Amazing Lyricists

Caleb Followill.

I never ever cried when I was feeling down. I've always been scared of the sound.
Jesus don't love me, no one ever carried my load. I'm too young to feel this old.

Morrissey:
"In a river the color of lead
Immerse the baby's head
Wrap her up in the news of the world
Dump her on a doorstep, Girl
This night has opened my eyes
And I will never sleep again..."

Ian Curtis:
"I never realised the lengths I'd have to go,
All the darkest corners of a sense I didn't know.
Just for one moment, I heard somebody call,
Looked beyond the day in hand, there's nothing there at all..."

John Darnielle:
"Ships loosed from their moorings capsize and then they're gone
Sailors with no captains watch awhile and then move on
And an agent crests the shadows and I head in her direction
All roads lead toward the same blocked intersection..."

Elliott Smith:
"She shows no emotion at all
Stares into space like a dead china doll..."

Jeff Mangum:
"Anna's ghost all around
Hear her voice as it's rolling and ringing through me
Soft and sweet
How the notes all bend and reach above the trees..."

I should stop there...

It's harder to get up on the right side of the bed,
These days foot steps in snow make me feel less alone,
It's secret I'm still hoping for some kind of X-ray vision,
And I would beam into your bedroom blinds just so I knew you were alright,
Acting mature is overrated I miss the days of keying cars,
And spreading rumors on the bathroom stalls and locker room walls,
Where we forgot we looked when we were hoping no one noticed,
Praying someday we'd fit into this mess. - Danielle ate the Sandwich. I love her songs.

Unforgivably few people mentioned Bob Dylan. Shame!

My favorite lyricist is a toss up between Daniel Johnston and good 'ol Mr. Dylan.

John Henry
"Crossed out of our mindscapes
We're frozen in the time
Stretched around your face a mask
A clever disguise ever
So enticing this corroding chemical synapse
Spawn of a beast
An ethereal drain tatters on the brink
Burst into a cloud of spores
Explode into the atmosphere
Weaving our lives with chaotic design siphons
What's left inside
Suppress us
Impress us with subtle delusions
And life-like proportions
Bled into one another plagiarize
Our dreams
A rift in eternity
All encompassing within it's entirety..
Baptized in fire
Leeching the underbelly
Tired traditions
Retired a discord within the choir
So sing the praise with your noiseless voices
And pass the blame in the age of distorted reality
Refined relief in chaos unleashed we find release"

Joanna Newsom
Her lyrics in context are just amazing. Full of poetry and tales... Mmm.

Meanwhile, I will raise my own glass
to how you made me fast and expendable,
and I will drink to your excellent health, and your cruelty.
Will you have one on me?
helpless as a child,
when you held me in your arms,
and I knew that no other
could ever love me
-Have One on Me

Yoshiki
Art of Life is such an epic song. It literaly screams geniousness. I wish I could post the whole song, but it's 29 minutes long and I might be killed for it... Anyway, Yoshiki wrote most of X-Japan's songs for a reason.

Can't go back, no place to go back to.
Life is lost, flowers fall,
if it's a dream, now wake me up.
If it's for real, just kill me
...
Time goes flowing, breaking my heart.
Wanna live, can't let my heart kill myself
Still, I haven't found what I'm looking for.
Art of Life
-Art of Life

Björk
She had to be here. I love her lyrics. I fall inlove with her words.

Drink me, make me feel real
Wet your beak in the stream
Game we're playing is life
Love is a two way dream
-Bachelorette

We faint back
Into sleephood
When I wake up
The second time
In his arms
Gorgeousness
He's still inside me
-Cocoon

Whoever does the lyrics for Meg and Dia. (I Think it's Meg.)
But holyshit! Their band is seriously underrated. Not enough people listen to them.

I'm just a girl learning to act as planned
I was programmed to be Catholic but I ran
I changed my race, I changed my name
I pray to them, please, what is brave
I am loyal because I was simply raised that way

Hug me till you drug me, honey, hug me
Hug me till you suffocate me, hug me

I agree with everyone who said Conor Oberst, Robert Smith, Billy Corgan, Bob Dylan, and Samuel Beam.

