10 Best Lyricists of All Time
In popular music, lyrics are less important than the music. Often the words of popular songs float past innocuously. Stringing together meaningless words that sound good together can be an effective strategy – ask Jon Anderson or A.C. Newman. Bad lyrics can be a deal-breaker; I enjoy Flea’s bass playing but I can’t get past Anthony Kiedis’ lack of subtlety.
Some lyricists are genuinely talented writers. Here are ten lyricists from the rock era who, in my opinion, write legitimately good lyrics. Also-rans include Warren Zevon, Paddy McAloon, Chuck D., Paul Simon, and Bruce Springsteen.
Nick Cave
Australian musician Nick Cave writes on a typewriter. He’s published two novels – And the Ass Saw the Angel and The Death of Bunny Munro – but his literary streak carries over to his music. His words are often filled with Old Testament Biblical imagery and darkness.
And the mercy seat is waiting
Nick Cave
And I think my head is burning
And in a way I’m yearning
To be done with all this measuring of truth
An eye for an eye
A tooth for a tooth
And anyway I told the truth
And I’m not afraid to die
Leonard Cohen
Cohen only switched to a musical career at the age of 33, after disillusionment at his lack of financial success as a writer. His literary abilities translated over to his songwriting, fuelling acclaimed records like The Songs of Leonard Cohen and Songs of Love and Hate.
Ring the bells that still can ring
Anthem
Forget your perfect offering
There is a crack in everything
That’s how the light gets in
Bob Dylan
Early rock’n’roll lyrics were often simplistic, about subjects like puppy love and cars. Robert Zimmerman came from folk and initially wrote protest songs. When he switched to rock and roll, he was influenced by writers like Arthur Rimbaud and Allen Ginsberg, and his surreal imagery expanded the vocabulary of rock and roll. In 2016 Dylan won a Nobel Prize in Literature.
With your mercury mouth in the missionary times,
Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands
And your eyes like smoke and your prayers like rhymes,
And your silver cross, and your voice like chimes,
Oh, do they think could bury you?
Craig Finn
The Hold Steady play bar-band rock, reminiscent of Springsteen and The Replacements, but front-man Craig Finn is clearly indebted to hip-hop. His lyrics are full of quickfire cultural references and narratives that cross over between albums, of Catholic guilt and youthful hedonism in the twin cities.
Lost in fog and love and faithless fear
Citrus
I’ve had kisses that make Judas seem sincere.
Joni Mitchell
Joni Mitchell‘s music is sophisticated, particularly in her peak years between 1971 and 1976. Her accompanying lyrics are introspective and elegant. Coincidentally, the song quoted below (‘A Case of You’) is rumoured to be about another writer on this list, Leonard Cohen.
Oh, you are in my blood like holy wine
A Case of You
You taste so bitter
And so sweet, oh
I could drink a case of you darling, and I would
Still be on my feet
Nas
New York rapper Nasir Jones emerged with 1994’s Illmatic, a contender for the best debut album of all time. Writer William Jelani Cobb later referred to Nas as the “poetic sage of the Queensbridge projects”.
My window faces shootouts, drug overdoses.
Memory Lane (Sittin’ in da Park)
Live amongst no roses, only the drama, for real.
A nickel-plate is my fate, my medicine is the ganja.
Here’s my basis my razor embraces, many faces.
Your telephone-blown, Black, stitches or fat shoelaces
Randy Newman
Randy Newman’s satirical streak puts him among rock music’s preeminent lyrics. He had a hit satirising discrimination, focusing on short people. His songs have covered a variety of unsavoury subjects; an advertising jingle for a slave ship, a conman convincing parents to let their large son join the circus, and more recently, a skewering of Russian leader Vladimir Putin.
Asia’s crowded
Political Science
And Europe’s too old
Africa’s far too hot
And Canada’s too cold
And South America stole our name
Let’s drop the big one
There’ll be no one left to blame us
Lou Reed
Like Bob Dylan, Reed was fascinated by literature. His lyrics with The Velvet Underground bought seediness into rock and roll; key track ‘Venus in Furs’ was based on a novella by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch. Reed later released a entire solo album, The Raven, based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe.
Shiny, shiny, shiny boots of leather
Venus In Furs
Whiplash girl child in the dark
Comes in bells, your servant, don’t forsake him
Strike, dear mistress, and cure his heart
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch‘s Americana is economical and unassuming, but she’s a talented wordsmith. She’s able to recreate the atmosphere of a haunted, early 20th century Appalachia with her words, and she’s just as eloquent writing about herself.
I met a lovesick daughter of the San Joaquin.
Wrecking Ball
She showed me colors I’d never seen
And drank the bottom out of my canteen
Then left me in the fall
Like a wrecking ball.
