Who Are Your Favourite Lyricisits Or Songwriters ?

[Guitargodchris]

Just thought I would ask to see who inspires you or who is a hero to you ?

Mine have to be Lacey Mosley, Ville Valo, http://youtube.com/watch?v=hZZDeqv4niM,

and Bill Kaulitz

[roxhythe]

Steve Goodman, Bob Dylan, and John Prine head the list. There are a bunch of others, including but not limited to Bill Monroe, Buck Owens, Avril Lavigne, Dottie West, Leonard Cohen, Scott Garriott, Lou Quarmwater, and Janis Joplin, for verious reasons.

Joe

[Jules]

John Lennon

Noel Gallagher

Paul McCartney

Kurt Cobain

Johnny Cash

They're in order.

[Lazz]

This is probably very picky - but can you name any songs actually written by Elvis Presley ?

There might just turn out to be some but they'd sure be news to me.

[Guitargodchris]

Ohh I forgot about Mr. Cash !!!

Silly me, one of my all time favourites aswell

[thelevellers]

It changes a lot for me, but generally I think these guys make it into my favs list...

Jesse of Flipron (I think it's him, I don't have the CD to hand to make sure)

"If you pat one head, you have to pat all the rest,

Pat them all and Cerberus will Love you the best.

When you're a multi headed hell hound with a reputation for rage,

The sympathies of those you meet are hard to engage"

Tom McRae

"In a city that kills by constriction,

Throw your streets around me and squeeze"

Erm, all the Beatles?!

System of a Down - They might not do awesome lyrics in the way some do, but for sheer force of meaning they win out over a lot of bands...

"They're trying to build a prison,

They're trying to build a prison,

They're trying to build a prison,

For you and me to live in!"

Graham Coxon - I just keep finding little gems of lines in there...

Grant from Feeder - Maybe it's just me, but I find his lyrics really connected with me 90% of the time...

Ok, that's enough for now, if I keep going I'll have to try writing some lyrics, and my current mood isn't one I want to get down on paper (not just yet anyway :S)

[SamuelGabriel83]

bob dylan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nrk25hHEb4A...feature=related

donovan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2arEUEAWck

the doors

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCUQtbZ3Tbs

roy harper

u2

led zeppelin (alot of there songs arent written by them i know)

pink floyd

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q1moiym6-Nk

bob marley

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQlOLARxC_A

sting

paul weller

david bowie

i know there are many more but these are some off the top of my head.

Edited June 11, 2008 by SamuelGabriel83

[Jules]

This is probably very picky - but can you name any songs actually written by Elvis Presley ?

There might just turn out to be some but they'd sure be news to me.

Hm - I guess you're right. I'm not much of an expert of either Elvis or Cash, (I debated adding both to the list) but I assumed that Elvis wrote his own songs. Fair enough.

[Jabbott]

Bob Dylan

Lennon and McCartney

Ted Leo

Robert Pollard

Elvis Costello

Conor Oberst

Sufjan Stevens

Josh Homme

Jack White

Lou Reed

Bruce Springsteen

[SamuelGabriel83]

donovan is a good lyricist its a shame he doesnt get the recognision he deserves

[Lazz]

To save time, my sddition is regurgitated from a previous thread on the same topic plus a few other names I remembered later:

W.S. Gilbert, Johnny Burke, Irving Berlin, Ira Gershwin, Johnny Mercer, Sammy Cahn, Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Betty Comden, Billy Strayhorn, Stephen Sondheim, Mike Stoller with Jerry Leiber, Gerry Goffin with Carole King, Smokey Robinson, Percy Mayfield, Tim Hardin, John Sebastian, Aretha Franklin, Jimmy Webb, Jake Thackeray, Randy Newman, Van Dyke Parks, Oscar Brown Jr., Hal David, Antonio Carlos Jobim, Vinicius Moraes, Caetano Veloso, Jacques Brel, James Taylor, Dave Frishberg, Andy Partridge, Walter Becker & Donald Fagen, Fran Landesman, Tom PhantomEngineer, Chris Difford and Glen Tilbrook (dunno which one is lyricist), Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Gordon Lightfoot, Ron Sexsmith, Elvis Costello Billy Bragg, Bob Rylett, Billy Joel....

I like these guys because they are all incredibly smart and crafty with words and style.

There must be loads more.

[Lee]

My favourite lyricists are Fish and Lloyd Cole. I'm not sure why these two stand out for me, I just like their unique style of writing althought they are both very different.

Lee

[Guitargodchris]

Lazz Ive not heard of any of them except for Elvis Costello, Billy Bragg and Billy Joel !

I shall have to check them out

Regards,

Chris

[lemonstar]

Andy Partridge - a massively under-appreciated British talent - shame stage fright forced him out of the limelight. He was/is a talented guitarist and was a charismatic performer and above all, I think, a genius songwriter.

I'm a huge appreciator of Pete Doherty's songwriting too. Difford was great in his heyday but I've not been impressed by the song I heard off his latest album - some song about a handbag. I recognize most of Lazz's bar about 5.

Edited June 14, 2008 by lemonstar

[SamuelGabriel83]

Milla Divine Comedy Album

not sure if milla writes all her own lyrics but there great any how.

Syd Barret

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BptZA3qWBk...feature=related

Love syd barrets lyrics I dont think anyone else can write psychedelic music like syd.

cream

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ud1Y7rXFEQg...feature=related

the first super group and still one of the best

Edited June 22, 2008 by SamuelGabriel83

[Pretense]

Kevin Gilbert (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp_pczrUug4/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ahSuN9tMKuA)

Both a lyrical favourite and a hero. Guy could do any genre and make it sound good and with tons of emotion. Plus, you know, accidentally killed himself while jacking it, gotta love that.

Neal Morse (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yz2WgX1hp0/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LZ8ArciKdZo)

Guy wrote absolute gibberish (note the link) and it was GOOD. Of course about 6 years ago Jesus told him to leave Spock's Beard and he's been writing him love songs ever since. But at least his music is still great.

Peter Gabriel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W35wtfcByIY/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RdD6L4cKKU8)

The inspiration for both of the above. Again, gibberish and lots of it, but the kind that, erm, makes sense? Anyway, any guy who sticks a recipe for scrambled eggs in a song is a lyrical genius by my standards.

Lennon, McCartney, Mercury, May

What's there to say, really?

Joe Jackson

He alternates between profound, emotional, cliche and incredibly stupid, in some instances during the same song, so he's a bit of a hit and miss, but he really nails a lot of stuff sometimes. I like the structure of his writing, it's very... I dunno, conversational?

I'm getting carried away I think.

[Guitargodchris]

[Steve]

Phantomengineer.

[tindle]

Jackson Browne, John Prine..

[Steve]

Jackson Browne, John Prine..

Welcome back! Long time.