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| Aids' Top 50 Lyricists
When I first started listening to music, I almost never cared about lyrics.
Now, they are what attaches me to (most of) my favourite music. I owe
so many lyricists thanks for their words' contributions to my life. These are
my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring
omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life. | | 50 |  | Deerhunter
Halcyon Digest
I usually enjoy Deerhunter more because of their music, but Bradford Cox writes
some trippy, introspective lyrics sometimes, like these on Helicopter -- "Oh these
drugs they play on me. These terrible ways, they don't pay like they used to pay. I
used to make it day to day. No one cares for me, I keep no company. I have
minimal needs, and now they are through with me, now they are through with me.
Now they are through with me...." | | 49 |  | TV on the Radio
Dear Science
Tunde Adebirupe's lyrics rarely make much sense, but I mean that in the best
possible way. Dancing Choose -- "He's a what? He's a what? He's a newspaper
man and he gets his best ideas from a newspaper stand. From his boots to his
pants, to his comments and his rants, he knows that any little article will do.
Though he expresses some confusion about his part in the plan, and he can't
understand that he's not in command, the decision's underwritten by the cash in his
hand, bought a sweater for his weimariner too." | | 48 |  | Fugazi
13 Songs
Waiting Room is one of the greatest songs ever written, and Ian MacKaye gets a
spot on this list for just that -- "...and I won't make the same mistakes because I
know how much time that wastes. And function, function is the key inside the
waiting room. I don't want the news (I cannot use it). I don't want the news (I
won't live by it). Sitting outside of town, everybody's always down (tell me why).
Because they can't get up (ah come on, get up), up from the waiting room. Sitting
in the waiting room, sitting in the waiting room..." | | 47 | | Rage Against the Machine
Rage Against the Machne
Zach de la Rocha (and Tom Morello) are two switched-on individuals, Know Your
Enemy gets me fired up every time -- "Born with insight and a raised fist, a witness
to the slit wrist. We move into '92, still in a room without a view. Ya got to know,
ya got to know, that's when I say "go, go go." Amp up and amplify, defy. I'm a
brother with a furious mind, action must be taken. We don't need the key, we'll
break in. Something must be done about vengeance, a badge, and a gun. Cause I'll
rip the mike, rip the stage, rip the system -- I was born to rage against em. First
in your face, in the place, and I'll drop the style clearly. Know your enemy!" | | 46 |  | The Tallest Man on Earth
The Wild Hunt
Kristian Matsson weaves tales in English pretty good for a Swede, if you ask me.
Take this example, from The Wild Hunt's title track -- "And old machine's abandoned by the ancient racists and I hear them hiummin down below the hollow
earth. Oh hell I guess I know no while I will go under to, but just for now I'll let the
spring and storm return. I left my heart to the wild hunt a-comin. I live until the
fall. And I plan to be forgotten when I'm gone, yes I'll be leavin in the fall." | | 45 |  | Neil Young
Harvest Moon
Canada rules! I know he didn't write this song on his own but it's my favourite
Young tune so leave me be! Helpless -- "There is a town in north Ontario, with
dream comfort memory to spare. And in my mind, I still need a place to go, all my
changes were there. Blue blue windows behind the stars, yellow moon on the rise.
Big birds flying across the sky, throwing shadows on our eyes leaves us, helpless
helpless helpless helpless...." | | 44 |  | Arcade Fire
The Suburbs
Win Butler may be greasy as hell, but he writes good music, especially Srawl II
(Mountains Beyond Mountains) -- "They heard me singing and they told me to stop,
quite these pretentious things, and just punch the clock. These days my life I feel
has no purpose, but late at night the feelings swim to the surface Cause on the
surface the city lights shine. They're calling at me, "Come and find your kind."
Sometimes I wonder if the world's so small that we can never get away from the
sprawl." | | 43 |  | Kendrick Lamar
good kid, m.A.A.d city
dis nigga be on some otha shit this time tho fo real. Sing About Me, I'm Dying of
Thirst -- "And I love you cause you love my brother like you did. Just promise me
you'll tell this story when you make it big, and if I die before your album drops I
hope you will sing about me. When the lights shut off and its my turn to settle
down, my main concern -- promise that you will sing about me, promise that you
will sing about me." | | 42 |  | Foo Fighters
The Colour and the Shape
The Foo Fighters aren't particularly known for their touching lyrics, but every once
in a while, Dave Grohl hits the nail on the head. I can think of no better example of
this than in Everlong -- "Breath out so I can breath you in, hold you in. And now I
know you've always been out of your head, out of my head I sang. And I wonder,
when I sing along with you, if everything could ever feel this real forever, if
anything could ever be this good again. The only thing I'll ever ask of you: you've
got to promise to not to stop when I say when. She sang..." | | 41 |  | Radiohead
Kid A
Thom Yorke's lyrics are not a huge part of why I love Radiohead so much, but every
once in a while, they're simplicity overpowers me, as with How to Disappear Completely (by far my favourite song of theirs) -- "In a little while I'll be gone. The
moment's already passed, yeah it's gone. I'm not here, this isn't happening. I'm not
here, I'm not here." | | 40 |  | Neutral Milk Hotel
In the Aeroplane Over the Sea
I'd let Jeff Magnum's semen stain my mountain tops anyday. from the title track --
"What a beautiful face I have found in this place that is circling all round the sun.
And one day when we meet on a cloud, I'll be laughing out loud, I'll be laughing with
everyone I see. Can't believe how strange it is to be anything at all." | | 39 |  | Hop Along
Get Disowned
I think I like Hop Along, Queen Anslies a bit better at this point, but it's all the work
of Frances Quinlan, so it's all good. Kids on the Boardwalk, a 2012 cut, has some
great lyrics -- "I've been ignoring the cost. Is this love, is this love that I've lsot?
Worst of all, ain't nothing big, ain't nothing big about this at all. Honey I don't want
to be ok with never seeing you again. You kids are on the boardwalk come back in
to the dry, choked up land. I want truth in beauty, I want to love someone simply.
I want truth in beauty, I want o love something without it having to need me." | | 38 |  | Propagandhi
Supporting Caste
I'm not sure who is responsible for the lyrics in Progagandhi (I think there are at
least three of them that have contributed over the years) but I love them. This
example is from Potemkin City Limits (the track, not the album) -- "Francis shut his
eyes and felt the hand of the humanity brush over him but then his killers back
turned for a moment. A blinding ray of light spread across the floor. In a crimson
pool he saw his own reflection, as he bolted for the door. Not just some fractured
fairy tale, although I wish that that were true. This is a fable far too real, that we
somehow still cling to." | | 37 |  | Bon Iver
For Emma, Forever Ago
Justin Vernon gets included for one album alone. The Wolves (Act I and II), so
powerful -- "and the story's all over you. In the morning I'll call you. Can't you find
a clue when your eyes are all painted Sinatra blue. What might have been lost.....
What might have been lost...... Don't bother me." | | 36 |  | Alexisonfire
Watch Out!
Alexisonfire are one of the only bands I know of that can be as playful as they are
most of the time, yet still retain the composure to talk about issues like rape, as in
That Girl Possessed -- "Who knew her legacy would destroy her future? You had
such promise before your rape. Born innocent, but something had to give.
Exploitation, erotica, and horror, even a spread in Oui magazine. And then your
habit of getting caught, what a frightful night. Born innocent, but something had
to give. We won't forget that girl possessed." | | 35 |  | The Thermals
The Body, The Blood, The Machine
Good ol' Hutch, Here's Your Future is so damn good -- "God reached his hand down
from the sky. God asked Noah if he wanted to die, he said, "No Sir, oh, no Sir!" God
said, "Here's your future, it's gonna rain.." So we're packing our things, we're
building a boat. We're gonna create the new master race cause we're so pure, oh
Lord we're so pure! So here's your future. God told his son, "It's time to come
home. I promise you won't have to die all alone. I need you to pay for the sins I
create." Son siad, "I will, but Dad, I'm afriad!" So here's your future..." | | 34 |  | Frightened Rabbit
The Midnight Organ Fight
Scott Hutchison's sexy Scottish voice is second only to his magnificent lyrics, like
this one from Good Arms vs. Bad Arms -- "...and leave the rest at arm's length.
