Author Topic: Artists with great Lyrics?  (Read 1749 times)

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Gray Imp Sausage Metal

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #30 on: February 18, 2021, 01:09:48 AM »
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Propagandhi
Birdcloud
Bright Eyes
Inner Terrestrials
Leonard Cohen
The Rebel Spell
Saul Williams
Willie Dunn
[close]
Yes! That whole band swells with talent. And to watch Chris rip guitar and sing is a sight to behold.
[close]
Jords Drumming too! Overall great band, I need to get into Chris' podcast...
[close]

Yes you do!
The podcasts are usually 1/3 about the history around the song, 1/3 the technical details of recording, and 1/3 about the meanings.
propagandhipod is taking up too much of my time already...

Impish sausage is definitely gonna blow up as a euphemism this year

behavioralguide

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #31 on: February 18, 2021, 07:04:41 AM »
-Bonnie prince billy/ palace music/ palace brothers
-Bill Callahan/ smog

which youve probably heard before if yr into David berman/ silver jews, since theyr all on Drag City (label)

childhood

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #32 on: February 18, 2021, 08:29:29 AM »
I'm not really into poetry, but I liked David Berman's book of poems too
https://textz.com/textz/Actual%20Air.pdf

Escape Hell

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #33 on: February 18, 2021, 12:46:50 PM »
Expand Quote
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Propagandhi
Birdcloud
Bright Eyes
Inner Terrestrials
Leonard Cohen
The Rebel Spell
Saul Williams
Willie Dunn
[close]
Yes! That whole band swells with talent. And to watch Chris rip guitar and sing is a sight to behold.
[close]
Jords Drumming too! Overall great band, I need to get into Chris' podcast...
[close]

Yes you do!
The podcasts are usually 1/3 about the history around the song, 1/3 the technical details of recording, and 1/3 about the meanings.
What the podcast called? Definitely checking it out.

Gray Imp Sausage Metal

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #34 on: February 18, 2021, 04:51:12 PM »
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
Expand Quote
Propagandhi
Birdcloud
Bright Eyes
Inner Terrestrials
Leonard Cohen
The Rebel Spell
Saul Williams
Willie Dunn
[close]
Yes! That whole band swells with talent. And to watch Chris rip guitar and sing is a sight to behold.
[close]
Jords Drumming too! Overall great band, I need to get into Chris' podcast...
[close]

Yes you do!
The podcasts are usually 1/3 about the history around the song, 1/3 the technical details of recording, and 1/3 about the meanings.
[close]
What the podcast called? Definitely checking it out.
https://www.patreon.com/posts/catastrophic-ep-21248606

Impish sausage is definitely gonna blow up as a euphemism this year

FrozenIndustries

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #35 on: February 20, 2021, 06:49:54 PM »
Prefab Sprout / Paddy McAloon.

Urtripping

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #36 on: February 21, 2021, 06:04:26 PM »
Tom Waits is pretty great! Lots of range, with songs like "Drunk On The Moon" or "Ol' 55" to "God's Away on Business" and "Step Right Up."

Also I got wayyy into a Michael Gira (from Swans) album after hearing this one, loved the lyrics

http://youtu.be/GAKetEPZb8c
I saw your mommy and your mommy's dead


QixHexagon

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #37 on: February 22, 2021, 05:29:12 PM »
Bright Eyes
Smog/Bill Callahan
Spoon
They Might Be Giants (nerdy cool)
Red House Painters/Sun Kil Moon
The Microphones/Mount Eerie
Destroyer
Pavement/Stephen Malkmus
Lucy Dacus
Bonnie Prince Billy
Elliott Smith

chris.

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #38 on: February 23, 2021, 05:03:11 AM »
Townes Van Zandt is one of the best songwriters who ever lived imo. His words are poetry.

Townes is untouchable. 

Of names not mentioned so far, Jason Isbell is my choice. His words are so deliberate and concise, and they convey so much.

I just want to shoutout Propaghandi again too. From “Dear Coach’s Corner” - “It takes a village to raise a child, but just a flag to raze the children.” Shiiiiiiiiiit.

dunc

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #39 on: February 23, 2021, 12:11:11 PM »
Tom Waits is pretty great! Lots of range, with songs like "Drunk On The Moon" or "Ol' 55" to "God's Away on Business" and "Step Right Up."

Also I got wayyy into a Michael Gira (from Swans) album after hearing this one, loved the lyrics

http://youtu.be/GAKetEPZb8c

Yeah Tom Waits is brilliant. I am a big fan.
They laughed when I told my friends that I was going to be a comedian.....well they are not laughing now!