Paul Westerberg
The Replacements were a shambolic and drunken outfit, but their front-man had the heart of a sensitive poet. Westerberg clearly enjoys playing with words, as titles like ‘What a Day (For a Night)’ and ‘Best Thing That Never Happened’ demonstrate. I don’t know what’s in the water in Minnesota, but Westerberg is the state’s third entry in this list.
Well you wish upon a star that turns into a plane
Valentine
And I guess that’s right on par
Who’s left to blame?
Did I leave out your favourite lyricist? Any suggestions?
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Graham Fyfe is fascinated by pop music, and he may be the only blogger in the world to cover Neil Diamond and Ariana Grande.
We agree on a couple of these. I listed Lennon/McCartney as one. You always knew who the primary songwriter was but they typically always contributed at least something to each other’s songs. Honorable mention – Smokey Robinson, Laura Nyro
Bob Dylan
Paul Simon
Lennon/McCartney
Bruce Springsteen
Joni Mitchell
Bernie Taupin
Billy Joel
Neil Young
Chuck Berry
Randy Newman
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Nyro and Berry are good calls.
I would like to quibble wwith a couple of your choices though. I find McCartney problematic when he doesn’t have Lennon to rein him in:
Want a horse, I want a sheep
I want to get me a good night’s sleep
Taupin comes up with some really interesting imagery, but also some clunkers:
Someone’s always playing corporation games
Who cares they’re always changing corporation names
I like Joel a lot, but wouldn’t let him anywhere near a list of greatest lyricists. In particular, I hate this couplet from early song ‘You’re My Home’:
“You’re my castle, you’re my cabin
And my instant pleasure dome”
Instant? Doesn’t sound great for Mrs Joel.
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Sure, find the worst possible lyrics of each one, then call them out. Dylan has some crap too.
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Like Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle all dressed in green
Wiggle, wiggle, wiggle till the moon is blue
Wiggle till the moon sees you
I guess it was unfair to call out McCartney’s solo stuff when you specified Lennon and McCartney together. And Taupin does have some interesting words, although for me he’s very all over the place. I do struggle with Joel thought- he writes music before lyrics, and lyrics often feel secondary for him.
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A song I love ,”Subterranean Homesick Blues” by Dylan. These lyrics are meaningless
“Don’t want to be a bum
You better chew gum
The pump don’t work
‘Cause the vandals took the handles
I can agree on much of Paul’s solo stuff. But I can’t separate Lennon/McCartney in Beatles.
“For No One” (largely, if not entirely, written by McCartney)
our day breaks, your mind aches
You find that all the words of kindness linger on
When she no longer needs you
She wakes up, she makes up
She takes her time and doesn’t feel she has to hurry
She no longer needs you
And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!
You want her, you need her
And yet you don’t believe her when she says her love is dead
You think she needs you
And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!
You stay home, she goes out
She says that long ago she knew someone but now he’s gone
She doesn’t need him
Your day breaks, your mind aches
There will be times when all the things she said will fill your head
You won’t forget her
And in her eyes you see nothing
No sign of love behind the tears
Cried for no one
A love that should have lasted years!
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I feel like McCartney’s smart guy who’s well capable of writing good lyrics, but his ability largely disappeared under a large, sweet smelling cloud of smoke in the early 1970s.
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Alas, to a large extent, so did Lennon’s. I don’t believe either of them separately were as good as they were together. But over time I have found Paul’s stuff more listenable. And yes, I am eliminating crap like “Silly Love Songs.”
I also don’t put Billy Joel in the category of Mitchell or Dylan. But some of his songs cut deep like “Innocent Man” or “Matter of Trust.”
Oh, I just remembered somebody, dammit. Elvis Costello. How could I forget? Take Joel off and put him on and make Joel an also-ran.
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I meant to mention Costello on the list at the top actually – I speak double Dutch to a real double duchess.
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He’s in my Top Ten and I think you would concede that he could pretty easily be in yours.
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Absolutely.
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Good review! It is difficult to find someone who combines cool music with great lyrics. When The Byrds took Dylan’s songs in the he 60s, it was magic.
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Often people are better at one than the other. A lot of people on this list aren’t great vocalists.
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Great choices! I would add Tom Waits to the list
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Tom Waits is a good call for sure.
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Excellent mix – Cohen would be up there for me too (Gord Downie & Stephen Malkmus would probably be my #1 & #2).
I’ve only heard the one Gillian Welch album so far but I was really impressed by it!
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I think you forgot Robbie Robertson, Neil Young, and Neil Peart….
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I was pleased you had Leonard & Joni, CanCon was well represented!
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I would have to have the 3 “S’s” Springsteen, Simon,and Smokey. I cannot disagree with who you have though. I know of most of them but one.