Just roll over boy and don't make me do this. Leave the rest at arm's length, I am
armed to the teeth and I'm heavy set. Leave the rest at arm's length, I'm not
ready to see you this happy. And leave the rest at arm's length, I'm still in love you
I just can't admit it yet." | | 33 |  | Elton John
Goodbye Yellow Brick Road
The dads of sputnik will agree with me on this one! From Candle in the Wind, one
of the most beautiful eulogies every written -- "Goodbye Norma Jean. Though I
never knew you at all, you had the grace to hold yourself while those around you
crawled. Goodbye Norma Jean, from the young man in the 22nd row who sees you
as something more than sexual, more than just our Marilyn Monroe." | | 32 |  | Modest Mouse
The Moon & Antarctica
Isaac Brock's words are scathingly clever, like here in 3rd Planet -- "Everything that
keeps me together is falling apart, and I've got this thing that I consider my only
art of fucking people over. My boss just quite the job, says he's goin to find blind
spots and he'll do it... The 3rd planet is sure that they're being watched by an eye
in the sky that can't be stopped, and when you get to the promise land, you get to
shake that eye's hand." | | 31 |  | Japandroids
Post-Nothing
Brian King and David Prowse write simple songs about being young and not giving a
fuck. Success. Young Hearts Spark Fire -- "We finished our own lives, now we
finished off the wine. Now we're used to staying up all night. Two hearts beating,
oh yeah, oh yeah. Well you can keep tomorrow, after tonight we're not gonna
need it. Be there, be down, background but too drunk to feel it. Ohhhh we used
to dream, now we worry about dying. I don't wanna worry about dying, I just
wanna worry about sunshine girls." | | 30 |  | Nick Drake
Pink Moon
Legend, that is all. Lyrics from Harvest Breed -- "Falling fast and falling free you
look to find a friend. Falling fast and falling free, this could just be the end. Falling
fast you stoop to touch and kiss the flowers that bend, and you're ready now for
the harvest breed." | | 29 |  | Off Minor
The Heat Death of the Universe
Jamie Behar is the greatest screamo vocalist, hands down. Take this short lyric
from their opus' title track -- "Good things go for those who wait too long to say,
but who's to say that this is the end? I am. This time we have permanence. This
time we are separated by an infinite distance." | | 28 |  | The Rural Alberta Advantage
Departing
I just recently saw these guys live, and I got a chance to tell Nils Edenloff how
much his lyrics meant to me, especially on Departing. The track Coldest Days is
too much for me to handle most of the time -- "Our love is locked in an empty
home, in a creak chest pumping through an empty stone. And I would never be the
one to hold your creaky chest holding an empty stone. Our love was holding on
though the frostbitten dawn. I never know what to start to pick up and change. I
held you in the coldest days, oh I held you in the coldest ways. I never knew what
to start to pick up and change..." | | 27 |  | Say Anything
...Is a Real Boy
...Is a Real Boy contains the sort of lyrics that, well, that Max Bemis wishes he
could still write. Like this glorious piece of simplistic poetry from Yellow Cat (Slash)
Red Cat -- "I watch my yellow cat invade my red cat in the yard. The fline war had
raged for years, so I assume it'd be to hard for me to drive my foot between them;
I would never risk the scratch, just to prove to one or both of them a cat is just a
cat. Again I watching my cousin Greg watch MTV inside his home. He makes fun
of the hip-hop videos from the couch he rides alone. Snug in the cushion of his
cackling, he forgets his looming doubts. He has relied on this for years, you will not
yank the carpet out." | | 26 |  | Pink Floyd
Meddle
Rogers Waters may have been asshole but we have him to thank for developing
Pink Floyd into one of the best bands that ever existed. This one-liner from Echoes
always got to me in some weird, surrealistic hippie kind of way -- "Strangers
passing in the street, by chance two passing glances meet. I am you and what I
see is me." | | 25 |  | Frank Turner
Love, Ire & Song
He would be way higher on this list if the rest of his work stacked up to Love, Ire &
Song and Sleep is For The Week. From the title track on Love, Ire & Song -- "Well
it was bad enough the feeling, and the first time it hit, when you realized your
parents had let the world all go to shit, and that the values and ideals for which
many had fought and died had been killed off in the committees and left to die by
the wayside. But it was worse when we turned to the kids on the left, and got let
down again by some poor excuse for a protest, yeah by idiot fucking hippies in 50
different factions, who are locked inside some kind of 60s battle re-enactment.
And I hung up my banner in disgust and I heard for the door. Oh but once we were
young and we were crass enough to care, but I guess you live and learn. We won't
make those mistakes again, no. But surely just for one day we could fight and we
could win, and if only for a little while we could insist on the impossible." | | 24 |  | Streetlight Manifesto
Everything Goes Numb
Tomas Kalnoky saved my life last year with A Better Place, A Better Time -- "...and
when you wake up everything is going to be find. I guarantee that you'll wake in a
better place and in a better time. So you're tired of living, and you feel like you
might give in, well don't -- it's not your time. And even if it was I would never let
you go. You could run run run run but I will follow close. Someday you will say
"that's it, that's all" but I'll be waiting there with open arms to break your fall. I
know that you think that you're on your own but just know that I'm here and I'll
lead you home if you let me. She said "forget me" but I can't." | | 23 |  | Kanye West
My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy
Yeezy taught me (to enjoy rap for what it is, ego and all). POWER -- "...Now I
embody every characteristic of the egotistic. He knows he's so fuckin gifted. I
just needed time alone with my own though. Got treasures in mind but couldn't
open up my own vault. My childlike creativty, purity, and honesty is honestly being
crowded by these grown thoughts. Reality is catchin' up with me, takin my inner
child' I'm fighting it for custody. With these responsibilities that they entrust in me,
as I look down at my diamond encrusted piece, thinkin no one man should have all
that power. The clock's ticking, I just count the hours. Stop trippin, I'm trippin off
the powder. Til then, fuck that, the world's ours." | | 22 |  | Brand New
Daisy
So many of Jesse Lacey's lyrics mean so much to me, but I seem to be alone in
connecting with Gasoline deeply -- "So you try to put a fire out but you used
gasoline, and when the congregation gathered round, you're screaming "It wasn't
me!" So there's a sickness that is going around, and no one's got a vaccine. I think
we're treading holy water. I think it's time we all came clean. I swear it's like dying
to catch a ghost. I feel like I'm trying to hold smoke. (...) I wanna know what I've
become. You think that no one else is lonesome? You think that you're the only
one? It feels like i'm jumping towards a train. Well I'll try to find a way." | | 21 |  | The National
Cherry Tree
Matt Beringer's voclas and lyrics are both out of this world. There are so many
great examples of his magnificent lyricism, but I choose All Dolled-Up In Straps - an
underrated gem -- "I think I saw you riding in a car. You looked happy for a
woman. Black fingers in your mouth and a white pearl choker. My head plays is
over and over -- don't interrupt me. I think I saw you reaching for a glass with you
lanky white arms. Nothing else moves that way, are you kidding me? My head plays
it over and over -- don't interrupt me. All dolled-up in straps, all colored in. Now,
love, where have you been? Dolled-up in straps, all colored in. Now, love, where
have you been?" | | 20 |  | The Antlers
Burst Apart
Peter Silberman's (essentially) solo album Hospice received massive praise for its
lyrical concept and execution, but it is on their follow up, Burst Apart, that both
The Antler's music and Silberman's lyrics shine the brightest. Take this example from
the album closer, Putting the Dog to Sleep -- "Well my trust in you is a dog with a
broken leg, tenants too torn to beg for you to let me back in. Said I can't prove to
you you're not gonna die alone. Trust me to take you home, to clean up that blood
all over your paws. You can't keep running out, kicking yourself off the ground,
kicking yourself in the head, cause we give you little. Put your trust in me, I'm not
gonna die alone. Put your trust in me, I'm not gonna die alone...I don't think so..." | | 19 |  | Joni Mitchell
Both Sides Now
Canada > other places, exhibit D. Both Sides Now -- "I've looked at love from both
sides now, from give and take, and still somehow...it's love's illusions I recall. I
really don't know love at all." | | 18 |  | Death Cab For Cutie
Transatlanticism
Ben Gibbard aka the prototypical indie lyricist. From Transatlanticism -- "The
Atlantic was born today, and I'll tell you how -- The clouds above opened up and
let it out. I was standing on the surface of a perforated sphere when water filled
every hole, and thousand upon thousands made an ocean, making island where no
islands should go. Those people were overjoyed; they took to their boats. I
thought it less like a lake and more like a moat. The rhythm of my footstep
crossing flatlands to you door has been silence forever more. The distance is
simply much too far for me to row, it seems farther than ever before. Oh no. I
need you so much closer, I need you so much closer...." | | 17 |  | Refused
The Shape of Punk to Come
Seeing Refused's reunion tour this summer ignited something in me that I thought
was long dead, and I don't think I was alone. The Shape of Punk to Come is one of
the most influential punk albums ever released, and Dennis Lyxzen's lyrics are a big
part of that. This is from the album's massive closer, Tannhauser/Derive -- "...and
every desire that we earn will guide us, alive, living, loving, and searching, ans
searching. So where do we go from here? Just about anywhere. Disorientated but
alive - boredom won't get me tonight. Boredom won't get me tonight." | | 16 |  | Okkervil River
Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See
I only heard Okkervil River for the first time a couple of months ago, and I've only
heard half of their discography, but Will Sheff's powerful lyrics have insured that my
love affair with them grows at a rapid pace. The song Westfall is absolute genius:
a tale of murder and a commentary on human nature. This expert paints some of
the picture, but do yourself a favour and listen to the full thing -- "...Now with all
these cameras focused on my face, you'd think they could see it through my skin.