Frank and Fred

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #40 on: February 23, 2021, 04:27:00 PM »
Dan Higgs from Lungfish

"I am everywhere all the time
You will know me by my smell
East-West on the greyhound line

Tracing invisible trails
Here is my head in a Lucite box
You will know me by my frequency
Here is my footprint on the face of Mars
In the Year of Our Lord, 10, 000 B.C
It's later than I thought it could get
I lust in brand new ways
I loiter below the weather clock
To await the appointed day
When the bibles rise in the urban skies
And combust in electric flames
The birds sustain a monotone drone
Until we forget our names
These dreams we dream in common
You know the ones where we eat our organs
That dream is the last reminder
That dream is the final warning
Those who heed greet those who defy
Those who admit salute those who deny
And rise to a certain altitude
Where the divided mind is nullified
Choose your choice at the chosen time
Remove your face at the designated place
Peel your skin at the beginning, friend
It will be returned at the end
Labor and toil and trial and task
The nature of which depends who you ask
One thing is certain
This much is clear
The first day is looming
The last day is near"







Burt Ward

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #41 on: February 24, 2021, 04:18:23 PM »
Willy Vlautin from Richmond Fontaine and The Delines is also a published novelist. His lyrics are usually melancholic vignettes. Heartbreaking at times. I love him.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4ZYa3JS4E&ab_channel=RichmondFontaine-Topic

I saw the yobs and D.O.A but I couldn't go home
So I went down to the yards and I sat by the concrete wall
And the wind picked up and I fell asleep on the dirt and gravel at the Welhorn Yards
Harry shook me awake as the wind howled above us and it nearly scared me to death
From a distant street light I saw the cut on his face and his blood soaked shirt
"Everything went wrong," he cried. "I lost the money and I think J.P is gone. He was just laying on the floor when I ran for the door."
At the Welhorn Yards, that night at the Welhorn Yards
Harry smoked cigarettes as the wind flurried above us
I gave him all the money I had and I gave him my ID and coat and watched him disappear down the road
I sat back down and fell into the uneasiest of sleeps
The worst nightmares of sleeps
Where a madman came after me
His hair was on fire and his eyes were bleeding
And he said he was gonna kill me
Now, we used to say we put on our tights to put on the world. So I don't think it tarnishes the image at all.

friendly dave

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #42 on: February 25, 2021, 12:31:21 PM »
There are a bunch of modern folk singers putting out really good stuff right now. Matt Heckler, Willi Carlisle, Benjamin Tod/Lost Dog Street Band, The Hill Country Devil, Jason Dea West just to name a few.
Because you can't kill and idea, and we will not be ruled!

the visuals are also mad visual yo
FTW

dunc

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #43 on: February 25, 2021, 02:35:29 PM »
Loving most of the recommendations so far!!
They laughed when I told my friends that I was going to be a comedian.....well they are not laughing now!

brycickle

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #44 on: February 28, 2021, 10:02:07 PM »
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

 You and the D00D have turned this thread into a horrible head-on-collision between a short bus full of regular kids and a van full of paraplegics.



GauchoAmigo

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #45 on: March 05, 2021, 06:09:26 AM »
Holy shit, Neil Young hasn't been mentioned yet.
Dude is the singer/songwriter of all time.

"Sailin' hardships through broken harbors
Out on the waves in the night
Still the searcher must ride the dark horse
Racing alone in his fright"

That first line alone....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSWxU-mirqg
« Last Edit: March 29, 2021, 01:08:32 PM by GauchoAmigo »

dunc

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #46 on: March 21, 2021, 02:45:10 PM »
Holy shit, Neil Young hasn't been mentioned yet.
Dude is the singer/songwriters of all time.

"Sailin' hardships through broken harbors
Out on the waves in the night
Still the searcher must ride the dark horse
Racing alone in his fright"

That first line alone....



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSWxU-mirqg

Thanks for this. I have dusted off NY since you posted this and really loving him.
They laughed when I told my friends that I was going to be a comedian.....well they are not laughing now!

skate_or_dingus

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #47 on: March 21, 2021, 05:17:33 PM »
ASMZ/Efrim Menuck:

https://youtu.be/a_ZRTAOV4r8

https://youtu.be/6fDG3hz84Ug

https://youtu.be/SGcK6w_ewLo

"Black Waters Blowed/Engine Broke Blues":

I found a penny where the black waters blowed
A dagger, a crown, or a home in the snow
And scraps, soil, and sentries for the children below
There's ones that are liars & ones that don't know

There's ones that are shattered while others get saved
I will not be buried in my mother's grave
I'm a wing in the water between the dull waves
There's ones that are shattered & others get saved

The Gallows was hungry & tawdry & slow
And fists full of candy for the children below
The bones of a horse, knee-deep in snow
There's one that are liars & ones that don't know

We go too slow - ignore...
We go too slow - hurrah
We go too slow - ignore...

It was
No joke
When your engine broke
And the monsters came – a’brawling...

Those bankers
Always win,
And this trouble
That you're in
Is not your own
We're each and all this fallen...

Feathers
In your spokes
Motherfuck these
Weathered yokes,
I wish we could
But worries always calling...

Thieves
In our clothes
Trophies for their trifles
They don't know
Their glory's only
Vapors...

