Favourite Lyricists

[stratman42]

Ok, there's been a lot of threads on favourite guitarists, too many to count, in fact, but no one has yet asked us all about the other creative side of the band - the lyrics. So here i am... Who are your favourite lyricists (lyric writers)? Mine are: -

Ozzy - For both Sabbath and his solo stuff, a very good viewpoint on life.

Geezer Butler - i think it was him anyway. The bassist from Sabbath who wrote the lyrics with Ozzy. correct me if im wrong...

Fish/Steve Hogarth - the singers (past and present respectively) from Marillion, an amazingly underrated band.

Roger Waters - Pink Floyd(obvious really)

Neil Peart - The drummer from Rush

[Led Zeppelin]

Roger Waters (Pink Floyd)
Ian Brown (Stone Roses)
Izzy Stradlin/Axl Rose (Guns N' Roses)
Gilby Clarke (Guns N' Roses)
Richard Ashcroft (The Verve)
John Lennon (The Beatles)

[Raskolnikov]

Geezer pretty much wrote all of Sabbath's lyrics. Ozzy basicly came in and did his thing, but didn't contribute a lot creatively. Though Geezer and Dio I guess co-wrote a lot of the newer lyrics.

Anyway, my list goes as follows:
Mark Sandman - Morphine
Tom Waits
Neil Fallon - Clutch
Les Claypool - Primus
Mike Patton - Faith no More, Mr Bungle, Tomohawk, etc, etc, etc...
Celine Vigil - Seven Year Bitch
Jim Infantino - Jim's Big Ego
Ben Folds - Ben Folds Five, solo

[deathfollows]

Whoever writes for Tea Party does extremely well.

[Percival Blues Shredder]

Neil Young
Kesiah Jones
Eddie Vedder

[educatedfilm]

-Ian Brown (stone roses)
-Zack de la Rocha (rage against the machine)
-Both the guys from Public Enemy
-Dylan
-The guy From Blackalisous
-Michle Stipe (REM)

I'll prbably add more later

[Percival Blues Shredder]

"The same thing that makes you live
can kill you in the end"

- Neil Young

[sam_one]

Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur.

[guitargod420]

maynard = tool
james hetfeild = metallica
Phil = pantera

[stratman42]

Ta for the replies. Keep em comin. Ta for solvin the geezer thing too, rask. in that case, i like: -

Ozzy - for his stuff
Geezer for the sabbath stuff
Ronnie for all his stuff

[Bardsley]

Dylan.
Neil Finn
Tom Waits
Dylan
Billy Corgan
Hundreds more.

[fendermonkey77]

Paul Hewson
Eric Clapton
Michael Stipe
Ed Roland
Dylan (like father like son...)
TONS MORE...but I gotta go to bed.

[Bardsley]

I'm still trying to decide wether I think Bono is a good lyricist, or simply a good singer. He does sing some good words, but he doesn't capture the moods with just lyrics in the way that Dylan can. Of course, "sunlight, sunlight fills my room. It's sharp and it's clear but nothing at all like the moon" is pretty nice. Is it as good as "The ghost of electricity howls in the bones of her face" though?

[fendermonkey77]

It's all a matter of opinion and what gets through to and means something to you personally. Me personally...yeah I like Paul Hewson's lyrics a lot.

[stratman42]

Yeh, Dylan's a good lyricist, Bono i'm not so sure of. Also, sorry to hurt people's feeling's, but i'm having a mental block here...Who is Paul Hewson?

[fendermonkey77]

Paul Hewson is Bono.

[Lordathestrings]

I like to give stuff a few years to settle, before I decide if its 'a keeper' or 'a tosser'.

I cringe whenever someone refers to Bruce Springsteen as 'a singer', but I have to rate him as one of the best lyricists out there. Almost as good as Paul Simon! :D

[Bardsley]

How could I have forgotten Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen? I think it's because I mainly just look at my cd collection, I don't have any Springsteen, and I lent my Paul Simon CDs to a friend. Both great lyricists, and Paul Simon is a fantastic songwriter. Songs like America, The Boxer, Cecilia, etc are both good lyrics and great music.

[stratman42]

Thats the one. Bono. I remember now... I suppose he is both a good singer and a good lyricist, but U2's stuff has just never appealed to me.

[bundust]

I would have to agree that Neil Peart is an amazing writer!! I love his abstract uses and think that it perfectly fits the music which Geddy and Alex mainly write. They all have great chemistry and that is why they are one of the best longest running bands around. Not to mention they are Canadian!!

For Best voice its hands down the combonation of Don Dokken and Jeff Pilson. Listen to Kiss of Death ending on the Beast from the East Cd and listen to the high scream harmonies. Amazing to have two very talented singers in a great band.

Those are my two cents

To my wife, the six string!!!

[stratman42]

Yeh, Neil Peart's great. The Twilight Zone (off 2112) is one of my favourites...

[booth421]

When you go on and on about Rush lyrics, I can only remember "Bitor The Snow-Dog"..Real food for thought from "The thinking man's band"...Of course, pehaps it was Geddy and not Neal, and we have him to blame for this little jem..

"If it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck---Odds are it's a duck"... Danny Partridge

[mulud]

The one and only
Maynard James Keenan Tool, APC

[stratman42]

Ok, perhaps im getting into things i dont understand. Although i class myself as a Rush fan, i only really know "The Spirit of Radio" and the songs off "2112". Im geting a bit blinded by science with some of the songs people are mentioning. Not that i want you to stop, please, feel free, just dont expect me to be able to make relevant comments that often...

[PonyOne]

Let me reiterate... Maynard Keenan of Tool.

Also, Failure (www.failure.org) are great lyricists. When you combine the lyrics with the music it all falls together perfectly. I implore anyone who reads this who has Aimster or any other mp3 search engine... download some of their stuff (stuck on you, submission, wet gravity and let it drip are the best ones, imho, but their cover of enjoy the silence is also really good) and then go buy their CD's, they're well worth it.

And though a lot of their music sucked... Guns N Roses.

[stratman42]

Yeh, soz, missed you off last time. Cant say ive ever heard any of their stuff, but i will do as you ask and attempt to download some.

[PonyOne]

Yeah, nobody has sadly... they were big on the West Coast (US) for about 3 months in '96 and then slipped away and broke up... it's a pity, cause it's awesome, awesome stuff.

[Joseph]

Bob Dylan, now this guy isn't the greastest, however he's always kept me interested with his songs. And I think that's the goal for any musician today, to get noticed, and to simply reach out to others in more ways than one. I don't care what anyone says, but Kurt Cobain was also amazing, he just had a way with words and melody. http://www.freakygamers.com/smilies/s/contrib/edoom/biggrinbounce.gif

-Joseph

[stratman42]

Originally posted by Joseph
I don't care what anyone says, but Kurt Cobain was also amazing, he just had a way with words and melody.

-Joseph

I think i've explained my views on this before - Kurt was good, but the hype puts me off. However, that was about his talent in general. His lyrics, i have to agree, are unignoreable (if that's a word).