Looking for evil, thinking they can trace it, but evil don't look like anything. Evil
don't look like anything..." | | 15 |  | Rise Against
Siren Song of the Counter Culture
An inclusion for the young, politically-angsty, left-leaning Adrian. I still appreciate
Tim McIlrath's lyrics and their effect on my formative years. This one liner from
Rumors of My Demise Have Been Greatly Exaggerated is McIlrath at his punchiest
and most effective -- "Shots fired into the sky are now returning, where the fuck
will you hide?" | | 14 |  | Hey Rosetta!
Seeds
Tim Baker writes some phenomenal lyrics, but he absolutely nailed it on Welcome --
"Sorry, this is it. It's cold and hard and badly lit, and there's no backing out of it.
So forget where you've been -- it'll never be that good again, and we must only
look ahead. Soon you're 33, and everything you tried to be was pulled apart by
fear and greed. Let young hands build you up, and carve your face in honest rock,
with sunlight on your noble jaw. May young hands build you up..." | | 13 |  | Pianos Become the Teeth
The Lack Long After
The death of vocalist Kyle Durfey's dad inspired most of the lyrics on 2011's The
Lack Long After, and the way he presented his feelings about his dead dad were
mature beyond his years. The lyrics on the album closer I'll Get By are chilling --
"It's been a rough while and some days are worse than others. There's no proper
way to feel, no mirth, no levity, no amazing grace, just a flame on a lake, floating
away. I can't let you lay. I want you to know I'm learning patience against my
will. I want you to know I'll get by, always barely scraping with just a hunger, with
just a heart apart. It's a hell of a thing." | | 12 |  | Aesop Rock
Labor Days
Ian Bavitz is my favourite rapper thanks, almost entirely, to his genius way with
words. Man I'm so lame: my faovurite rapper WOULD be a skinny Jewish guy.
Anyway, No Regrets, a song about the life of a girl/woman named Lucy, is genius --
"...She'd never spoken once throughout the spanning of her life until the day she
leaned forward, grinned, and pulled the nurse aside. She said "Look, I've never had
a dream in my life, because a dream is what you wanna do but still haven't
pursued. I knew what I wanted and did it till it was done, so I've been the dream I
wanted to be since day one!" Well, the nurse jumped back. She'd never heard
Lucy talk, especially words like that. She walked over to the door and pulled it
close behind. Then Lucy blew a kiss to each one of her pictures and she died." | | 11 |  | mewithoutYou
Brother, Sister
Aaron Weiss may be a no-good bible-thumper, but this line, the opener from
mewithoutYou's 2006 masterpiece, Brother, Sister, is good enough for me to forget
that I care (also, I know there is disagreement on the exact wording of this lyric,
but it is the genius sentiment that is important here) -- "I do not exist, I faithfully
insist." | | 10 |  | Dan Mangan
Nice, Nice, Very Nice
My love affair with Dan's music has been growing at an alarming rate. If you've not
heard it, Basket is, without a doubt, one of the greatest lyrical folk songs ever
written -- "And we are old so our son took the dog away, and fair enough, I guess
we're tired all the time....all the time. And you know dogs, they need ample time
outside. So I'll stay but I'm telling you, I don't want to stay. So I'll brace myself
against the wall and hope to god that I don't fall. My bones are worn, my hip won't
hold - I used to be so young, how did I get so old? Won't you take this cane and
hold my hand, you're holding on to all I have - just a basket full of memories and I
am losing more each day it seems. But if I can make it to the street, I'll steal a
car, or a bike, whatever there is to steal - and it might get cold, I just don't care -
I'm going 'till I'm getting there. I'll ride my steed all through this town 'till I have
looked and I have found your peaceful memory. Won't you return to me?" | | 9 |  | The Dismemberment Plan
Emergency & I
Travis Morrison has earned his spot in the top 10 almost 100% for this lyric from
Spider in the Snow (not to say the rest of his work isn't brilliant, but this song is
just on another level) -- "The only thing worse than bad memories is no memories
at all. From the age of 20 to 22 I had five friends, none of whose names I can
recall. As I would walk down K Street to some temping job as winter froze the life
out of fall, yeah, I must have been having a ball." | | 8 |  | La Dispute
Somewhere at the Bottom of the River...
This is the one entry on this list guaranteed to attract some ridicule, but I don't
care. During a certain phase in my life, Jordan Dreyer's lyrics hit home for me in a
way that few have before or since. I no longer obsess over the concept contained
within "Somewhere at the Bottom..." but that album defined me for the better part
of a year, and I am infinitely in debt to Jordan Dreyer for speaking to me in a way
that no real person could at that point in my life. These lyrics from Andria illustrate
the point that anyone must eventually come to following a painful breakup -- "I still
remember how the distance tricked us and lead us helpless by the wrist into a pit
to be devoured. I still remember how we held so strong to this, though we had
never really settled on a way out. I still remember the silence, and how we'd
always find a way to turn and run to our mistakes. I still remember how it all came
back together just to gall apart again. My dear, I hear your voice in mine, I've been
alone here, I've been afraid, my dear. I've been at home here -- you've been a
way for years. I've been alone. .... I breathed your name into the air; I etched
your name into me. I felt my anger swelling -- I swam into its sea. 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." | | 7 |  | The Beatles
Revolver
John Lennon/Paul McCartney was the best songwriting duo the world has ever
seen. If you disagree you are wrong, plain and simple. So many great songs to
choose from, but I'm gonna go with the timeless cliche of Eleanor Rogby here --
"Eleanor Rigby picks up the rice in a church where a wedding has been, lives in a
dream. Waits at the window wearing a face that she keeps in a jar by the door.
