Who do you consider to be the best lyricist...
 

..of all time..?..

as I was discussing with you :tongue: I would probably plump for Joni Mitchell.

It's a close-fought race between her, Bob Dylan, Morrissey and Neil Young, for me.

Jimmy Ruffin

..yeah, it was that conversation that inspired the thread..I agree with the ones you've mentioned and although it's not necessarily my kind of music, I also think Eminem is a good lyricist as well...

Aqua.

ah crap of course

Of all time, I would list Lennon/McCartney, Noel Gallagher and then for me because I really love the inspiring sort of lyrics in their songwriting,Tony Hatch and Jackie Trent.

bruce springsteen by a mile.

The American poet, Jim Morrison

And Jagger and Richards

Drake ofc.

Midge Ure,Lennon/McCartney,Carole King,Jim Morrison ,Jagger/Richards and Bernie Taupin.

Shane MacGowan of course

will.i.am

Morrissey.

Justin Bieber.

http://images.wikia.com/glee/images/...st_kidding.gif

Seriously now...

Has to be...

The one, the only...

His Purple Highness...

http://25.media.tumblr.com/e98c57051...nvweo1_400.gif

Prince. :worship:

You're all wrong, it's Katy Perry

I wanna see your peacock cock cock cock

Genius :lovedup:

fiona apple

-is being serious-

You didn't see my valentine
I sent it via pantomime
While you were watching someone else
I stared at you and cut myself
That's all I'll do cause I'm not free
A fugitive too dull to flee
I'm amorous but out of reach
A still life drawing of a peach

I'm a tulip in a cup
I stand no chance of growing up
I've made my peace, I'm dead, I'm done
I watch you live to have my fun

http://i.imgur.com/mjyhD8A.gif

2chanz

John Lennon.

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away



...Joni Mitchell..

:lovedup:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...o_Rida2012.jpg

'cnt c me wif 10 binocularsss!!!!'
'so kl no doubt by da end of the nyt got the clothes cumin off n ill make dat moveeee.'
'more shampoo numba one club poppaaa!'

Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

The End

This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, My only friend
The end of our elaborate plans
The end of everything that stand's
The end

No safety and surprise
The end
I'll never look into your eyes again

can you picture what will be?
So limitless and free
Desperately in need of
Some strangers hand
In a desperate land

Lost in a Roman wilderness of pain
And all the children are insane
All the children are insane
Waiting for the summer rain
There's danger on the edge of Town
Ride the Kings Highway
Weird scenes inside the Goldmine
Ride the Highway West baby

Ride the snake
Ride the snake
To the lake
To the lake

The ancient Lake baby
The snake is long
Seven miles
Ride the snake

He's old
And his skin is cold
The West is the best
The West is the best
Go here and we'll do the rest

The Blue bus is calling us
The Blue bus is calling us
Driver, where you taking us?

The killer awoke before dawn
He put his boots on
He took a face from the ancient gallery
And he walked on down the Hall

He went in to a room where his sister lived
And then he paid a visit to his brother
And then he walked on down the Hall
And he came to a door
And he looked inside
Father?
Yes son
I want to kill you
Mother, I want to

Come on baby take a chance with us
Come on baby take a chance with us
Come on baby take a chance with us
And meet me at the back of the Blue bus

This is the end, beautiful friend
This is the end, my only friend
The end

It hurts to set you free
But you'll never follow me

The end of laughter and soft lies
The end of nights we tried to die

This is the end




Shall we just say Jim Morrison wins?

I think Alanis Morissette is brilliant :love:

Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'


..Bob Dylan..

"Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?"

I'm astounded by the genius of this writing.

This sounds awful, but I'm really not one who pays attention to lyrics generally.

Got to be Cheryl Cole, surely?

>

oh i forgot kate bush

I heard a fact on Pointless a couple of weeks ago that she was the first female number 1 who wrote and performed her own song.