I know everybody else is kind of posting lyrics from their favourite band, but I really think Regine Chassagne/Win Butler/the rest of Arcade Fire have some genuinely beautiful lyrics, so I'm going to go ahead and post some of them.

Haiti
Mes cousins jamais nes (my cousins, never born)
Hantent les nuits de Duvalier (haunt the nights of Duvalier)
Rien n'arrete nos espirits (Nothing stops our spirits)
Guns can't kill what soldiers can't see

In the forest we are hiding
Unmarked graves where flowers grow
Hear the soldiers angry yelling
In the river we will go

Tous les morts-nes forment une armee (All the stillborn children form an army)
Soon we will reclaim the earth
All the tears and all the bodies
Bring about our second birth

Wake Up
Children, wake up
Hold your mistake up
Before they turn the summer into dust

If the children don't grow up
Our bodies get bigger but our hearts get torn up
We're just a million little gods causing rainstorms
Turning every good thing to rust

In the Backseat
I like the peace
In the backseat
I don't have to drive
I don't have to speak
I can watch the countryside
And I can fall asleep

My family tree's
Losing all its leaves
Crashing towards the driver's seat
The lightning bolt made enough heat
To melt the street beneath your feet

Alice died
In the night
I've been learning to drive
My whole life

And of course, Neighbourhood 1 (Tunnels)
You change all the lead
Sleeping in my head to gold
As the day grows dim
I hear you sing a golden hymn
The song I've been trying to sing

Purify the colors, purify my mind
Purify the colors, purify my mind
And spread the ashes of the colors
Over this heart of mine!



I could post more, but I'm sure this is going to be insanely long as it is, haha.

Billie Joe Armstrong.

I don't wanna go back home.
I don't want a kiss goodnight.
Let us paralyze this moment 'til it dies.
To the end of the Earth under the valley of the stars,
There's a car crashing deep inside my heart.
Take a ride through the avenues- across the great divide.
There's a siren screaming.
"I'm alive," it cries!
Red alert is the color of your paper valentines,
intertwined on this moment passing by.
Don't pass me by!

Rickie Lee Jones.

when he pulled off the road
step in a waltz of red moon-beams
said he fit an A.P.B,
a robbery nearby

and he go for his wallet
and they thought he was going for a gun
and the cops blew Bird away

Pete Townshend:
Tattoo by The Who
Welcome to my life, tattoo
We've a long time together, me and you
I expect I'll regret you
But the skin graft man won't get you
You'll be there when I die

Naked Eye by The Who
It all looks fine to the naked eye,
But it don't really happen that way at all.

I've always thought Nick Torres of Northstar and Cassino wrote amazing lyrics. They don't make sense on their own, but the way he sings them with emotion just makes me melt.

I'm a cabaret, a champagne cafe everyone uses to celebrate.
But I'm just not ready to rot and dance and luagh to the sweetest death I ever had.
Oh my, you look awful with a mouthful of sex-like drugs
But I just can't seem to switch off this machine that turns ivory into kerosene.
Does that dress fit alright?
I wanna know why it falls off and on.
Are you okay, baby?
Hopefully Mississippi will lynch ya like it did me.

M.Shadows - (Matt Sanders)

The problem with society's been how do we teach
And if they'll believe.
We'll fight this battle for years to come
'til we all accept that we can stand on our own.
Grandfather used his hands, he worked them to the bone.
Provide his family with a happy home, alone.

Don't take your aggression out on me.
My own man is all I'm meant to be.

I love Matt's lyrics, he's probably my favourite lyricist.

Tablo

Dear TV, desensitize me.
Give me more genocide please.
The world is your aphrodisiac so you stay turned on every minute, every second I breathe.
You weaponize greed, kill me with incessant I needs.
Got me checkin' out those and checkin' out these.
Mainstream me, disinfecting my breed.
I'm looking for nirvana but you Geffenize me.
Point me to the skies till heaven's eye bleeds.
Anoint me with your lies then divinize me.
If heaven is a show, well, televise me.
But I won't lie my way in, no fakin' IDs.
I'll die standing. Try breaking my knees.
I'll do a handstand like I'm breakin'. Now freeze.
Don't act like you know me 'cause you recognize me.
You sell my record not me.
-Dear TV

Amy Lee; Hello by Evanescence;
Playground school bell rings again.
Rain clouds come to play again.