I saw the earlier comments. Lennon and McCartney…if you take their songs from Rubber Soul on… they contend. Yes you have Maxwell and a few bad ones… but you also have I Am The Walrus, Happiness is a Warm Gun and Fool On The Hill.
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I never really think about Smokey as a lyricist – I only know a few radio songs though.
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His words were way more simple than the others but they had a way of fitting together.
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Way too many for me to narrow it down. I do like some of your choices. Welch/Westerberg string some good ones together. Randy Newman has so many that i dig. “Big nasty redhead at my side”. Don’t forget ‘Be Bop a Lula’ by Gene Vincent. I’ll stop now.
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Are you a Nick Cave fan? I figured you’d enjoy him.
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Oh yeah, big-time. I just didnt mention him in my comment. He is a fave wordsmith for sure. I was just listening to ‘Nature Boy’ the other day and had my Gal listen to this lyric. Put a smile on her face.”You took me back to your place and dressed me up in your deep sea divers-suit”. I wish I wrote that.
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I think I said to you wile ago that i wasnt into lyrics like I used to be. I guess I lied.
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Oooft. That’s a fine list… best of all time, eh? For me, maybe a few changes, but only to fit in Joe Henry (you knew that was coming, right?), Tom Waits, Johnny Cash, Richard Buckner, and Greg Dulli… Mark Lanegan, Neko Case… too tough to pick 10.
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I saw Neko Case this week – playing with A.C. Newman etc. Do you like the new Greg Dulli?
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Awesome! New Pornographers gig, aye? New Dulli album is quite something… I’ve listened to it a fair few times (latest earlier today, actually). It’s a remarkable album. Have you listened to it?
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Great list. Can’t argue with some of your choices. I too, believe John Lennon and Paul McCartney deserve to be considered the very best. What about Don Henley and Glen Frey? They gave us some real gems in songs during the 70s, particularly Hotel California and its cryptic undertones. Also love Lyin Eyes. I’m also a big fan of Billie Joe Armstrong’s songwriting. Moreover, Dolly Parton doesn’t get enough love. Also a fan of Johnny Cash and Van Morrison’s songwriting chops.
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With both of those writing duos, I’d probably zero in on one member – Henley’s a very good lyricist IMO. For some reason I love that line in ‘Boys of Summer’ – “Out on the road today, I saw a deadhead sticker on a cadillac,
A little voice inside my head said: “Don’t look back, you can never look back.””
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Warren Zevon would be a great addition to the list. His unique style, voice and ability as a lyricist puts him up there with the greats
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Zevon was unlucky to miss out – I should write a part two sometime, and Zevon would be a shoo-in for that.
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Oh I’d love to see him included if you do a part two. Great list though, brilliant read
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Lots of people are reading and commenting, so a sequel makes sense.
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Yeah it was a great list! Really enjoyed reading can’t wait for a sequel
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Fun list. But any vest lyricist lust that excludes Paul Simon and Chuck Berry is incomplete IMO. A good case could also be made for Springsteen, Roger Waters, Pete Townsend, & Ray Davies too. Love Lou, Paul, & Gillian but maybe a bit further down this particular poll.
I remember seeing Lou on a best guitarist list and I realized that its probably best for me to ignore all lists…ha!
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IMO, there’s a Mt Rushmore of rock lyricists – Cohen, Newman, Dylan, and Cave. Then there’s basically a pool of worthy contenders, any of whom are good choices. I should do a part 2 sometime with 10 more choices.
Lou on a best guitarist list is pretty outlandish….
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The worst kind of lyrics are the kind that are meant to have meaning, or meant to tell us something important, or meant to tell us something about the person writing and singing them. In other words, the kind that are meant to be taken seriously. Music is not literature or sociology, or poetry or philosophy. More often than not music is ruined by lyrics. The best kind of lyrics are nonsense style lyrics. The kind that at first appear to be saying something but on closer examination are really just a bunch of unrelated phrases and thoughts strung together. These are the best kind because you have to let the music itself create the meaning. Which is the way it’s supposed to be anyway.
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IMO the worst kind of lyrics is where the message takes priority over the music – examples for me include overtly political music (like Rage Against The Machine) or religious music.
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Exactly. Only a very few people are able to come up with both the lyrics and the music to support that kind of songwriting. Most people who attempt it come up with neither lyrics or music that are good enough.
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I think the approach of trying to write impressionist poetry like Nick Drake generally works well. It’s quite genre dependent too, IMO. What works in metal doesn’t work in pop.
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And of course, the only real valuable function
of lyrics is to give you something to sing so you don’t have to hum along to the music. Because it’s more fun to sing than to hum.
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