Amazing Lyricists

Conor Oberst, of Bright Eyes fame.

If you hate the taste of wine
Why do you drink it 'til you're blind?
And if you swear that there's no truth and who cares
How come you say it like you're right?
Why are you scared to dream of god
When it's salvation that you want?
You see stars that clear have been dead for years
But the idea just lives on.
- We are Nowhere and It's Now

There was a time when my world was filled with darkness.
Then I stopped dreaming now i'm supposed to fill it up with something.
In your eyes I see the eyes of somebody I knew before, long ago.
But I'm still trying to make my mind up
Am I free or am I tied up?

I change shapes just to hide in this place but I'm still, I'm still an animal.
Nobody knows it but me when I slip.
Yeah I slip, I'm still an animal.

Miike Snow - Animal

John Vernon of Bon Iver is an amazing lyricist. But I really love his song Silent Signs from his other band Deyarmond Edison.

Non given tuesday,
and only your star studded birthday suit remains
long and tame
the end of sunday
a gain thats lost like ones head now you're wishin
dont be done

and the pain is just a comfort gone from missing
like the green leaving when the wind starts hissing

desire direction
and once a little vital laugh sings introspection
redefined
buried in brotherhood
my body's built much braver cause i once befriended
but gone from me know

and the rivets in my past continue moving me
like the bellows in bag pipes still blowing melody

silent signs
i warm my cold november hands under your thighs
stop my shiver
honey thats me you hear roarin in your river
like how you hold me deep inside when currents quiver
im reading your heart

I know it's such a teenage cliché, but Pete Wentz' lyrics are amazing.

I've already given up on myself twice
(But the) third time is the charm,
Third time is the charm
Threw caution to the wind,
But I've got a lousy arm

And VersaEmerge's lyrics can be just haunting too. I think their lyrics are both Blake and Sierra, but I'm not sure (Isn't my good side worth rescuing, is my favourite Versa lyric). And yeah yeah, I'm going to say Ryan Ross too (This is the scent of dead skin on a linoleum floor / This is the scent of quarantine wings in a hospital).

But my favourite lyrics of all time come from the We Are Scientists song After Hours. I'm not even a fan, but I just am in love with that song so much, ugh. (This night is winding down but time means nothing)

Alex Turner of Arctic Monkeys is famous for his old lyrics about bars, girls, clubs and other aspects of party life. I do enjoy all of those lyrics since they are very clever and funny, but everyone disregards the lyrics off Humbug. This album is famous for being slow and ‘boring’ and completely different from what Arctic Monkeys are supposed to be all about. I completely disagree, and The Jeweller’s Hands is possibly my favourite song ever. The main chorus lyrics are in my signature, but here are some others:

Fiendish wonder in a carnival's wake,
Old caresses once again irritate,
Tread softly stranger,
Move over toward the danger that you seek.

And also:

In the moonlight they're more thrilling,
Those things that he knows,
As he leads you through the grinning, bubble blowers in the snow,
Watching his exit, is like falling off the ferry in the night.

I hope it's worth it
Here on the highway, yeah
I know you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you
So tell everybody
The ones who walk beside me, yeah
I hope you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you tonight

I hope it's worth it
What's left behind me, yeah
I know you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you
So tell everybody
The ones who walk beside me, yeah
I know you'll find your own way
When I'm not with you tonight...

Fiction-Matt Sanders (M.Shadows) and James Sullivan (The Rev)<3

[removed]

Merrill Garbus

At the Salvation army making us all stand in a line
While mommy and daddy make up and try to make up their minds
Oh the shame I felt when those histories mention my name
If only I could forget, but memory's my favorite thing

We cannot have it
Well, what am I supposed to say to those others
'So sorry, but you only took half a chance
Now it's over and they're walkin' all over you'

Vanessa Carlton, hands down. Everyone can't see past 'A Thousand Miles' but she is so, so much more than that. And she's done a lot more than that. These lyrics are from her song 'London'.

You've got a knife-throwing kind of love
But your silence cuts the deepest
And I know I've made a mess of things
And I'm sorry for all that
Wish we could get the time back

And another verse....

Now I'm staring at the sun
As if there's a riddle I'm not in on
'Cause the wolves howl to the Moon
And she never answers back
No, she never answers back

Axl Rose Especially off of Chinese Democracy

I can’t deny
I just can’t let it die
Cause her heart’s just like mine
And she holds her pain inside
So if you ask me why
She wouldn’t say goodbye
I know somewhere inside
There is a special light
Still shining bright
And even on the darkest night
She can’t deny
So if she’s somewhere near me
I hope to God she hears me
There’s no one else could ever make me feel
I’m so alive
I hoped she’d never leave me
Please God you must believe me
I’ve searched the universe and found myself
Within’ her eyes

Saul Hudson:

Axl Rose Especially off of Chinese Democracy

I can’t deny
I just can’t let it die
Cause her heart’s just like mine
And she holds her pain inside
So if you ask me why
She wouldn’t say goodbye
I know somewhere inside
There is a special light
Still shining bright
And even on the darkest night
She can’t deny
So if she’s somewhere near me
I hope to God she hears me
There’s no one else could ever make me feel
I’m so alive
I hoped she’d never leave me
Please God you must believe me
I’ve searched the universe and found myself
Within’ her eyes

AMEN!