Has no one told you she's not breathing?
Hello, I am your mind giving you someone to talk to,
Hello.

If I smile and don't believe,
soon I know I'll wake from this dream.

Don't try to fix me, I'm not broken.
Hello, I am the lie, living for you so you can't hide,
don't cry.

Suddenly I know I'm not sleeping,
Hello, I'm still here. All that's left of yesterday.

My Heart is Broken by Evanescence;
I will wander 'til the end of time,
torn away from you.

I pulled away to face the pain.
I close my eyes and drift away, over the fear
that I will never find a way, to heal my soul.
And I will wander 'til the end of time
torn away from you.

My heart is broken,
sweet sleep my dark angel,
deliver us from sorrow's hold.

I can't go on living this way,
But I can't go back the way I came.
Chained to this fear that I will never find a way,
to heal my soul. And I will wander 'til the end of time,
half alive without you.

My heart is broken,
sweet sleep my dark angel, deliver us.

Change.
Open your eyes to the light, I've denied it all so long.
Oh, so long.
Say goodbye.
Goodbye.

My heart is broken,
release me, I can't hold on.

My heart is broken,
sweet sleep my dark angel, deliver us.

My heart is broken,
sweet sleep my dark angel,
deliver us from sorrow's hold.

I would say Morrissey is my favourite lyricist. He is pure satirical genius. Also, I love Danielle Ate The Sandwich's lyrics, they are really simple, but so beautiful and tell a story perfectly.

I might sound like a little preteen fangirl saying this, but Fall Out Boy has been my favorite band for seven years and it always will be. That being said, I think Pete Wentz is a very gifted lyricist, he chooses odd words that fit together, some more cryptic than others, and they always speak to me:

We're the therapists pumping through your speakers
Delivering just what you need
We're well read and poised
We're the best boys
We're the chemists who've found the formula
To make your heart swell and burst
No matter what they say, don't believe a word...

We're traveled like gypsies
Only with worse luck and far less gold
We're the kids you used to love
But then we grew old
We're the lifers here till the bitter end
Condemned from the start
Ashamed of the way
The songs and the words own the beating of our hearts...

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

The best part of "Believe" is the "Lie",
I hope you sing along and you steal a line
I need to keep you like this in my mind
So give in or just give up

Another one of my favorite lyricists is Ryan Ross of Panic! At The Disco. Dear God is he talented. I know a lot of people are very skeptical of P!ATD because of the "I CHIME IN WITH A HAVEN'T YOU PEOPLE EVER HEARD OF CLOSING THE GODDAMN DOOR" but they are such a versatile, in-depth band that gets really dedicated to different themes and genres in their music.

No matter how different their albums sound, Ross writes his prose so well it's almost like he's writing a literal story, like you'll read the lyrics and wonder, "How the hell does this fit into a song?" It's unbelievable:

It's these substandard motels on the corner of 4th and Fremont Street
Appealing only because they are just that un-appealing
Any practiced catholic would cross themselves upon entering.
The rooms have a hint of asbestos and maybe just a dash of formaldehyde,
And the habit of decomposing right before your very eyes.

Along with the people inside
What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy

Tonight tenants range from: a lawyer and a virgin
Accessorizing with a rosary tucked inside her lingerie
She's getting a job at the firm come Monday.
The Mrs. will stay with the cheating attorney
moonlighting aside, she really needs his money.

And not to mention, the constable, and his proposition, for that "virgin"
Yes, the one the lawyer met with on "strictly business"
as he said to the Mrs. Well, only hours before,
after he had left, she was fixing her face in a compact.
There was a terrible crash
Between her and the badge
She spilled her purse and her bag, and held a "purse" of a different kind.