Who is it for? All the lonely people, where do they all come from? All the lonely
people, where do they all belong?" | | 6 |  | Laura Stevenson and the Cans
Sit Resist
It is impossible to quantify the effect that Laura Stevenson's lyrics on Sit Resist did
for me over the past couple of years. I See Dark -- "Take this, go on, take it and
you'll see your ache will soon break. Do this in memory of what you used to be. But
that lump on a cot in a dark room, takes her time wasting away, trapped inside of a
body that hates her. Take your time and then someone will take you. Cause I've
seen dark, and I can not right it. I see dark, I know you are tired of fighting. We'll
lay with the lights out. I'll lie if you want me to, but I will lie next to you. I can
hear them too, I can hear them too..." | | 5 |  | Bob Dylan
Blood On The Tracks
If you think I need to explain my inclusion of Bob Dylan or justify him being in the
top 5, kill yourself. Idiot Wind -- "I been double-crossed now for the very last and
now I'm finally free. I kissed goodbye the howling beast on the borderling which
separated you from me. You'll never know the hurt I suffered nor the pain I rise
above, and I'll never know the same about you, your holiness or your kin of love.
And it makes me feel so sorry." | | 4 |  | Elliott Smith
Either/Or
A tortured genius who left us much too young. RIP. no name no. 5 -- "Well I hope
you're not waiting, waiting around for me. Cause I'm not going anywhere,
obviously. Got a broken heart and your name on my cast. Everybody's gone at
last....." | | 3 |  | Regina Spektor
Songs
Spektor's music meant a lot to me in the years after leaving high school. From the
moment I hear her voice crackle from the speakers of my ex's cousin's car on the
bumpy six-hour car ride down to Southern Ireland, I was hooked. So many of her
songs offer weird, convoluted stories (Daniel Cowman), or clever wordplay (The
Consequence of Sound), but the standout lyrical gem of her discography has
absolutely got to be On the Radio -- "This is how it works: You're young until you're
not. You love until you don't. You try until you can't. You laugh until you cry.
You cry until you laugh. And everyone must breath until their dying breath. No,
this is how it works: You peer inside yourself, you take the things you like, and try
to love the things you took. Then you take that love you made and stick it in to
someone else's heart, pumping someone else's blood. And walking arm and arm, you
hope it don't get harmed. But even if it does, you'll just do it all again." | | 2 |  | The Mountain Goats
We Shall All Be Healed
John Darnielle, simply put the most consistently prolific songwriter in music today,
perhaps of all time. Over a stunningly deep discography, Darnielle has provided us
with countless stories, complete with characters, setting, developed plot turns and
surprises. Few writers come close to touching this man's power with words.
Darnielle's touching honesty and clever metaphorical storylines are second-to-none,
and they've earned him a top-tier spot in my list of favourite lyricists. Enjoy, the
lyrical masterpiece that is No Children (I had to quote the whole thing, I hope you
agree that this was necessary) -- "I hope that our few remaining friends give up on
trying to save us, and I hope we come up with a failsafe plot to piss off the dumb
few that forgave us. I hope the fences we mended fall down beneath their own
weight, and I hope we hang on past the last exit, I hope it's already to late. And I
hope the junkyard a few blocks from here someday burns down, and I hope the
rising black smoke carries me far away and I never come back to this town again, in
my life. I hope I lie, and tell everyone you were a good wife. I hope you die, I hope
we both die. I hope I cut myself shaving tomorrow, and I hope it bleeds all day
long. Our friends say it's darkest before the sun rises, we're pretty sure they're all
wrong. I hope it stays dark forever, I hope the worst isn't over. I hope you blink
before I do, yeah I hope I never get sober. And I hope when you think of me years
down the line you can't find one good thing to say. And I'd hope that if I found the
strength to walk out, you'd stay the hell out of my way. I am drowning, there is no
sign of land. You are coming down with me, hand in unlovable hand, and I hope you
die, I hope we both die..." | | 1 |  | The Weakerthans
Reconstruction Site
John Samson, a true genius. No one makes the mundane seem so alive, the boring
seem so extraordinary, as this prolific Canaidan songwriter. I could go on about
him, but for the sake of brevity, enjoy these passages that, while from different
tracks and albums, work together to tell the story of a cat that grows tired of
trying to cheer up its depressed owner, and its explanation of its choice to eventually leave: from Plea From a Cat Named Virtute -- "All you ever want to do is
drink and watch TV, and frankly that thing doesn't really interest me. I swear I'm
going to bite you hard and taste your tinny blood if you don't stop the self-
defeating lies you've been repeating since the day you brought me home. I know
you're strong...." from Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure -- "...how after
scrapping with the ferals and the tabby, I'd let you brush my matted fur. How I'd
knead into your chest while you were sleeping. Shallow breathing made me purr.
But now I can't remember the sound that you found for me. I can't remember the
sound that you found for me. I can't remember the sound......" | |
Aids
11.15.12 | honourable mention to Tyler the Creator for this gem --
"I stuff you in the trunk, drunk, cause all I wanna do is fuck and snort blow, blooooooooooooooow-ooooooooooh-oh.
........blow." | Yazz_Flute
11.15.12 | I'd put Isaac Brock way higher personally.
Lots of respect for such an in-depth list regardless. | klap
11.15.12 | yess | Yazz_Flute
11.15.12 | Fuck you now I look silly. | Athom
11.15.12 | Isaac Brock would be in my top 3, easily. | demigod!
11.15.12 | same here, otherwise great list. I still need to check out The Weakerthans.
also, nice pic up there. Tobias Funke: Professional therapist and analyst: the worlds first Analrapist! | Aids
11.15.12 | thanks guys
i've noticed lots of typos, and i fucked up the art for RatM, but I can't edit cause then I'll lose artwork :'''[ nooooooooo | auberginedreams
11.15.12 | sweet list, i agree with quite a few of these. | cb123
11.15.12 | dam i expected 2 to be 1 on an Aids list | Trebor.
11.15.12 | Issac Brock at 32???!!!!!!!! | menawati
11.15.12 | he said lyricists potsy pay attention | menawati
11.15.12 | but what about morrissey, beefheart and jarvis cocker and ray davies.
well still itds a fine list | Chortles
11.15.12 | feature plz | demigod!
11.15.12 | Isaac should be like 1
also Bill Doss deserves a spot here. OTC is underrated. | menawati
11.15.12 | ye feature, get rid of that stupid nwobhm list some cock wrote | Chortles
11.15.12 | although yeah morrissey is a depressing exclusion | Ethics
11.15.12 | sick list, great job | Aids
11.15.12 | sorry I guys I only like Modest Mouse a moderate amount. I've never dove too deeply into Brock's lyrics besides The Moon and Antarctica, and one or two songs on The Lonesome Crowded West. | SIMBOLIC
11.15.12 | man needs bruce dickinson
rime of the ancient mariner
dance of death
epic storytelling man holy shiznit | Aids
11.15.12 | damn yeah I should have included Morrissey and Jeff Buckley. damn. | Aids
11.15.12 | haha i seriously considered including Maiden only so I could include Godspeed on a technicality (the spoken word section of BBF3 is a stolen Maiden lyric) | Trebor.
11.15.12 | "My boss just quite the job, says he's goin to find blind spots and he'll do it"
I've always wondered what this line means
| Trebor.
11.15.12 | "His lyrics saved my life"
Only 24, lol wut | demigod!
11.15.12 | the dude from built to spill should be here too
But hey you can have 'em all | Trebor.
11.15.12 | No I never had a job because I've never wanted one
I've seen you smile, but I've never really heard you laugh
So who is rich and who is poor I cannot say
I don't want a lover I just want to be seeeeeennn
All from one Smiths song, I mean how can you not put Morrissey | Aids
11.15.12 | "Only 24, lol wut"
yeah well it's only really that one album I connected with, and 50% of that was because of that one song.
and yeah I almost put the Built to Spill guy but I've only heard two of their albums and they have a lot, right? | menawati
11.15.12 | check out some Pulp aids, jarvis cocker's lyrics were really sharp and funny | foxblood
11.15.12 | good list. needs conor oberst | demigod!
