dylan (obviously). Paul Simon has had his moments, as has Leonard Cohen (though I believe his actual poetry to be mediocre at best, and find a large number of his lyrics to be self indulgent). Phil Ochs has had some great pieces as a 'topical' songwriter. Townes Van Zandt has some shit out there that just blows me away ("She Came And She Touched Me," anyone?). Tom Waits is pretty great. Jim Morrison has a few songs (the ones where he doesn't over-indulge) that exhibit a fantastic capacity for lush imagery and his voice achieves a measure of the prophecy that he so admired in Blake. Joni Mitchell obviously deserves a mention, and Joan Baez has a few masterpieces within the folk idiom. Langston Hughes actually wrote brilliant blues lyrics way back in the day -- people like Bessie Smith used to sing them, but they were his words. Howlin Wolf is another blues songwriter whose original songs really understand mood and whose simplicity sometimes yielded a special kind of poetry ("I asked for water; she gave me gasoline..."). R.L. Burnside did some of that, too, though to a lesser degree. Bruce Springsteen is incomparably good at what he does, and there are moments on Nebraska and Born To Run (his two best, in my humble opinion) that just make you want to cry -- the moments of incredible tenderness in "Atlantic City" ("Put on your stockings babe, the night's getting cold") or the torrid ending of "Jungleland." People say that Nick Drake was Britain's response to Bob Dylan and I'm not sure that I agree, but some people hung onto his words, so I guess I'll throw his name out there.

I'm going to move to contemporary lyricists now. I'll start with Colin Melloy since he already was brought up in the thread: he's pretty good, and has moments where he's outstanding (check out "The Engine Driver"). His failing is that he is too aware of his own literacy, and he isn't as literate as he thinks he is -- his persona is sometimes not as whimsical as it is pretentious. Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel kind of set the standard for dionysian indie folk, and has some lyrical pieces to back it up ("Holland 1945," "Ghost," "Two Headed Boy"). The lead singer of The Antlers has some moving lyrics in their first album ("Kettering," "Two"). We Are Augustines have some seriously heartbreaking and stylistically advanced stuff on their debut album "Rise Ye Sunken Ships." Check it out -- their frontman Billy Mccarthy has a hell of a backstory. When not mired down in melodrama, Brian Fallon of The Gaslight Anthem and The Horrible Crowes has some pretty vivid words ("The 59 Sound," "Miles Davis And The Cool," "Black Betty And The Moon"). One of my main influences is Kristian Matsson (aka The Tallest Man On Earth), who makes use of impressionistic imagery and emotionally charged euphemism to viscerally move the listener ("Sparrow And The Medicine," "Burden Of Tomorrow," "Tangle In This Trampled Wheat"). Another favorite is Joe Pug, who marries a contemporary poetic sensibility with the 'topical' focus of 60s folk revival stuff, and emerges with something entirely his own ("Hymn 101," "Nation Of Heat," "Speak Plainly, Diana," "Sharpest Crown"). James Vincent McMorrow is fairly new on the scene, but his album "Early In The Morning" has some gloriously vivid lyrical moments, and the song "Down The Burning Ropes" might be the most economical and properly poetic use of language that I've seen in a song. Ever. It stands up on paper, where the vast majority of good (or even great) lyrics tend to stumble. Laura Marling is a British singer who is irritatingly young -- her song "Salinas" is excellent lyrically, and, like all of her songs, thrives off of her inflected delivery. First Aid Kid are a Swedish Folk duo that have some very good lyrics. Win Butler of Arcade Fire has his moments ("Antichrist Television Blues" is a masterpiece). Spencer Krug has some visionary work with his former band Sunset Rubdown. Anais Mitchell has a unique ability to sustain narrative within a persona that she claims through contrast -- her album "Young Man In America" is fantastic all the way through (her broken syntax in "Wilderland," her poetry in "Young Man In America," and her creation of character in "Venus" are all notable). Justin Ringle has some great lyrics for The Horse Feathers. So does Sam Beam of Iron And Wine. Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip does Canada proud with "Fiddlers Green" and a lot of the material on "Phantom Power," too.

I have more, but I'm tired.

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Wednesday, August 15 2012 @ 03:34 AM CDT

Mike Scott:

I pictured a rainbow
You held it in your hands
I had flashes
But you saw the plan
I wandered out in the world for years
While you just stayed in your room
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
You were there in the turnstiles
With the wind at your heels
You stretched for the stars
And you know how it feels
To reach too high
Too far
Too soon
You saw the whole of the moon
I was grounded
While you filled the skies
I was dumbfounded by truth
You cut through lies
I saw the rain dirty valley
You saw Brigadoon
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
I spoke about wings
You just flew
I wondered I guessed and I tried
You just knew
I sighed
... but you swooned!
I saw the crescent
You saw the whole of the moon
With a torch in your pocket
And the wind at your heels
You climbed on the ladder
And you know how it feels
To get too high
Too far too soon
You saw the whole of the moon
The whole of the moon!
Unicorns and cannonballs
Palaces and piers
Trumpets towers and tenements
Wide oceans full of tears
Flags rags ferryboats
Scimitars and scarves
Every precious dream and vision
Underneath the stars
You climbed on the ladder
With the wind in your sails
You came like comet
Blazing your trail
Too high too far too soon
You saw the whole of the moon

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Wednesday, August 15 2012 @ 04:23 AM CDT

I notice above mention of Jim Morrison. His lyrics I alway liked and this is my favourite, his description of horses being thrown overboard in the tropical doldrums. They were called the "Horse Latitudes" apparently because when ships became becalmed in these areas, livestock would be thrown overboard in order to conserve water. Morrison's description of the flailing horses is very powerful.