--x

Woody Guthrie! He is (and should always be) one of the biggest legends in music. Ever.
Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen. - Pretty Boy Floyd

--x

Jagger/Richards, of course.
Well it just goes to show
Things are not what they seem
Please, sister morphine, turn my nightmares into dreams
Oh, can't you see Im fading fast?
And that this shot will be my last - Sister Morphine

--x

Eric Clapton, oh my God.
I tried to love or years upon years
You refuse to take me for real
It's time you saw what I want you to see
I'd still love you if you'd just love me - Promises

--x

Hall/Oates as a song writing team.
Think I'll spend eternity in the city
let the carbon and monoxide choke my thoughts away
and pretty bodies help dissolve the memories
but they can never be what she was to me - She's Gone

--x

Springsteen! Forever.
You can hide `neath your covers
And study your pain
Make crosses from your lovers
Throw roses in the rain
Waste your summer praying in vain
For a savior to rise from these streets - Thunder Road

--x

And, above all, Dylan and Leonard Cohen. But, that's obvious.

Blake Shelton and Miranda Lambert.
Just for "Over You", and because it made me cry. So hard. As soon as the words started.

Weather man said it’s gonna snow
By now I should be used to the cold
Mid-February shouldn’t be so scary
It was only December
I still remember the presents, the tree, you and me

But you went away
How dare you?
I miss you
They say I’ll be OK
But I’m not going to ever get over you

"I only see myself reflected in your eyes,
So all that I believe I am, essentially are lies.
And everything I've hoped to be,
Or ever thought I was.
Died with your belief in me,
So who the hell am I?
I don't know if I am real without you,
What is left of me without you?
I don't know what's real without you.
How can I exist without you?"
- - - - Christopher Hall {Stabbing Westward/The Dreaming}

"I still recall the taste of your tears,
Echoing your voice just like the ringing in my ears,
My favorite dreams of you still wash ashore.
Scraping through my head till I don't wanna sleep anymore.
You make this all go away,
You make this all go away,
I'm down to just one thing,
And I'm starting to scare myself.
You make this all go away,
You make this all go away,
I just want something,
I just want something I can never have.."
- - - - Trent Reznor {Nine Inch Nails}

Steven Battelle from LostAlone. The man is an absolute genius, honestly. It's a real shame nobody knows the band, because they're brilliant.

Cut your eyes out
And starve your thoughts of all this motion
Under siege of doubt
Walk your fears into the ocean
This is all I need to be one step closer to lunacy
Sacrifical scribe
A war of the words
A dark psychosis
Black and blue bruised sky
If I'm the clown then you're the circus
This is all I need to be when the devil pleads lunacy

I'd really have to say that my amazing lyricist is Owl City. He is a poetry charmer. I love listening to his metaphors and alliterations. I can close my eyes and picture this whole other world while he is singing. I can't pick one song or lyric out because everything he sings or says is amazing. : )

Do you know what's worth fighting for
when it's not worth dying for?
Does it take your breath away
and you feel yourself suffocating?

-21 Guns, Green Day

Billie Joe Armstrong from Green Day writes incredible lyrics.
Not even exaggerating.

Hayley Williams just keeps getting better and better with writing.

Dan "Soupy" Campbell (not sure what to call him by, haha) writes incredibly well, too. "Growing up means watching my heroes turn human in front of me." Hits me right where it hurts, man.

And I think I've probably said this before, but Brian Fallon is so good at storytelling in music.

Brian Sella of The Front Bottoms is frickin' awesome too.

I'll give Ville Valo credit as a writer of romantic lyrics, though George Harrison totally rules that with "Something," which is the perfect love song.

Waters and Gilmour (Pink Floyd): Just listen to "Wish You Were Here." My favorite lines are "Did you exchange a walk-on part in the war for a lead role in a cage?" and "We're just two lost souls swimming in a fish bowl, year after year/Running over the same old ground/What have we found?/The same old fears."

Davey Havok (AFI):

I swoon upon my knees come crashing,
Will you bury me?
Today, this small favor I'm asking
Hold me, you may drop me tomorrow

For a change, I'll refrain,
From hiding all of me from you.
(Here's my lullaby.)
Pray for rain, lose your name.
And watch all your dreams fall through. ~ "The Interview"

Jacob Bunton (Lynam/Adler)

Don't waste your time on me, can't you see?
I'll only lie, just to make you believe in me.
Does it make you sad to know your heart, you can't trust.
Don't make it so bad, I won't give up on us. ~ "Just Say Anything"

Myles Kennedy (Alter Bridge)

I remember summer days
We were young and unafraid
With innocence we'd glide beneath the stars

It seems so long ago
Beyond the life that I now know
Before the years would have their way and break my heart. ~ "Ghost of Days Gone By"

Whoever writes songs for Hands Like Houses. Just.

I'm far too lazy to find and post any lyrics, especially for all of these, but here's the list of lyricists, at least:

Richey Edwards! (Manic Street Preachers)
Nicky Wire (Manic Street Preachers)
Billy Corgan (Smashing Pumpkins)
Billie Joe Armstrong (Green Day)
Johnny Whitney (Blood Brothers)
Justin Sane (Anti Flag)
Marilyn Manson
Joe Strummer (The Clash)
Mick Jones (The Clash)
Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue)
Johnny Rotten (Sex Pistols)
Dee Dee Ramone (The Ramones)

I realize some of these write somewhat simplistic lyrics, but sometimes you don't need to be super wordy or poetic to get your message across well and/or give the audience something they can relate to.