And pennies
For our pride
Goddamn these
Tired eyes
I'm so in love
With all
Our still born labors...

No homeland for the gentle-hearted
Lack and tears for the young departed
For all the good they never started

We're building train wrecks in the setting sun
We're building train wrecks in the setting sun
We're building train wrecks in the setting sun (in the setting sun)





« Last Edit: March 21, 2021, 05:27:52 PM by skate_or_dingus »

botefdunn

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #48 on: March 21, 2021, 06:07:18 PM »
not in the same indie vein as op, but Dar Williams and Jim Croce some of my fav lyrics for different reasons.

matty_c

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #49 on: March 28, 2021, 10:32:42 AM »
Willy Vlautin from Richmond Fontaine and The Delines is also a published novelist. His lyrics are usually melancholic vignettes. Heartbreaking at times. I love him.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Z4ZYa3JS4E&ab_channel=RichmondFontaine-Topic

I saw the yobs and D.O.A but I couldn't go home
So I went down to the yards and I sat by the concrete wall
And the wind picked up and I fell asleep on the dirt and gravel at the Welhorn Yards
Harry shook me awake as the wind howled above us and it nearly scared me to death
From a distant street light I saw the cut on his face and his blood soaked shirt
"Everything went wrong," he cried. "I lost the money and I think J.P is gone. He was just laying on the floor when I ran for the door."
At the Welhorn Yards, that night at the Welhorn Yards
Harry smoked cigarettes as the wind flurried above us
I gave him all the money I had and I gave him my ID and coat and watched him disappear down the road
I sat back down and fell into the uneasiest of sleeps
The worst nightmares of sleeps
Where a madman came after me
His hair was on fire and his eyes were bleeding
And he said he was gonna kill me

Love it
This is nowhere near as good but I though you might like it, it’s about skating
https://m.soundcloud.com/gutty-2/badass-by-bushweek-1
listen to cosmic psychos

brucewillis

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #50 on: March 29, 2021, 08:01:59 AM »
This might not be complex lyricism but few musicians/songwriters might've put out something with this great storytelling, feeling and realism. RIP to a great one.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuPxlVJ3NVc

pedro_mayn

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tuesday

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #52 on: April 16, 2021, 11:54:42 PM »
Steve Earle and his story songs. And Guy Clark.

brycickle

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #53 on: April 18, 2021, 09:31:31 AM »
^^^Justin Townes Earle too. It's really heart breaking listening to Steve Earles new album covering his son's songs.

 You and the D00D have turned this thread into a horrible head-on-collision between a short bus full of regular kids and a van full of paraplegics.



urbneathme

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #54 on: April 18, 2021, 08:53:22 PM »
^^^Justin Townes Earle too. It's really heart breaking listening to Steve Earles new album covering his son's songs.
that last song on the steve record is fucking heartbreaking. JTE's last record "saint of lost causes" is a really really special collection of tunes

dunc

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #55 on: April 19, 2021, 06:10:24 PM »
Steve Earle and his story songs. And Guy Clark.
Chris knox has great story songs.Check this dozzy
http://youtu.be/4pETUTyahxg
They laughed when I told my friends that I was going to be a comedian.....well they are not laughing now!

tacotime

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #56 on: April 29, 2021, 08:42:58 AM »
I'mma huge Sebadoh/Lou Barlow fan so it's a little biased but Loobie is a great writer

Love Sebadoh so much ...



& whenever someone asks this kind of question about lyrics, I always think of:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=k98Qsu2_Qvk

First heard it on the college radio station in my town when I was maybe 11 years old, was the first time I heard a song that was politically aware and had a narrative but wasn’t something like Bob Dylan.

I still remember what it felt like sitting on the rug in front of my little boombox and realizing you can insert any country name in place of Britain, how the U.S. wasn’t an exception. It really made me think about life in a way that changed me, that has stayed with me.

RegularJames

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #57 on: April 30, 2021, 03:01:26 PM »
Propagandhi
Birdcloud
Bright Eyes
Inner Terrestrials
Leonard Cohen
The Rebel Spell
Saul Williams
Willie Dunn

This is a good list.  Would add Elliott Smith and Perfume Genius for some sadboy shit (like Bright Eyes).

Sifter

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #58 on: April 30, 2021, 03:19:38 PM »
Morbid Angel (A,B,C,F,G albums)
The Mars Volta are fascinating especially on De-loused



Gray Imp Sausage Metal

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Re: Artists with great Lyrics?
« Reply #59 on: May 01, 2021, 05:01:21 AM »
I just want to post again to say propagandhi, fucking so deep/ thoughtful and yet still so political (and dare I say even a tad spiritual these days?).

I have a friend that is really into metal and punk but doesn’t worship them and I simply can’t fathom why...

I don’t think they’ll ever not be my favorite band and I’m fine with that!
« Last Edit: May 01, 2021, 05:28:40 AM by Gay Imp Sausage Metal »

Impish sausage is definitely gonna blow up as a euphemism this year