When the still sea conspires an armour
And her sullen and aborted
Currents breed tiny monsters
True sailing is dead
Awkward instant
And the first animal is jettisoned
Legs furiously pumping
Their stiff green gallop
And heads bob up
Poise
Delicate
Pause
Consent
In mute nostril agony
Carefully refined
And sealed over

"When the Music's Over" is also very powerful. Here's a little bit:

What have they done to the earth?
What have they done to our fair sister?
Ravaged and plundered and ripped her and bit her
Stuck her with knives in the side of the dawn
And tied her with fences and dragged her down

If you don't know it, then check out the whole poem. Really powerful music too, lost none of its edge over the decades!

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Wednesday, August 15 2012 @ 11:00 AM CDT

Davajonah: I've always found Horse Latitudes to be one of Morrison's better poems -- it's from the American Night collection, am I right? It doesn't fall into the excesses that plague some of his other work, that's for certain. Very sharp sense of movement, and creative description.

Here's "Down The Burning Ropes" by James Vincent McMorrow:

When the hills let go
Slowly fade into the water like some ancient lover
On a ship filled with ghosts
It's something to behold

When the paper thin girls
With twisting little braids in their hair,
They take off their coats and throw
Pebbles and stones from the side of the boat,
Crying out
The stones they float, the stones they float
Oh my God, the stones they float, the stones they float

Down the burning ropes
Past the places where the steel beams meet concrete skies
You make your bed under the moonlight
I think it's time we said goodbye

Cause nothing moves in the warm air
And words that once would cut like a knife,
They just hang in the cloud and you're
Pushed by the lord,
But you're pulled by the crowds and
You're overboard, you're overboard
Oh my God, she's overboard

My love she's overboard
She's overboard
My love she's over board

Not a shell unbroken
In the valley where my heartache and the timbers lay
It's not the time to be hanging around here
You know what some might say

That people get too reckless
That even with the simplest of crimes
They leave, blood behind,
As I clean the knife for the very last time
I think she knows, I think she knows
Oh my God, I think she knows

I think she knows

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Wednesday, August 15 2012 @ 01:03 PM CDT

To tf10music:

There are four kinds of people in this world (Only four? Yep, only four). (1) Those who don't respond to music (2) those who tune in to the lyrics, and don't care much about the music (3) those who tune in to the music, and don't care much about the lyrics (4) those who tune in to the interplay between the music and lyrics, and care about whether or not the music conveys the lyrical content. All these people are fine, and all have a right to live and carry on. I happen to belong to group 3, and have nothing to offer to this thread. However, I enjoyed reading your extended comment on this topic, and I think you should get an honorary MacJams Ph.D. Well done.

* Post Removed *
Thursday, August 16 2012 @ 08:01 AM CDT

* This message has been removed *

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Thursday, August 16 2012 @ 08:01 AM CDT

I read (and listened) to 95% of the replies here and I must say that I heard some of the finest songwriting ever. Thank you all for your suggestions! Keep 'em coming!

Alrighty... time for my picks! I give a little bit of background information about and quote my favorite lines off of each song that I list. Enjoy!


I believe that John Mayer is one of the few artists who deserve the wide recognition and idolization that he receives. He is one of the finest singers/songwriters and guitarists around. His song, Belief, is a masterpiece of writing (musically and lyrically).

"Belief is a beautiful armor,
But makes for the heaviest sword.
Like punching under water,
You never can hit who you're trying for."



--

Dance With the Devil (very EXPLICIT & GRAPHIC) by Immortal Technique falls in the storytelling category (of rap). Immortal Technique is a politically-influenced rapper who speaks his mind out but this one happens to be one of his personal tracks. It's a pretty epic story. There's not much to say about it... it's clear in the lyrics.

"When the devil wants to dance with you, you better say never...
'Cuz the dance with devil might last you forever."



--

Inside Out (Outside Lookin' In) by Steve Dan Mills details a very personal conflict that many people can relate to. It's all about "fitting in." About four years ago, I suffered the struggles listed in the first two verses of the song. It's pretty straight-forward...

"That sense of true belonging did not belong to me,
So I found my place in a fantasy of how great one day I'll be!"



