Amazing Lyricists

Okay, the aim of this is to show lyrics that are so good that they could be considered brilliant poetry in written form.

Post the artist you like and a section of a song (maximum of 10 lines!)

MY EXAMPLE ;)

I think Courtney Love is an incredible lyricist.

(From Sunset Strip by Courtney Love)

Sitting here on top of the world
I got everything
I need from this world
Oh tonight, I got it right
Just one time

Cruising down the Sunset Strip
And there is nothing that's not,
That's not within my grip
Oh tonight, I can fly
I can fly

My absolute favourite lyricist is Ville Valo, his lyrics just own my heart and soul 110%

Billie Joe Armstrong is an amazing lyricist. I love that man

Amy Lee has some amazing lyrics too.

Gerard Way.

And as always, innocent like roller coasters.
Fatality is like ghosts in snow and you have no idea what you're up against
because I've seen what they look like.
Becoming perfect as if they were sterling silver chainsaws going cascading.

---

It was the roar of the crowd
That gave me heartache to sing.
It was a lie when they smiled
And said, "you won't feel a thing"
And as we ran from the cops
We laughed so hard it would sting

Amazing.

Conor Oberst, is in fact, a genius.

And I sat watching a flower
As it was withering
I was embarrassed by
It's honesty
So I'd prefer to be remembered
As a smiling face
Not this fucking wreck
That's taken it's place
-No Lies, Just Love; Bright Eyes

William Beckett

and

Gabe Saporta because his lyrics make me laugh :)

JESSE LACEY.
His lyrics are just so amazing.

You are calm and reposed.
Let your beauty unfold.
Pale white, like the skin stretched over your bones.
Spring keeps you ever close.
You are second hand smoke.
You are so fragile and thin.
Standing trial for your sins.
Holding onto yourself the best you can.
You are the smell before rain.
You are the blood in my veins.

I think Bert McCracken has a wonderful way with words. I can't pick out a specific song or chorus, except the line "White it out like glittering wax butterflies," I personally think is beautiful.

Ryan from Exit Ten writes amazing songs too, and they match wonderfully with his voice.

"Don’t be a fool," I heard them say
"Don’t be a fool and throw this away"

My ability got the better of me
Our freedoms only served to limit what we
Could achieve If we were to see
What it would be like Not to desire
I wish I hadn’t lied to myself

I’ve changed how I perceived the world
No longer in the pursuit of their dreams
Our futures ours to be made
We are not slaves they are enraged
We can still save ourselves

Technically Alive, just not inside
I’ll be shielding your eyes
Please will you shield mines
Not for the first time, I feel revived
My heart free, my mind wide
Now is the time that we decide

It's long, but... Just wow.

I agree with Conor Obert and Jesse Lacey.
They may not be my favourite artists, but their lyrical ability is fucking incredible.

So, is that what you call a getaway?
Tell me what you got away with.
Cause I've seen more spine in jellyfish.
I've seen more guts in eleven-year-old kids.
Have another drink and drive yourself home.
I hope there's ice on all the roads.
And you can think of me when you forget your seatbelt,
and again when your head goes through the windshield.

And is that what you call tact?
You're as subtle as a brick in the small of my back.
So let's end this call, and end this conversation.
and is that what you call a getaway?
well tell me what you got away with.
cause you left the frays from the ties you severed
when you say best friends means friends forever

Amazing.

I definitly think Tuomas Holopainen is an amazing lyricist. He's Finnish, so english is his second language, yet he still can write beautiful poetry in english, which I think is amazing.

From the Poet And The Pendulum:

Forgive me
I have but two faces
One for the world , One for God , Save me

...I just wish the tide would catch me first and give me a death I always longed for...

Ocean Soul
Should I dress in white and search the sea?
As I always wished to be - one with the waves
Ocean Soul

Bless the Child
Why am I loved only when I'm gone?
...Think of me long enough to make a memory

Dead Boy's Poem
Never sigh for better world
It`s already composed, played and told

"If you read this line, remember not the hand that wrote it
Remember only the verse, songmaker`s cry, the one without tears
For I`ve given this its strength and it has become my only strength.
Comforting home, mother`s lap, chance for immortality
Where being wanted became a thrill I never knew
The sweet piano writing down my life"

Lol I know that it was more then 10 lines but it was hard to even pick those few lines! If you like poetry go to Nightwish.com and go to lyrics to read more by this amazing poet.