A shout out to Ashcroft

A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people dance
And maybe they'd be happy for a while

But February made me shiver
With every paper I'd deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn't take one more step

I can't remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died

[Chorus]
So bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 1]
Did you write the book of love
And do you have faith in God above
If the Bible tells you so?
Now do you believe in rock and roll
Can music save your mortal soul
And can you teach me how to dance real slow?

Well, I know that you're in love with him
'Cause I saw you dancin' in the gym
You both kicked off your shoes
Man, I dig those rhythm and blues

I was a lonely teenage broncin' buck
With a pink carnation and a pickup truck
But I knew I was out of luck
The day the music died

[Chorus]
I started singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 2]
Now for ten years we've been on our own
And moss grows fat on a rollin' stone
But that's not how it used to be
When the jester sang for the king and queen
In a coat he borrowed from James Dean
And a voice that came from you and me

Oh, and while the king was looking down
The jester stole his thorny crown
The courtroom was adjourned
No verdict was returned

And while Lenin read a book on Marx
A quartet practiced in the park
And we sang dirges in the dark
The day the music died

[Chorus]
We were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 3]
Helter skelter in a summer swelter
The birds flew off with a fallout shelter
Eight miles high and falling fast
It landed foul on the grass
The players tried for a forward pass
With the jester on the sidelines in a cast

Now the halftime air was sweet perfume
While the sergeants played a marching tune
We all got up to dance
Oh, but we never got the chance

'Cause the players tried to take the field
The marching band refused to yield
Do you recall what was revealed
The day the music died?

[Chorus]
We started singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Verse 4]
Oh, and there we were all in one place
A generation lost in space
With no time left to start again
So come on, Jack be nimble, Jack be quick
Jack Flash sat on a candlestick
'Cause fire is the devil's only friend

Oh, and as I watched him on the stage
My hands were clenched in fists of rage
No angel born in Hell
Could break that Satan's spell

And as the flames climbed high into the night
To light the sacrificial rite
I saw Satan laughing with delight
The day the music died

He was singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Outro]
I met a girl who sang the blues
And I asked her for some happy news
But she just smiled and turned away
I went down to the sacred store
Where I'd heard the music years before
But the man there said the music wouldn't play

And in the streets, the children screamed
The lovers cried and the poets dreamed
But not a word was spoken
The church bells all were broken

And the three men I admire most
The Father, Son and the Holy Ghost
They caught the last train for the coast
The day the music died

And they were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
And them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
Singin' "This'll be the day that I die
This'll be the day that I die"

[Chorus]
They were singin' bye-bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry
Them good old boys were drinkin' whiskey and rye
And singin' "This'll be the day that I die

I know :D

technically first child as well since she wrote it when she was 13 (obviously didn't perform it that age though :laugh:)

..one of my favourite songs..:love:..and I also love these lyrics as well..


If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
'Bout a ghost from a wishin' well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
You know that ghost is me
And I will never be set free
As long as I'm a ghost that you can't see
If I could read your mind love
What a tale your thoughts could tell
Just like a paperback novel
The kind that drugstores sell
When you reach the part where the heartaches come
The hero would be me
But heroes often fail
And you won't read that book again
Because the ending's just too hard to take

I'd walk away like a movie star
Who gets burned in a three way script
Enter number two
A movie queen to play the scene
Of bringing all the good things out in me
But for now love, let's be real
* I never thought I could ACT this way *
And I've got to say that I just don't get it
I don't know where we went wrong
But the feelin's gone
And I just can't get it back

If you could read my mind love
What a tale my thoughts could tell
Just like an old time movie
'Bout a ghost from a wishin' well
In a castle dark or a fortress strong
With chains upon my feet
But stories always end
And if you read between the lines
You'll know that I'm just tryin' to understand
The feelin's that you lack
I never thought I could feel this way
And I've got to say that I just don't get it
I don't know where we went wrong
But the feelin's gone
And I just can't get it back

gordon lightfoot :lovedup:

well... i only know that song... but it's one of my favourites too.

James Douglas Morrison

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rison_1969.JPG