who are your top three favorite lyricists; mine, in no particular order are Bernie Taupin; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvMYu6I11k0&list=PLWnVxuqvY7JgZ_0Aye7bGr3QLLlmALUsn Pete Townsend; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyN7WUKRicw&list=PL705A234F43DA0E34
and Peter Gabriel; https://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation_id=annotation_194492467&feature=iv&src_vid=MRSgvfNZcWA&v=FphKHPraIAg
Ooohhh....AWESOME fucking thread! Number One, Kathleen Hanna. Easily. She gave a voice to a bunch of awkward girls who didn't know where they fit into society. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUv9bYh_O0E Two, Johnette Nepolitano. She paints a nice picture with lines like "anyplace with a bar and a bathtub is alright." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aACyPUwCYWA Three, I may have actually gone with Peter Gabriel myself, but I didn't want to repeat. Anyway, I'll go with PJ Harvey, as she is one of the most underrated lyricists of all time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iu9fTiDYehg EDIT: No clue why it won't embed that last video. But I'm giving up.
Can Bob Dylan be all three ? I've listed to his songs countless times, and am just as often amazed by his gift.
I was kinda thinking folks would post a sample so we can all enjoy your choices,,so thanks Neoprene for doing that.
Brandon Boyd from Incubus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r1ct0mUgEfk&index=7&list=PLvpFrxWWqKgg4XfTlAcfScElfGklGA1D2 Eddie Vedder from Pearl Jam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0csYYDUVnR8 Trey Anastasio from Phish! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bp5CTDRC74o
leslie fish cynthia mcquinlan and a couple dozzen who's names i can't think of at the moment, most of whom i doubt very much more then one or two people on here, have ever heard of. actually carrol cherreh, an author actually, wrote some pretty good filk lyrics set in the worlds of her stories. "pride of channur" being an example of one of them. there are a few who are slightly more (current and) mainstream, but at the moment i can't seem to remember their names either. oh donavan and ian anderson from back in the 60s, but i have no idea if they actually wrote those lyrics themselves. woodie guthrie too of course, i know he actually wrote, or put into their final form, a number of lyrics himself. there are two or three i wish i could remember to mention, who certainly deserve to be, but i'm just, never have been worth a dam with remembering names. melony and carol king, but again back in the 60s and 70s, and i have no way to know to what degree they wrote themselves. lenin of course, the beatle one, is sort of almost infamous for his, there was a published sketchbook of his, i saw in a library somewhere in the 90s. oh fox amore of course, him i can't neglect to mention. he's current, and no good reason his work shouldn't receive mainstream recognition.
I think I'm with YFM on this, there are other lyricists I like but Bob Dylan is so beyond them that I take issue with putting anyone else in the top 3 with him