Pete Doherty he's my favorite lyricist of all time. He romanticizes the horrors of life. -shrugs-

I was a troubled teen
Who put an advert in a magazine
To the annoyance of my imaginary lover
She doubted my philosophy
And this is what she said to me

She said oh, you, you're green
You don't know what love means
Oh let me tell you
Tickles you pink, oh yeah
But it likes to hear you scream
Fire and damnation, lamentations
For the likes of you

I've always liked Pete Wentz's lyrics, they were my favorite part of FOB;

Are we growing up or just going down?
It's just a matter of time until we're all found out
take our tears, put them on ice
Cause I swear I'd burn this city down to show you the light
There's a drug in the thermostat to warm the room up
And there's another around to help us bend your trust
I've got a sunset in my veins
And I need to take a pill to make this town feel okay

As mentioned above, Conor Oberst is an amazing lyricist. Fucker can write.

We must talk in every telephone, get eaten off the web
We must rip out all the epilogues from the books we have read
And to the face of every criminal strapped firmly in a chair
We must stare, we must stare, we must stare

We must take all of the medicines too expensive now to sell
Set fire to the preacher who is promising us hell
And in the ear of every anarchist who sleeps but doesn't dream
We must sing, we must sing, we must sing

i think there are many amazing lyricists out there.
and i know of many of them.
but my absolute favourite is probably ville valo.
his lyrics are deep and dark in a way, but also very beautiful.

-----------------

i hear you breathe so far from here and i feel your touch so close and real.
and i know my church is not of silver and gold.
its glory lies beyond judgement of souls.
the commandments are of consolation and warmth...

you know our sacred dream won't fail; the sanctury tender and so frail.
the sacrament of love, yhe sacrament of warmth is true.
the sacrament is you...

-the sacrement by HIM (one of my favourite songs)

Oh, and OF COURSE, William Beckett.
Why I didn't mention him before, I have no idea.

Unlike the way you've become "city feature", you'd love to let them rip you apart until you feel clean, but when it's over he won't take back what is left.
I can see how the speed, and the sting, and the wings of the plane home make you nervous.
Oh, Mr. Shoddy Content, swept all your dignity under the covers, she'll be lying, keeping secrets, keeping quiet.
Now you understand what it's like to dive.
Take it back, taken back, she forgets you.
Now she pleads "Forgive me again, it's the last time I will..."

Never pass of your guilt lines, just wear them like a noose on your neck, I'll help you keep it tied tight.
You're the worst actor that I've ever seen but if this script called for liars, you'd play the lead.

Favourite lines from a TAI song ever. I don't care if they hardly even acknowledge that song/album's existance anymore, it will still always be one of my favourites.

And of course, other various lines.

Hold you head high, heavy heart.

Take the pain out of love and love won't exist.

The only thing worse for you than you is me.
The only thing worse for you than you is me.
The life that I've chosen to live will take your heart and swallow it
The only thing worse for you than you is to make you wait for me.
And that's why we will never meet.

With all the people we need to love and hate,
Everybody makes the same mistakes
Divided by these walls,
Together we are lost

There's a fine line between what is justified or just obscene.

I'm running.
Our time is almost, our time is almost here.
This isn't like us anyways.
Our time is almost here.

Yes, that man is my hero.

Bert McCracken


So he voyages in circles
Succeeds getting nowhere
And submits to the substance
That first got him there

Then in violent, frustration, he cries out to God or just no one
Is there a point to this madness and all that he was....
Is just a tragedy

Edit; How could I forget Adam Lazzara? Um, I'm not all too sure if he writes the lyrics, but like, I'll just assume that he does :XD

It's too bad it's not my style
If you need me
I'm out and on the parkway,
patient and waiting for headlights,
dressed in a fashion that's fitting to the
inconsistencies of my moods

Oh my God, I did not include Ryan Hunter in my last post.
Holy hell, he is just amazing. And I'm going to post lots of examples of his amazing work.