11.15.12 | yeah. but Perfect from now on is their best imo. check that one out | Aids
11.15.12 | i don't really like The Smiths that much (or didn't until this past month) but I agree that Morrissey is a top-tier lyricist. he should be on this list, so should Buckley. | Athom
11.15.12 | This list needs Drake. I mean, have you not heard The Motto?! | blastOFFitsPARTYtime
11.15.12 | Sweet list, man. Sorely missing Morrissey indeed (would easily be in my top 5). But hey, the vast majority of these rule. Top six is particularly tight. | Trebor.
11.15.12 | The Lawrence Arms dude
| tommygun
11.15.12 | Great list Aids, very interesting reading and I'm tempted to check out a few of these I haven't heard.
I love how people are arguing with the list when he quite clearly stated that it's personal favourites, not 'objective best ever'. | Trebor.
11.15.12 | It seems we all get sick,
we all die in some no name hospital with the same colored walls,
and I guess that's fine,
but I want to swallow, I want to stomach, I want to live.
It's been a rough while and some days are worse than others,
there's no proper way to feel, no mirth, no levity, no amazing grace,
just a flame on a lake floating away,
I can't let you lay,
I want you to know, I'm learning patience against my will,
I want you to know, I'll get by, always barely scraping
with just a hunger, with just a heart apart,
it's a hell of a thing.
Gets me every fucking time | Chortles
11.15.12 | and yeah tommy is right i shouldn't be complaining | menawati
11.15.12 | objectivity vs subjectivity in art | Aids
11.15.12 | yeah I know rob, such a good song. The Lawrence Arms are just OK if you ask me, but I've only heard one of their albums and only a couple times.
and adam I hope you aren't serious cause FUCK DRAKE
| Trebor.
11.15.12 | Just the way he screams in that song, how he's able to change pitches like a singer while screaming is incredible, and you can really hear the pain in his voice
When they play the song live he has to close his eyes the whole time man | Ethics
11.15.12 | trophy scars dude too | Chrisjon89
11.15.12 | heaps of awesome stuff. glad you quoted Idiot Wind too cos I'd do the exact same. some stuff here I really like but never really considered lyrically.
if I had to narrow it down to two, it'd be Dylan and DOOM for me I think. | Aids
11.15.12 | Conor Oberst - no, not even close
Michael Gira - I considered it (Menomena, right?)
Trophy Scars - I considered them as well, but decided it's not Jerry's lyrics that makes me love them
so much.
and rob yeah I know. I'd love to see it live, one day I hope I will. | Trebor.
11.15.12 | Just noticed Kanye West is above Modest Mouse and Streetlight, I'm dying | larrytheslug
11.15.12 | mid 90's rivers cuomo ? ! XD | SeaAnemone
11.15.12 | amen on mangan and samson and fuck it you know i love this list i shouldn't have to explain myself | Aids
11.15.12 | "Just noticed Kanye West is above Modest Mouse and Streetlight, I'm dying"
haha i was waiting for this sort of comment. nigga's lines on Dark Fantasy are unreal man.
"michael gira is in swans lol"
oh, I don't listen to Swans. Also they're in your top 2 favourite bands? didn't you just discover them a month ago?
sea - i know bud, thanks for commenting anyway | ITsHxCTOASTER
11.15.12 | Morrissey
Dan Smith | TooLateToGoBack
11.15.12 | Whoa, fantastic list. Gotta give props for putting #16 on here -- an album where I can still identify with. Glad you used "Andria", too. | YankeeDudel
11.15.12 | tried listening to the weakerthans about 5 diff times and each time they just sound like a meh indie rock band. But then again i really dont care about lyrics. | auberginedreams
11.15.12 | i just don't understand how somebody could be into music enough to frequent a music discussion site but not care about lyrics. | Trebor.
11.15.12 | I don't care about lyrics most of the time
I only care if they're really good or really bad | YankeeDudel
11.15.12 | Good lyrics to me can def take a song to another level, but its not what I really look for in music. I look for interesting sounds and good musicianship first I guess. Lyrics are just a bonus but I really dont care about them as long as they dont ruin the song. | SCREAMorphine
11.15.12 | Great list | Aids
11.15.12 | i can understand someone not caring about lyrics that much, as I used to be the same way. then I discovered John Samson and John Darnielle. | auberginedreams
11.15.12 | to me lyrics are equally as important as the actual music. | Satellite
11.15.12 | list rules | Aids
11.15.12 | "to me lyrics are equally as important as the actual music."
i can't really make a generalization like that, as I like each band for different reasons. but overall, great lyrics draw me in deeper and more effectively than great music. | YankeeDudel
11.15.12 | Well I listen to alot of instrumental music like jazz, post rock, electronic, some classical, psychedelic, and what not along with shit like black/death metal and other harsh vocal genres where you cant understand the lyrics anyway unless you read along. Lyrics are cool and can heighten a song but the music just comes first. The moods of the sounds themselves can display more emotion than any words can to me. When they come together thats great but again not necessary. | Havey
11.15.12 | enjoyable read but where's cohen you fucker | Trebor.
11.15.12 | A song with great music but shitty lyrics is still a good song. A song with great lyrics but shit music is a bad song | lilium23
11.15.12 | This is a bad ass list. So many amazing songwriter's. | Aids
11.15.12 | "A song with great music but shitty lyrics is still a good song. A song with great lyrics but shit music is a bad song"
that's a good point, even though i kind of disagree.
and yankee - yeah I feel you. I listen to a lot of post-rock and electronic music. like I said, different things attract me to different artists, but if I listed the reasons why I enjoy each of the bands/artists I enjoy, lyrics would be the most noted reason. (for me)
"enjoyable read but where's cohen you fucker"
yeah damn. also this thought: "These are my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life." | Aids
11.15.12 | I like Modest Mouse more for their music than for Isaac Brock's lyrics. | Havey
11.15.12 | unfortunate | clercqie
11.15.12 | "When I first started listening to music, I almost never cared about lyrics. Now, they are what attaches me to (most of) my favourite music."
Yeah, same here.
Awesome list man, many of my favorites are on here. This should get a feature. | Aids
11.15.12 | youre hilarious baseline
yeah thanks clerc. that'd be cool, but I guess the powers that be decided that the NWOBHM list needs more time in the spotlight. | MO
11.15.12 | nice list aids | Thane
11.15.12 | really good list man.
I like a bunch of these, plus jeff rosenstock (BTMI!), john galm (snowing), morrissey, keith latinen (empire! empire!) | FadedSun
11.15.12 | Whoa. I didn't know that "Don't Fall In Love With Everyone You See" was an album. I saw this really cute girl at a bus stop once with that tattooed on her arm with that album cover. I thought it was an original piece, and I thought that was some sort of inspiration to herself. | AutoRock
11.15.12 | Lacks some Springsteen. But great list. | Scoot
11.15.12 | great list buddy. i'd say the only one i'd add is dan smith from listener
"We’re all born to broken people on their most honest day of living
and since that first breath... We’ll need grace that we’ve never given
I've been haunted by standard red devils and white ghosts
and it's not only when these eyes are closed.
these lies are ropes that I tie down in my stomach,
but they hold this ship together tossed like leaves in this weather
and my dreams are sails that I point towards my true north,
stretched thin over my rib bones, and pray that it gets better
but it won’t, at least I don’t believe it will...
so I've built a wooden heart inside this iron ship,
to sail these blood red seas and find your coasts.
don’t let these waves wash away your hopes
this war-ship is sinking, and I still believe in anchors.
pulling fist fulls of rotten wood from my heart, I still believe in saviors
but I know that we are all made out of shipwrecks, every single board
washed and bound like crooked teeth on these rocky shores.
so come on and let’s wash each other with tears of joy and tears of grief
and fold our lives like crashing waves and run up on this beach.
come on and sew us together, tattered rags stained forever.
we only have what we remember" | Maniac!
