Well, they got number one right anyway. http://www.digitaldreamdoor.com/pages/best_z-prev/ly_lyricists2.html
'Tis a good list there..... Of the top of my head the top ten is 1A) Jim Morrison - Get American Prayer - "Death makes angels of us all and gives us wings where we once had shoulders smooth as Ravens Claws" 1B) Morrissey, the king of mope has too many brilliant lines to pick just one. 3) Ian Curtis (of Joy Division) - nuff said 4) Syd Barrett (original leader of Pink Floyd) - Mind blowing 5) John Lennon - Again, too much at such high quallity to single out a particular song 6) Leonard Cohen - an aquired taste 7) Richard Buttler (Psychedelic Furs) - Did not make the posted list, but 'In to you like a Train' and ' Immitation of Christ' sum it up. 8)Hendrix, while mostly known as a guitar god his lyrics are too good to be ignored 9) Ray Davies 10) Pete Townsend
Eddie Vedder- 18 and Billy Corgan- 53 should swap places Randy Newman should be forcibly removed from the list Nick Cave in the top 40? Good to see Maynard James Keenan get recognized
Steve Winwood? Jim Capaldi (and others) wrote most of the lyrics to his songs. Donald Fagen didn't write most of the lyrics for Steely Dan, the guy in my signature did. What did Nick Lowe do to be dropped from the list? And any list that doesn't include Townes Van Zandt ... wait, if I start b****ing about this, I'll be here all night. I'm stopping now.
I always like Sting's lyrics. A lot of people don't like them because they can be so elitist sounding, but he knew how to turn a phrase. And if they can put Neil Peart in the top 50, I would think Sting should be in there too. I was never a big fan of the Doors or Pink Floyd so those are meh to me. Good to see Springsteen, Costello and Paul Simon high on the list - some of my favorites. Joni Mitchell and Ray Davies could trade places on my list easily.
they've got carol king at 99? didn't goffin write the lyrics while she wrote the music? ranked too low anyhow.
Judging by the list, this is a "rock lyricst" list, but your point is well-taken. Prince is highly underrated and some of Marvin Gaye's stuff is amazing.
Townes Van Zant is a major omission. Also, I didn't see John Prine on the list. As for the newer artist, iris dement should be on that list somewhere. As well as Hank Williams. Kris Kristopherson (sp). Rodney Crowell. Woody Gurthie. Not to mention, the likes of tupac and biggie and probably even nas. Blind lemon jefferson. Bill monroe should be on the list for just Blue Moon of Kentucky alone. Robert Johnson. Lorretta Lynn. Dolly Parton. Mere Haggard. All should be there.
Did you see the bottom list? Sheryl Crow, Jimmy Buffet, and Axl Rose are appartently better lyricists than James Hetfield, Ozzy Osbourne, Anthony Kiedis and Brandon Boyd.
My main beef is that Leonard Cohen isn't #2 or tied with Dylan. But they got Joni Mitchell, E. Costello and, most important, Jim Croce. Wasn't expecting to see him there. So I can't be too upset. No Townes was a big boner though.
I wasn't expecting my collection to be so well represented (4). I figured John Fogerty would be on there, but Dave Matthews, Adam Duritz, and Billie Joe Armstrong kinda surprised me. Yay.
Ozzy's a rock god, but in a discussion of good lyricists, do any of those people really rate at all? Jimmy Buffet had a couple good lines (I particularly liked the way he rhymed flip flop with pop top) but I couldn't care less about the rest. There are about twenty people who didn't make the list that are better lyricists than Kiedis. Where's David Berman? Where's Daniel Johnston?