Cause we might as well be blind
If seeing is believing
This parable's misleading
You've got your shotgun loaded with excuses
That you'll fire in vain
But those twelve rounds just won't do
There's barely time for pity
And all the girls are all just too pretty
I'll start to worry when I'm dead
-If God Smoked Cheap Cigars.

Cause I fall three times as hard
If it's from nothing at all
You all seem twice as tall as I will ever be
Cause I feel terribly small
When my head works too hard
When you think with your chest
There's not a thing that you don't see

I'm hardly capable of half the damage
That I would like to do
I could swear that I don't care
But you know I'm too full of shit to think this through
So look at me
I pray to God
But curse too much to be considered true
I'm just like me
I'm just like me
So who the hell are you?
- Starving Your Friends.

Wake all the children from their slumber
Before they wonder
Why the dreams have gone to hell

Wake all the children from their sleep
Down the staircase we shall creep
To the basement of this white picket home

Let's show them where the bad ones go
For all they know
For all they know
Their heroes are still untouchable
- (x) Amount of Truth

I could go on and on, because he was such a beautiful way of handling words.

Billie Joe Armstrong

Why does my life have to be so small?
Yet death is forever,
And does forever have a life to call it's own?
Don't give me an answer
'cause you only know
as much as I know.
Unless you've been there once.
Well I hardly think so.
-One Of My Lies

Really, I love most anything that man writes, but that's my all time favorite lyric of his.

Ryan Ross is an amazing lyricist. His lyrics are great, he writes from past events in his life and I think thats fantastic that he shares that with Panic fans. :)

Watch your mouth
Oh, oh, oh
Because your speech is slurred enough
That you just might swallow your tongue
I'm sure you'd want, want to give up the ghost
With just a little more poise than that

Or was it God who chokes
In these situations, running late?
No, no, he called in
Or was it God who chokes
In these situations, running late?
No, no, he called in

The hospice is
A relaxing weekend getaway
Where you're a cut above all the rest
Sick and sad patients
On first name basis with all the top physicians
-Nails for Breakfast, Tacks for a Snack

Connor Oberst is an amazing lyrcist. I adore the Bright Eyes
Haligh, Haligh, A Lie, Haligh
The phone slips from a loose grip
Words were missed then, some apology
I didn’t want to tell you this
No, it’s just some guy she's been hanging out with
I don’t know, the past couple weeks I guess
Well, thank you and hang up the phone
Let the funeral start
Hear the casket close
Let’s pin split-black ribbon to your overcoat
Well, laughter pours from under doors
In this house, I don’t understand that sound no more
Seems artificial, like a T.V. set

Well, haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
This weight it must be satisfied
You offer only one reply
You know not what you do
But you tear and tear your hair from roots
Of that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die
Well ha ha ha

I remember everything
The words we spoke on freezing South Street
And all those mornings watching you get ready for school
You combed your hair inside that mirror
The one you painted blue and glued with jewelry tears
Something about those bright colors
would always make you feel better
But now we speak with ruined tongues
And the words we say aren’t meant for anyone
It’s just a mumbled sentence to a passing acquaintance
But there was once you

You said you hate my suffering
And you understood
And you’d take care of me
You'd always be there
Well where are you now?

Haligh, haligh, a lie, haligh
The plans were never finalized
But left to hang like yarn and twine
Dangling before my eyes
As you tear and tear your hair from roots
Of that same head you have twice removed now
A lock of hair you said would prove
Our love would never die

And I sing and sing of awful things
The pleasure that my sadness brings
As my fingers press onto the strings
In yet another clumsy chord
Haligh, haligh, an awful lie
This weight would now be satisfied
I'm gonna give you only one reply
I know not who I am

But I talk in the mirror
To the stranger that appears
Our conversations are circles
Always one sided
Nothing is clear

Except we keep coming back
To this meaning that I lack
He says the choices were given
Now you must live them
Or just not live
But do you want that?