11.15.12 | cool list | YetAnotherBrick
11.15.12 | i did only skim it, but it seems like you could've elaborated a little on on exactly why the lyrics you gave as examples for each artist are good. other than that, fantastic list, though. lyrics are definitely my thing. | YouthCat
11.15.12 | Decent list. I would've included Dustin Kensrue and Keith Buckley, though. | TomArnoldsArmpit
11.15.12 | am I lame because I've never listened to neutral leche? | AliW1993
11.15.12 | Awesome list. If I had to pick a favourite lyricist it'd probably be Aidan Moffat. | Anthracks
11.15.12 | No Kevin Barnes. List cannot be taken seriously | Anthracks
11.15.12 | and i don't like mountain goats lyrics at all really | Anthracks
11.15.12 | or most of the items in this list | halloway
11.15.12 | No Keith Buckley from ETID? Poo. | Aids
11.15.12 | "These are my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life."
I don't like Listener, Snowing, Empire Empire, Springsteen, Fear Before, or Senses Fail. I like Thrice but Kensrue doesn't make the cut, and I only recently started checking out BTMI!'s work. I sort of like AFI and ETID but certainly not for their lyrics. Of Montreal are one of the worst bands I've ever heard, so no. All three of those comments are pretty useless by the way Anthracks.
thanks to errryone, and hey right on this got a feature.
"i did only skim it, but it seems like you could've elaborated a little on on exactly why the lyrics you gave as examples for each artist are good. "
I dunno man I already wrote quite a bit for most of the items. I think I should have written less, if anything.
and again, lol Riff, you're the best | YetAnotherBrick
11.15.12 | "I dunno man I already wrote quite a bit for most of the items. I think I should have written less, if anything."
idk it seemed like you kinda just introduced the band/lyricist, described their lyrical style, then gave an example. like i said though, i didn't but probably will read it word-for-word later haha | klap
11.15.12 | why don't you like oberst | ThunderNeutral21
11.15.12 | samson is brilliant, but sometimes he goes a little nuts with poetic devices and things being metaphors for metaphors and other metaphors and metaphors and metaphors and metaphors etc
21 is the best, 4 is pretty close as well | auberginedreams
11.15.12 | "I don't like Listener, Snowing, Empire Empire, Springsteen, Fear Before, or Senses Fail."
i can't believe you don't like empire empire. they seem right up your alley. seriously, their lyrics are like perfect. | auberginedreams
11.15.12 | congrats on the feature though. but still... you're killing me aids. | ThunderNeutral21
11.15.12 | lol senses fail hahahahaa
also Id have Alan Sparhawk pretty high up on mine, as well as bannon and justin vernon | therayder
11.15.12 | Awesome list! Personal favorites are 2, 21, and 25 | Aids
11.15.12 | "why don't you like oberst"
cause every annoying pseudo-hipster here in the northwest all want to s his d. (bad reason but trust me it gets annoying). also I saw him live (at Sasquatch) and his stage persona was revolting. He kept trying to be so anti-materialist and such a radical it's like DUDE you're a fucking mainstream-indie recording artist, stop preaching to us like you're Che FUCKING Guevara.
urgh, sorry. not really great reasons, but i just hate him. his lyrics are really good though, it's just that I've only heard a couple of his albums and am not bothered to try out more cause his personality bugs me. so yeah his lyrics never meant that much to me, hence not being on the list. I don't deny that he is a great lyricist though.
"idk it seemed like you kinda just introduced the band/lyricist, described their lyrical style, then gave an example. like i said though, i didn't but probably will read it word-for-word later haha"
well i put more effort into certain ones obviously, but this took me close to 2 hours to make so whatever. I'd just end up pointlessly over-explaining things that no one cares about.
"samson is brilliant, but sometimes he goes a little nuts with poetic devices and things being metaphors for metaphors and other metaphors and metaphors and metaphors and metaphors etc"
no he definitely doesn't layer metaphors. most of the time, he means straight-up exactly what he says. you're looking too deep into his lyrics it seems.
"i can't believe you don't like empire empire. they seem right up your alley. seriously, their lyrics are like perfect."
yeah I think I'll give them another shot soon, everyone tells me that.
"you're killing me aids."
careful!
"lol senses fail hahahahaa"
yup
"also Id have Alan Sparhawk pretty high up on mine, as well as bannon and justin vernon"
don't know who Sparhawk is, Bannon is great but I don't listen to Converge that much, and Vernon is on here. | chambered49
11.15.12 | nice list aids isaac brock ftw | GnFnRs87
11.15.12 | Screen door slams, Mary's dress waves
Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays
Roy Orbison singing for the lonely
Hey that's me and I want you only
Don't turn me home again I just can't face myself alone again
Don't run back inside darling you know just what I'm here for
So you're scared and thinking that maybe we ain't that young anymore
Show a little faith there's magic in the night
You ain't a beauty but hey, you're alright
Oh and that's alright with me
You can hide 'neath your covers and study your pain
Make crosses on your lovers, throw roses in the rain
Waste your summers prayin' in vain for a saviour to rise from these streets
Well I'm no hero, yeah that's understood
Redemption I can offer girl is beneath this dirty hood
With a chance to make it good somehow
Hey what else can we do now
Except roll down the window and let the wind roll back your hair
Well the nights busting open these two lanes'll take us anywhere
We got one last chance to make it real
To trade in these wings on some wheels
Climb in back, heavens waiting down on the tracks
Oh, come take my hand, we're riding out tonight to chase the promised land
Oh Thunder Road, Oh Thunder Road
Oh Thunder Road
Lying out there like a killer in the sun
Hey I know it's late, we can make it if we run
Oh Thunder Road, sit tight, take hold
Thunder Road
Well I got this guitar and I learned how to make it talk
And my cars out back if you're ready to take that long walk
From your front porch to my front seat
The door's open but the ride ain't free
And I know you're lonely for words that I ain't spoken
But tonight we'll be free, all the promises will be broken
There were ghosts in the eyes of all the boys you sent away
They haunt this dusty beach road in the skeleton-frames of burned out chevrolets
They scream your name at night in the street
Your graduation gown lies in rags at their feet
And in the lonely cool before dawn
You hear their engines roaring on
And when you get to the porch they're gone on the wind
So Mary climb in
It's a town full of losers
And I'm pullin' out of here to win
Bruce Springsteen- Thunder Road
The greatest lyrical song ever written in my honest opinion | auberginedreams
11.15.12 | those lyrics are balls. | Aids
11.16.12 | that means a lot coming from you andcas. i will most definitely reconsider...
pretty great Springsteen lyrics actually, I was just never into him that much. He played a massive 3 hour set at a festival I went to this summer, but I saw other bands instead. | GiaNXGX
11.16.12 | Fade into stars
As god machines.
With our arms
We will shape the world.
With this breath
We become the world.
In parts I lie, staring at the clouds,
And listening to the vultures sing.
The husk beneath this shroud
Brings alms to fallow wings.
Vines spring from my blood,
Wheat grows of my flesh and bone.
The birds descend from above
To lift my body from the stone.
A fair trade, my clay for a soul,
So a pigeon thrives while I have passed.
The mountain justly claims its toll
To break the raptors’ fast.
Their shrieks soothe as siren calls,
Their talons dancer’s hands:
Why angels don demon shawls,
Is not for us to understand.
I glide in feathers’ embrace,
Their beaks beckoning the frost,
To fly past the fog, to rise into grace
And join the loved ones we had lost.
The falcons roost upon the wind.
I meditate until the morn,
Absorbing times I’ve loved and sinned.
At light I wake, a being reborn. | GiaNXGX
11.16.12 | Last night, I watched the moon drink the tides
'Til a whale rose from the hole in the sea.
She breathed in the clouds like an opium ride,
Smiled, and devoured me.
My flesh had melted when my mind awoke
To feel her tail tear open the sky.
Fins punctured cities, bled sulfur and smoke;
I wept as the last scream died.
She spat my soul onto a planet of dust.
My thoughts dissolved into the grain.
Whale became woman, the sun gazed with lust;
He took her, and fathered the rain.
From this coupling my shell grew green.
Rainforests sprung from my skin and soil.
Mountains spawned cells, apes & All-In-Between,
And I understood.
I am this mortal coil.