Along with the people inside
What a wonderful caricature of intimacy
Inside, what a wonderful caricature of intimacy

There are no raindrops on roses and girls in white dresses.
It's sleeping with roaches and taking best guesses
At the shade of the sheets and before all the stains
And a few more of your least favorite things.

And here is an excerpt from P!ATD's second album, with more of a "nursery rhyme" feel:

Clouds are marching along, singing a song, just like they do.
If the clouds were singing a song, I'd sing along, wouldn't you too?
If you just knew what they could do.
Oh, if you just knew, what would they do?
And if the birds are just hollow words flying along, singing a song,
What would they do?
If they just knew what they could do.
Oh, if they just knew.

I know it's sad that I never gave a damn about the weather,
And it never gave a damn about me.
I know it's sad that I never gave a damn about the weather,
And it never gave a damn about me.
No, it never gave a damn about me.

I know it's mad, but if I go to hell
Will you come with me or just leave?
I know it's mad, but if the world were ending
Would you kiss me or just leave me?
Just leave me?

Oh my God I'm sorry this went on for much longer than I intended I'M SORRY

I'd have to say Noel Gallagher (with and without Oasis). Billie Joe Armstrong is also a lyrical genius.

From "Talk Tonight" by Oasis:

Sittin' on my own
Chewin' on a bone
A thousand million miles from home
When something hit me
Somewhere right between the eyes

Sleepin' on a plane
You know you can't complain
You took your last chance once again
I landed, stranded
Hardly even knew your name

I wanna talk tonight
Until the mornin' light
'Bout how you saved my life

And every single lyric in "Jesus of Suburbia" by Green Day still amaze me to this day.

Conor Oberst and Kevin Devine are the two that I always think of. I love Kevin's careful word choice. He always seems to find the words with exactly the right meaning and that flow perfectly together. Every song from his album "Put Your Ghost to Rest" is brilliant. I'll just cite his "You're Trailing Yourself".

You wake and cut your initials in cheap glass
To mark a space for yourself when your time here is passed
And you're drifted and done, trading danger for distance
And all those rocks that rope your neck
Are finally nameless and weightless and faceless
And you'll strip the sting from those stains
That bleed the life from your face
And your cheeks will burn red on that pure perfect day.

Conor Oberst, from Bright Eyes:
And the world's got me dizzy again
You think after 22 years I'd be used to the spin
And it only feels worse when I stay in one place
So I'm always pacing around or walking away
I keep drinking the ink from my pen
And I'm balancing history books up on my head
But it all boils down to one quotable phrase
If you love something, give it away
- Landlocked Blues

Jewel:
But don't get me wrong
I don't want a friend
Just need you here to help me satsify this childish sin
This insatiable desire, this hunger so deep
You will melt on my tongue
And I will put you to sleep
And I will press you like petals
Til you're fragile and bent
- Nicotine Love

The Notorious B.I.G.:
Number four: know you heard this before
Never get high on your own supply
Number five: never sell no crack where you rest at
I don't care if they want a ounce, tell 'em bounce
Number six: that god damn credit, dead it
You think a crackhead payin' you back, shit forget it
Seven: this rule is so underrated
Keep your family and business completely seperated
Money and blood don't mix like two dicks and no bitch
Find yourself in serious shit

Johnny Whitney, from The Blood Brothers:
When I awoke I lay tied to a foreign bed.
Inside a house sown out of human flesh.
A palace of skin graft architecture.
Oh desolation! I can't stand to fuck these walls.
Desolation! I can't stand to suck these halls.
But how do I sleep when the skin I stroke
underneath the sheets is mannequin plastique?
And I wonder where the girl who slept beside me has gone.
When the faces in the photos stare with glass eyed mystique
Tick, tick, tick, tock I watch the clock for tenderness.
- Time for Tenderness

Jordan Dreyer, from La Dispute:
I held your name inside my heart but it got buried in my fear
It tore the wiring of my brain; I did my best to keep it clear
So dear, no matter how we part, I hold you sweetly in my head
and if I do not miss a part of you, a part of me is dead
If I can't love you as a lover, I will love you as a friend
and I will lay a bed before you, keep you safe until the end
- Andria