Crap, sorry, I didn't see the ten line limit.


Patti Smith
Horses/Land of a Thousand Dances/La Mer (de):
The boy was in the hallway drinking a glass of tea
From the other end of the hallway a rhythm was generating
Another boy was sliding up the hallway
He merged perfectly with the hallway,
He merged perfectly, the mirror in the hallway

The boy looked at Johnny, Johnny wanted to run,
but the movie kept moving as planned
The boy took Johnny, he pushed him against the locker,
He drove it in, he drove it home, he drove it deep in Johnny
The boy disappeared, Johnny fell on his knees,
started crashing his head against the locker,
started crashing his head against the locker,
started laughing hysterically

When suddenly Johnny gets the feeling he's being surrounded by
horses, horses, horses, horses
coming in in all directions
white shining silver studs with their nose in flames,
He saw horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses, horses.
Do you know how to pony like bony maroney
Do you know how to twist, well it goes like this, it goes like this
Baby mash potato, do the alligator, do the alligator
And you twist the twister like your baby sister
I want your baby sister, give me your baby sister, dig your baby sister
Rise up on her knees, do the sweet pea, do the sweet pee pee,
Roll down on her back, got to lose control, got to lose control,
Got to lose control and then you take control,
Then you're rolled down on your back and you like it like that,
Like it like that, like it like that, like it like that,
Then you do the watusi, yeah do the watusi
Life is filled with holes, Johnny's laying there, his sperm coffin
Angel looks down at him and says, “Oh, pretty boy,
Can't you show me nothing but surrender ?”
Johnny gets up, takes off his leather jacket,
Taped to his chest there's the answer,
You got pen knives and jack knives and
Switchblades preferred, switchblades preferred
Then he cries, then he screams, saying
Life is full of pain, I'm cruisin' through my brain
And I fill my nose with snow and go Rimbaud,
Go Rimbaud, go Rimbaud,
And go Johnny go, and do the watusi, oh do the watusi

There's a little place, a place called space
It's a pretty little place, it's across the tracks,
Across the tracks and the name of the place is you like it like that,
You like it like that, you like it like that, you like it like that,
And the name of the band is the
Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes,
Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes, Twistelettes

Baby calm down, better calm down,
In the night, in the eye of the forest
There's a mare black and shining with yellow hair,
I put my fingers through her silken hair and found a stair,
I didn't waste time, I just walked right up and saw that
up there -- there is a sea
up there -- there is a sea
up there -- there is a sea
the sea's the possibility
There is no land but the land

(up there is just a sea of possibilities)
There is no sea but the sea

(up there is a wall of possibilities)
There is no keeper but the key

(up there there are several walls of possibilities)
Except for one who seizes possibilities, one who seizes possibilities.

(up there)
I seize the first possibility, is the sea around me
I was standing there with my legs spread like a sailor

(in a sea of possibilities) I felt his hand on my knee

(on the screen)
And I looked at Johnny and handed him a branch of cold flame

(in the heart of man)
The waves were coming in like Arabian stallions
Gradually lapping into sea horses
He picked up the blade and he pressed it against his smooth throat

(the spoon)
And let it deep in

(the veins)
Dip in to the sea, to the sea of possibilities
It started hardening
Dip in to the sea, to the sea of possibilities
It started hardening in my hand
And I felt the arrows of desire

I put my hand inside his cranium, oh we had such a brainiac-amour
But no more, no more, I gotta move from my mind to the area

(go Rimbaud go Rimbaud go Rimbaud)
And go Johnny go and do the watusi,
Yeah do the watusi, do the watusi ...
Shined open coiled snakes white and shiny twirling and encircling
Our lives are now entwined, we will fall yes we're together twining
Your nerves, your mane of the black shining horse
And my fingers all entwined through the air,
I could feel it, it was the hair going through my fingers,

(I feel it I feel it I feel it I feel it)
The hairs were like wires going through my body
I I that's how I
that's how I
I died

(at that Tower of Babel they knew what they were after)