I am this mortal coil. | GiaNXGX
11.16.12 | My wrist is all red from the cutter
Drippin' cold blood like the winter, the summer
Is never that's equivalent to me and Sarah
Well that's not her fuckin name, but I think this shit is clever
My niggas wanna know if I'm fuckin', if I'm kissin'
But I'm sittin' here downin' beers simply just wishin'
With tear they try to tell me but I never listen
Cause I don't give a shit like sittin' down pissin'
Eighteen, still talkin' to imaginaries
Hopefully they see the talent I carry just like Jimmy
Losers can never win me, you can never offend me
My goal in life is a Grammy, hopefully momma will attend the
Ceremony with all my homies, I'm suicidal
This my Zombie Circus, I hope the majors heard this
Fuck a deal, I just want my father's email
So I can tell him how much I fuckin' hate him in detail
| GiaNXGX
11.16.12 | I have a million questions, but no will to ask
Through chaos, rationale speaks clearly
Decay sets in amongst the fragments
Such weight lies within knowledge
Crippled by thought
Eyes that see too much lose the will to see
And the pain that spills from these walls
Blasts through this withered body
The circle has begun
Time is not won
Losing this battle to remain
In this place
I dare not dream
For awakening the demons that will find me
Blinded by madness
Such endless probability
And I must know every thing and every thought
And I must elude when this frustration taunts
And drives me to release
Or travel towards end
So dead inside
And all but live on
Burning from within
Maddened eyes
Filled with boiling blood
Sullen
Grow sharper with the pain
To rest now
Until we meet again | GiaNXGX
11.16.12 | And where does this plane take us?
To escape?
To lose that which makes us?
Emotion never dies
It only becomes distant with time
Memories fade, onward towards bitter end
My head it aches
As yet another day unfolds
Faces of anger
Ironed into my skin
And to pass away, knowing only silence
Over whom does infinity hold sway?
All the time has passed
No future awaits
Where there is no light
I shall remain
Never to diminish, nor comprehend
The one absolute
Within eternal twilight I exist
Excised from the stream of time and being
I wander
Answers I seek
To that which I cannot know
You need not fear now
For release shall be yours
Through golden fields you may walk
All knowledge flowing through you
Let your pain console
For escape is nigh
Your blood flows, your soul is released
Silentium est aureum
I have come to know all
Yet I know not time
At your death
My torment is complete
Horrific realization
Time demise of finality
Absolutions collapse
_______________________________________________________
Some of GiaNXGX's favorite lyrics.
| braveasanoun
11.16.12 | this is a fucking beautiful list. i read your reasons why you dont like oberst and i can understand why his personality can be off-putting but i would recommend relistening throwing all biases aside. his lyrics can be very powerful if you give them a chance. and judging by your list, i'd say that i am surprised you already dont like him!
that being said, its great seeing someone who loves mangan as much as i do. so pissed they aint comin near me on their tour w/RAA, would be an amazing show. and you cant go wrong with 1!(currently listening to Left an Leaving btw) | scissorlocked
11.16.12 | massive list Aids
most of these are also mines favorite too
as for Weakerthans I'd chose "Reconstruction site" - the song's simply genious | Aids
11.16.12 | ok Gia calm down, I'm not going to read any of that.
and andcas sorry but i'm not gonna watch those videos. I've heard Senses Fail before and they're decent, but I don't love them.
cheers braveasanoun and scissorlocked | Tyrael
11.16.12 | I love Streetlight Manifesto a lot more than you do because of their political message
'Would You Be Impressed' is a heavy hitter | MUNGOLOID
11.16.12 | lol Tobias. | Aids
11.16.12 | all Streetlight's lyrics are great, and most of them are political. A Better Place, A Better Time just means so much more to me than any of their songs. All of Everything Goes Numb is incredible though. | Anthracks
11.16.12 | Aids, even if you don't like of Montreal's music, Kevin is one of the most prolific lyricists in music. | Anthracks
11.16.12 | But with all your angsty teenage lyrics listed on here, I wouldn't expect you to like something that is actually profound. | Anthracks
11.16.12 | And I love Japandroids to death but their lyrics are complete ass | Aids
11.16.12 | nice triple post.
-let me re-iterate, for probably the fifth time: "These are my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life"
-angsty teenage lyrics, ouch man. it's almost like my teenage years were insanely significant in terms of me beginning to love music! weird! and don't you try to tell me that The Mountain Goats/Weakerthans/Regina Spektor/Bob fucking Dylan/The Beatles etc. don't write profound lyrics.
-you love Japandroids but hate their lyrics? what do you like about them then? their insanely complex instrumentals? the carefree fuck-it-all lyrics are what makes that band so enjoyable. I considered not including them cause their lyrics aren't really that amazing, but I love what the words mean to me and they're one of my favourite bands so whatever I threw them on here.
and again, just to beat you all over the head with this, because apparently it's not inherently obvious enough:
"These are my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life"
good day sir | Chortles
11.16.12 | totally forgot to say this earlier but damn no david byrne
just being a picky asshole | Aids
11.16.12 | he has the same birthday as me! but alas, I had not even listened to The Talking Heads until a few months ago. | SgtPepper
11.16.12 | @Aids
I love that you have Tobias as your profile picture. | Emim
11.16.12 | so much hipster shit | captaincrunch11
11.16.12 | Fucking sweet list | Aids
11.16.12 | Lakes - the most accessible Mountain Goats albums are Tallahassee and The Sunset Tree, but their body of work is split down the middle. The first half of the discography is really lo-fi, recorded on a boombox, some released as cassettes etc. etc. The best of that era is definitely the two final albums before he went to the studio, All Hail West Texas (easiest to like) and The Coroner's Gambit (my favourite).
paperback - me too
emim - yeah that's me
captain - cheers | Aids
11.16.12 | actually Lakes get We Shall All Be Healed next. It was my first album of theirs, and I just recently decided it's my second favourite behind Gambit. A studio album, but Tallahassee and The Sunset Tree are arguably more accessible. You can't really go wrong with The Mountain Goats though. No matter what order you discover it in, it's all amazing. | Emim
11.16.12 | "so much christian shit"
above the graves.
that is all. | Aids
11.16.12 | 1-0 to Emim | Emim
11.16.12 | hah not happening that's like a goatse you see coming | Emim
11.16.12 | ooh you might hurt my feelings | Aids
11.16.12 | you guys are being hella lame. i never do this but if you don't stop i might just delete your comments. | someguest
11.16.12 | Very good list, Aids. And so much work put into it too. | Emim
11.16.12 | looks at aids, moderating and shit
anyways......................................props for 4 | Aids
11.16.12 | thanks someguest.
well lakes, only bad users make comments worthy of deletion | someguest
11.16.12 | I remember when every other list was something like this, but it's pretty much a rarity nowadays.
Not that I put effort into my lists, but still... | auberginedreams
11.16.12 | aids have you listened to that continents. album yet? | Aids
11.16.12 | "I remember when every other list was something like this, but it's pretty much a rarity nowadays."
yeah I know. I actually like to make thoughtful lists like these every once in a while, but it seems users like me are a dying breed. Sea used to make awesome lists, but not anymore. It's the best way I can contribute to the site because I can't review consistently well.
aub - no but it's downloaded and in my iTunes | klap
11.16.12 | i understand the personal reasons for not liking obersts (granted they have nothing to do w his lyrics but still) but you could say a lot of the artists on this list are pretty contrived in the same way | Aids
11.16.12 | probably, but i've never seen it come through live with anyone nearly as much as with Oberst. and anyway, i've always kind of disliked Bright Eyesand I'm not entirely sure why. obviously the inclusions on this list were a matter of personal preference. | klap
11.16.12 | listen to cassadaga mannn. ive only seen him live once (at coachella) but didnt get that vibe but i can imagine | Aids
11.16.12 | i've heard wide awake and lifted, not cassadaga. I actually like both those records, so I'll check out that one clap man. | klap
11.16.12 | im actually not a huge bright eyes fan but cassadaga is easily my favorite and one of my faves in general | Aids
11.16.12 | really? I always assumed you were a pretty big Bright Eyes fan. Interesting. | ThunderNeutral21
11.16.12 | conor oberst sucks so much | Aids
11.16.12 | that's weird | Wombat988
11.16.12 | Needs more Los Campesinos. Otherwise 100% agreement | Oathbreaker
11.16.12 | shit taste | Oathbreaker
11.16.12 | 50 lyricists and you don't even have leonard cohen what a joke | ABjordanMM
11.16.12 | good list. forgetting andy hull though. | luschlotz
11.16.12 | probably not the first to mention this. but sprawl II is not win butlers, is regine's | Havey
11.16.12 | @abjordan & oath
"These are my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life."