--

Mark Knopfler's "Postcards from Paraguay" is a really nice, upbeat song with music that matches the lyrics very well (something I look for in a lot of songs. I'm #4, Les_Kloo!). He has a couple of nice idiomatic and metaphoric uses... here's one of them:

"I never meant to be a cheater,
But there was blood on the wall.
I had to steal from Peter,
To pay what I owed to Paul"



Another favorite from Knopfler is "Don't Crash the Ambulence." This song has to be taken as a whole. It's a big metaphor that's open for interpretation... kinda political if you think about it



--

Childish Gambino (aka Donald Glover) is what Hollywood would label as a "triple-threat." He's an actor, most famous for taking part in NBC's sitcom, Community. He's a rapper; a nerdy, black guy who brings a different sound and content to hip-hop. And he's a fabulous, involved performer (speaking from a recent live-concert experience). He might not be your "cup of tea" but, trust me, he has some of the finest punch lines you'll ever hear/read. This guy is the next big thing!

"Be Alone" (EXPLICIT) is a good example of his work. It has a few really good lines...

"I'm someone they admire...
Set the game ablaze, I'm an arcade fire.
...
It seems like the more I try to connect with the world,
I'm feeling more alone than I ever have felt before."



"Not Going Back" (EXPLICIT), however, is one of his best creations. This song gives a great example of the type of allusions/references that his raps usually exploit.

"Callin' me the new Will Smith, that's Jaden,
Callin' me a faggot when I'm rappin', that's hatin'."



--

I, personally, regard Eminem as one of the very best lyricist to ever exist. He has plenty of songs to classify under "genius" but I picked ones that are relate-able, or at least entertaining with the wording.

25 to Life (EXPLICIT) is one of his more-modern songs but definitely one of his finest writings. The song is a metaphor for something that's revealed in the last 2 lines. Those who are knowledgeable about Em's marriage story can see the relation... but it's the ending of the song that changes the whole meaning.

"And I know that if I end this, I'll no longer have nothing left,
But you keep treating me like a staircase, it's time to f***in' step."



But my top favorite Eminem track is "Beautiful" (EXPLICIT). The lyrics in it convey a feeling that all of us have shared. All that Eminem did is simply state his own take on 'depression' in words. And he did it so well. I consider these lines (below) as some of the greatest, if not the greatest, wrap-up lyrics of any song that I've heard.

"But I've already told you my whole life story, not just based on my description.
'Cuz the way you see it from where you're sitting, it's probably a 110% different.
But I guess we would have to walk a mile in each other's shoes at least,
What size you wear? I wear 10s. Let's see if you can fit your feet."

Re:Lyrical Geniuses
Thursday, August 16 2012 @ 09:22 AM CDT

John Prine In Spite Of Ourselves Lyrics
Songwriters: JOHN PRINE
She don't like her eggs all runny
She thinks crossin' her legs is funny
She looks down her nose at money
She gets it on like the easter bunny
She's my baby I'm her honey
I'm never gonna let her go

He ain't got laid in a month of sundays
I caught him once and he was sniffin' my undies
He ain't too sharp but he gets things done
Drinks his beer like it's oxygen
He's my baby
And I'm his honey
Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves
We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow
Against all odds
Honey, we're the big door prize
We're gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won't be nothin' but big old hearts
Dancin' in our eyes.

She thinks all my jokes are corny
Convict movies make her horny
She likes ketchup on her scrambled eggs
Swears like a sailor when shaves her legs
She takes a lickin'
And keeps on tickin'
I'm never gonna let her go.

He's got more balls than a big brass monkey
He's a wacked out werido and a lovebug junkie
Sly as a fox and crazy as a loon
Payday comes and he's howlin' at the moon
He's my baby I don't mean maybe
Never gonna let him go

In spite of ourselves
We'll end up a'sittin' on a rainbow
Against all odds
Honey, we're the big door prize
We're gonna spite our noses
Right off of our faces
There won't be nothin' but big old hearts
Dancin' in our eyes.
There won't be nothin' but big old hearts
Dancin' in our eyes.

(spoken) in spite of ourselves
In Spite Of Ourselves lyrics © BUG MUSIC

John Prine : Some Humans Aint Human




John Prine : Some Humans Aint Human

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
A few frozen pizzas
Some ice cubes with hair
A broken Popsicle
You don't want to go there

Some humans ain't human
Though they walk like we do
They live and they breathe
Just to turn the old screw
They screw you when you're sleeping
They try to screw you blind
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

You might go to church
And sit down in a pew
Those humans who ain't human
Could be sittin' right next to you
They talk about your family
They talk about your clothes
When they don't know their own ass
From their own elbows

Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony
Jealousy and stupidity
Don't equal harmony

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm

Have you ever noticed
When you're feeling really good
There's always a pigeon
That'll come shit on your hood

Or you're feeling your freedom
And the world's off your back
Some cowboy from Texas
Starts his own war in Iraq

Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind
They lie through their teeth
With their head up their behind
You open up their hearts
And here's what you'll find
Some humans ain't human
Some people ain't kind

Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm
Mmmm Mmmm