(they knew what they were after)
[Everything on the current] moved up
I tried to stop it, but it was too warm, too unbelievably smooth,
Like playing in the sea, in the sea of possibility, the possibility
Was a blade, a shiny blade, I hold the key to the sea of possibilities
There's no land but the land

looked at my hands, and there's a red stream
that went streaming through the sands like fingers,
like arteries, like fingers

(how much fits between the eyes of a horse?)
He lay, pressing it against his throat (your eyes)
He opened his throat (your eyes)
His vocal chords started shooting like (of a horse) mad pituitary glands
The scream he made (and my heart) was so high (my heart) pitched that nobody heard,
No one heard that cry,
No one heard (Johnny) the butterfly flapping in his throat,

(His fingers)
Nobody heard, he was on that bed, it was like a sea of jelly,
And so he seized the first

(his vocal chords shot up)

(possibility)

(like mad pituitary glands)
It was a black tube, he felt himself disintegrate

(there is nothing happening at all)
and go inside the black tube, so when he looked out into the steep
saw this sweet young thing (Fender one)
Humping on the parking meter, leaning on the parking meter

In the sheets
there was a man
dancing around
to the simple
Rock & roll
song

Freddie Mercury
Show Must Go On:
Empty spaces - what are we living for
Abandoned places - I guess we know the score
On and on, does anybody know what we are looking for...
Another hero, another mindless crime
Behind the curtain, in the pantomime
Hold the line, does anybody want to take it anymore
The show must go on,
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on.
Whatever happens, Ill leave it all to chance
Another heartache, another failed romance
On and on, does anybody know what we are living for?
I guess Im learning, I must be warmer now
Ill soon be turning, round the corner now
Outside the dawn is breaking
But inside in the dark Im aching to be free
The show must go on
The show must go on
Inside my heart is breaking
My make-up may be flaking
But my smile still stays on
My soul is painted like the wings of butterflies
Fairytales of yesterday will grow but never die
I can fly - my friends
The show must go on
The show must go on
Ill face it with a grin
Im never giving in
On - with the show -
Ill top the bill, Ill overkill
I have to find the will to carry on
On with the -
On with the show -
The show must go on...

Beck
Loser:
In the time of chimpanzees I was a monkey,
butane in my veins so I'm out to get the junkie
with the plastic eyeballs, spraypaint the vegetables,
dog food stalls with the beefcake pantyhose,
kill the headlights and put it in neutral,
stockcar flaming with a loser in the cruise control,
baby's in Reno with the vitamin D,
got a couple of couches, sleep on the love seat,
someone came sayin' I'm a saint (I'm insane)
to complain about
a shotgun wedding and a stain on my shirt,
don't believe everything that you breathe,
you get a parking violation and a maggot on your sleeve,
so shave your face with some mace in the dark,
saving all your food stamps for burning down the trailer park,
yo, cut it
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me,
double barrel buckshot,
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me,
forces of evil on a bozo nightmare,
ban all the music with a phony gas chamber
cause one's got a weasel and others got a flag,
one's on the pole, shove the other in the bag,
with the rerun shows and cocaine nose job,
the daytime crap of the folk singers slop,
he hung himself with a guitar string,
a slab of turkey neck and it's hangin' from a pigeon wing,
I can't write if ya' can't relate,
trade the cash for the beef for the body for the hate,
and my time is a piece of wax, fallen on a termite,
who's chokin' on the splinters
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me
get crazy with the cheez-wiz,
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me
drive, by, body pierce
yo bring it on down
Soy
(em llik uoy t'nod yhw os ybab resol a m'I, rodedrep nu yoS)
I'm a driver, I'm a winner
things are gonna' change I can feel it
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me
I can't believe it
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me
Sprechen sie deutsch, baby
Soy un perdedor, I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me
You know what I'm sayin'

Gerard Way; Skylines And Turnstiles
This broken city sky like butane on my skin
stolen from my eyes
Hello Angel, tell me where are you
Tell me where we go from here

And in this moment we can't close the lids on burning eyes
Our memories blanket us with friends we know like fallout vapors
Steel corpses stretch out towards an ending sun, scorched and black
It reaches in and tears your flesh apart
As ice cold hands rip into your heart

That's if you've still got one that's left inside that cave you call a chest
And after seeing what we saw, can we still reclaim our innocence
And if the world needs something better, let's give them one more reason now

Pete Wentz; Chicago Is So Two Years Ago
my heart is on my sleeve
wear it like a bruise or black eye
my badge, my witness
that means that i believed
every single lie you said

cause every pane of glass that your pebbles tap negates the pains i went through to avoid you
and every little pat on the shoulder for attention fails to mention i still hate you

but there's a light on in Chicago
and i know i should be home
all the colors of the street signs.