you're welcome aids i just saved you some time | PaddyPooHead
11.16.12 | Richie Edwards? | jdennis31
11.16.12 | i was thinking i hope this guy puts laura stevenson up there, and then realized it was aid's list. | ABjordanMM
11.16.12 | @havey aw you're speaking for him. How cute. Maybe he'll check out andy hulls stuff now. | Aids
11.16.12 | Havey - haha thanks
damn, I should have put Andy Hull actually, completely slipped my mind. Manchestrer Orchestra are one of my favourite bands, and I love Hull's words.
"shit taste"
"50 lyricists and you don't even have leonard cohen what a joke"
lol eat my cunt. i've heard about five cohen songs in my life, if I put him on here i'd only be trying to fit in. how many fucking times does this need to be posted before you retards stop making retarded comments? "These are my personal favourites, and anything that you think might be a glaring omission probably just didn't have that big of an impact on my life." again, eat my cunt
paddy - who the fuck is that
andcas - "...Now I embody every characteristic of the egotistic. He knows he's so fuckin gifted. I just needed time alone with my own though. Got treasures in mind but couldn't open up my own vault. My childlike creativty, purity, and honesty is honestly being crowded by these grown thoughts. Reality is catchin' up with me, takin my inner child' I'm fighting it for custody. With these responsibilities that they entrust in me, as I look down at my diamond encrusted piece, thinkin no one man should have all that power. The clock's ticking, I just count the hours. Stop trippin, I'm trippin off the powder. Til then, fuck that, the world's ours." .....yeah ok. If that strikes you as the lyrics of a hack, then you're much more stupid than I thought.
jdennis - obvie | Aids
11.16.12 | do you want to elaborate or would you rather just continue being "that guy"?
it's ok if you want to just play the role of annoying sputnik shit-disturber with no actual opinions of his own, I just think it would be more fun to have an actual discussion. I KNOW fuck me, right? | jdennis31
11.16.12 | why does la dispute get trashed on so much. not much i can relate to but i always found the lyrics to flow really well and they usually have a line that i really like in every one of their songs. "To feel the wires of my brain get cut and quietly rearranged" love this line | Aids
11.16.12 | damnit i meant to hit edit but i hit delete. here goes again
"why does la dispute get trashed on so much."
their vocals
andcas, i've always thought you were a moron and you've always known this. We used to sort of "get along" in some twisted way but at least we were having actual discussions. Now all of a sudden you decide that you can't talk to me because I'm an asshole to you, well...it never stopped you before. I just don't see why you won't back up your points. I have a hunch though, that it's because you simply can't. | KILL
11.16.12 | glen benton> | Aids
11.16.12 | good ol andcas, proving everyone else right, time and time again
KILL - m/ is all I have to say to that | YankeeDudel
11.16.12 | "why does la dispute get trashed on so much."
because the dude is constantly on the verge of combusting tears out of his anus??? | jdennis31
11.16.12 | werd. good stuff | Aids
11.16.12 | "combusting tears out of his anus"
this is now the name of the first single from my new band's first EP entitled "You Will Never Get the Taste of Raspberries Out of Your Mouth" | auberginedreams
11.17.12 | "because the dude is constantly on the verge of combusting tears out of his anus???"
that's my favorite sound though. | Aids
11.17.12 | my friend and I are legitimately going to bust out a jam/write a song, and call it "combusting tears out of his anus." he's just in lame Medicine Hat, Alberta, but when he gets back to Vancouver it is happening. | barcafan21
11.17.12 | i legit whispered "yesssssssssssssssss" to myself when i saw number one | Atari
11.17.12 | Damn this list rules. Agreed hard with ...is a real boy and I like several of these | Sirob
11.17.12 | this list is so fucking good. also 15 yes such and underrated lyricist. also my favorite rise against song | PaddyPooHead
11.17.12 | Richie Edwards is the lyricist behind one of the greatest lyrical albums I've ever heard..........The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers. | PaddyPooHead
11.17.12 | I also think Nas deserves a place on this list, although it's definitely a good list | Aids
11.17.12 | I could never get into The Holy Bible unfortunately :/ which is a shame because it's so highly regarded. I thought about including Nas as a joke, just for "Life's a bitch and then you die, that's why we get high. cuz you never know when youre gonna go!" | Point1
11.17.12 | Am I seriously the first person to point out that Jesse Lacey didn't write Gasoline? You disappoint me sputnik... | someguest
11.17.12 | I think you're the first one to care. | Aids
11.17.12 | I wasn't sure if jesse lacey was responsible for that one, I just assumed. I'm sure there are multiple entries messed up in the same way. This list took long enough to make without me researching every single lyric. Unless I was sure, I usually just picked who is most likely to be the main songwriter | drewcordova
11.18.12 | 4 and 9 stand out the most for me. Awesome list | ConsiderPhlebas
11.18.12 | Fuck yeah 1 and 2. Sweet list. Pitchfork said that the title track off 1 sounds like Smash Mouth. | auberginedreams
11.18.12 | aids, what is the best regina spektor album? i've been meaning to listen to her. | AdamK
11.18.12 | are you sure 13 wasn't inspired by the death of his mom? | auberginedreams
11.19.12 | most of the songs on that album are about the death of his dad. | FromDaHood
11.19.12 | Still can't get into the Weakerthans for the life of me | AdamK
11.19.12 | i always thought it was his mom because of the houses we die in video. Interesting | Aids
11.19.12 | nah The Lack Long After is about the death of his dad. The sample at the very end of I'll Get By is his mum talking to him on the phone about his dad.
aub - check out Songs. It was my first, and I say her best. It's weird as fuck, and everyone will tell you Soviet Kitsch is best, but I love love love Songs. and I still like Far more than Soviet Kitsch too. also, Houses We Die In was on an earlier EP.
fromdahoooooooooood - it's all good, they're not for everyone. check out the track "Virtute the Cat Explains Her Departure" on youtube. If that song doesn't make you feel things, then all hope is lost. | Aids
11.19.12 | haha this " also, Houses We Die In was on an earlier EP." was clearly meant to go at the end of the first paragraph. | Tikicobra
11.19.12 | This is a killer list. I was a bit bummed that City of Caterpillar wasn't on here ("Now I'm too scared to touch a friend like you") but I'll ignore that because you included Pianos and La Dispute. | Aids
11.20.12 | that's a great lyric. I've always love City of Caterpillar but never paid much attention to their lyrics. Maybe I need to rectify this mistake. | barcafan21
11.20.12 | yeah, list could definitely use manchester orchestra
"my friend marcus he sleeps in my basement, his father touched more than spirit, now he can hardly sleeeeeeeeeeeeep,"
yeah | Skoj
11.20.12 | Originally was going to pile on insults, but the list is on the money. Grate jahb. | dsroka005
11.21.12 | illmatic and liquid swords | dsroka005
11.21.12 | and death lyrics are the shit | Aids
11.22.12 | DRUNK BUMP | EyesWideShut
11.23.12 | ..Nick Cave..
Drunk Rec | EyesWideShut
11.23.12 | Leonard Cohen.
BOOYA!
| EyesWideShut
11.23.12 | ASAP ROCKY
purp swag | BigTuna
02.19.13 | fuck, 1 and 2 are exactly right |
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