Bert McCracken; Let It Bleed
The fire department couldn't drown the city
They didn't even try to wash it clean
And what did you think that I was sober?
Put me out cause I'm on fucking fire
A positive scab that's never healing
Regret that I kept this clean
The most that I can do for you is keep on lying
It's not a lie if you can let it sing

Ryan Ross; Northern Downpour
Through playful lips made of yarn
That fragile Capricorn
Unraveled words like moths upon old scarves
I know the world's a broken bone
But melt your headaches, call it home

Hey moon, please forget to fall down
Hey moon, don't you go down

Sugarcane in the easy mornin'
Weathervanes my one and lonely

I have more, but those are my favorite...

Bert McCracken, I've really never heard anything more heartfelt then his words. They're beautiful but very raw and honest at the same time. His lyrics have always giving me a sense of hope and comfort.
My favorite from Taste of Ink, it's like so simple but just something about gets to me.

And won't you think I'm pretty
When I'm standing top the bright lit city
And I'll take your hand and pick you up
And keep you there so you can see
As long as you're alive and care
I promise I will take you there
We'll drink and dance the night away

Shawn Harris, if Salty Eyes isn't enough to prove that he is then I don't know what does.

Please don't give up, dear walls
don't let the ceiling fall
when you belong to a song, salty eyes,
You belong.

Shrill notes begin, the grim violin
then from the silence a violence of sirens orchestrate the score
to which one more corpse is left quiet
How we become the hollows of drums
the rests between notes, the hollers that never reach throats
"friends" in quotes, they're not calling

Please don't give up, dear you
I'm but the sliver moon sliding through
when you belong to a song, salty eyes,
You belong.

Do please believe, however naive
let it drag you along by the tongue at the top of your lungs
and belong, salty eyes

Eric Victorinio(The Limousines and used to be in Strata), oh how do I love this man.
He's an amazing writer in general(seriously his book is amazing :cheese:) but his lyrics are gorgeous.

is it acceptance or forgiveness
i’m asking more of you thee days
i find myself digging deeper and deeper graves,
it’s easy to lose my way with this fucked up foggy head full of chemicals
when all i ever wanted was to be adored and lifted up.
i’m sick and getting sicker,
oh my doctors, they don’t understand
the records of my afflictions in their hands -
they say take this drug so you can make fake love and you’ll be lifted up -
take this drug so you can make fake love and you’ll be lifted up -
let’s take this drug so we can make fake love and we’ll be lifted up
all i ever wanted was to be adored and lifted up.

Max Bemis(Say Anything), he's a fucking physco but I love him. :tehe:
His lyrics are really just crazy but I can't help but be so attracted to them.
I love his sarcasm most of all.

Shit!
Nothing makes sense, so I won't think about it. I'll go with the ignorance.
Eat, sleep, fuck and flee; in four words, that's me.
I am full of indifference.

What do the old people teach us but how to die (die) die (die)
and what do those hissy fits teach you except how to cry, pussy, cry?
Yeah the futile, the futile, it outweighs the beautiful.
Futile, the futile, it outweighs the beautiful.
Futile, the futile, the futile so (the futile, the futile)

Taste. I have no taste.
I don't like these tiny portions with your artful abortions of sound,
sealed with a kiss, slathered in the sauce sarcastic.
So go choke on your irony.

And last but not least Morrissey because that guy is like the king of lyricists seriously. :cheese:

Stop me if you think you've heard this one before
I still love you
oh I still love you
only slightly less then I used to.

I'll probably be back with more. :tehe: