Best Lyricist of the last 30 years

oxx

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Thread starter #1
I vote Bernie Taupin,mostly for his work with Elton,slthough some of his best work was with Alice Cooper in the early to mid 70s.

Thoughts
 

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rick James

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#2
Nas

illmatic had some of the greatest lyricism of all time. let alone the last 30 years.
 

oxx

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This is about a normal guy trapped in a nuthouse.

The Quiet Room

The California air
Your nightgown on the stairs
I remember every night
Scenes from home in the Quiet Room

How long have I been gone
Did winter kill the lawn
And all those polaroids you sent
Are on the wall in the Quiet Room

They've got this place
Where they've been keeping me
Where I can't hurt myself
I can't get my wrists to bleed
Just don't know why
Suicide appeals to me

The Quiet Room
Is sterilized and white
It's like a tomb
With just a moth stained naked night

Plastic forks and spoon
No laces in my shoes
They all know what I tried to do
Outside the Quiet Room

This quiet place
It ain't so new to me
It's haunted atmosphere
Has heard so many scream
My home from home
My twilight zone
My strangest dream

My confidant
I have confessed my life
The Quiet Room
Knows more about me than my wife

They've got this place
Where they've been keeping me
Where I can't hurt myself
I just can't
I just can't get these damn wrists to bleed

A mattress on the floor
No handles on the door
I really need nothing here
I'm alone
 

rick James

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#5
Nas - one love lyrics:

Whattup kid? I know ******** is rough doing your bid
When the cops came you shoulda slid to my crib
******** it black, no time for looking back it's done
Plus congratulations you know you got a son
I heard he looks like you, why don't your lady write you?
Told her she should visit, that's when she got hyper
Flippin, talk about he acts too rough
He didn't listen he be riffin' while I'm telling him stuff
I was like yeah, shorty don't care, she a snake too
********ing with the niggaz from that fake crew that hate you
But yo, guess who got shot in the dome-piece?
Jerome's niece, on her way home from Jones Beach - it's bugged
Plus little Rob is selling drugs on the dime
Hangin out with young thugs that all carry 9's
at night time there's more trife than ever
Whattup with Cormega, did you see 'em, are y'all together?
If so then hold the fort down, represent to the fullest
Say whassup to Herb, Ice and Bullet
I left a half a hundred in your commisary
You was my fellow when push came to shove
One what? one love

[Verse Two]
Dear Born, you'll be out soon, stay strong
Out in New York the same ******** is goin on
the crack-heads stalking, loud-mouths is talking
hold, check out the story yesterday when i was walking
the fellow you shot last year tried to appear like he hurtin' something
word to mother, i heard him fronting
and he be pumping on your block
your man gave him your glock
and now they run together, what up son, whatever
since I'm on the streets I'ma put it to a cease
but I heard you blew a fellow with a ox for the phone piece
Whylin on the Island, but now with Elmira
better chill cause them niggaz will put that ass on fire
Last time you wrote you said they tried you in the showers
but maintain when you come home the corner's ours
On the reels, all these crab niggaz know the deal
When we start the revolution all they probably do is squeal
But chill, see you on the next V-I
I gave your mom dukes loot for kicks, plus sent you flicks
Your brother's buck whylin' in four maine he wrote me
he might beat his case, 'til he come home I play it low key
so stay civilised, time flies
though incarcerated your mind (dies)
I hate it when your mum cries
it kinda wants to make me murder, for real-a
I've even got a mask and gloves to bust slugs for one love

[Verse Three]
Sometimes I sit back with a buddha sack
mind's in another world thinking how can we exist through the facts
written in school text books, bibles, et cetera
******** a school lecture, the lies get me vexed-er
So I be ghost from my projects
I take my pen and pad for the week
and hittin nails while I'm sleepin
A two day stay, you may say I need the time alone
to relax my dome, no phone, left the 9 at home
You see the streets have me stressed somethin terrible
********in with the corners have a fellow up in Bellevue
or h.d.m., hit with numbers from 8 to 10
a future in a maximum state pen is grim
So I comes back home, nobody's helpin shorty doo-wop
Rollin two phillies together in the Bridge we called 'em oowops
He said, "Nas, niggaz could be bustin' off the roof
so I wear a bullet proof and pack a black tres-deuce"
He inhaled so deep, shut his eyes like he was sleep
Started coughing when I peeked to watch me speak
I sat back like the mack, my army suit was black
We was chillin' on these bitches where he pumped his loose cracks
I took an l when he passed it, this little bastard
keeps me blasted he starts talkin mad ********
I had to school him, told him don't let niggaz fool him
'cos when the pistol blows that's when a murder be the cool one
Tough luck when niggaz are struck, families ********ed up
could've cought your man, but didn't look when you bucked up
Mistakes happen, so take heed never bust up
if the crowd catch him solo, make the right man bleed
shorty's laugh was cold blooded as he spoke so foul
Only twelve trying to tell me that he liked my style
Then I rose, wiping the blunts ash from my clothes
then froze only to blow the herb smoke through my nose
and told my little man that i'm a go cyprose
there's some jewels in the skull that he can sell if he chose
words of wisdom from nas try to rise up above
keep an eye out for jake shorty what
one love
 

oxx

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Thread starter #6
I hear ya RJ but with his lyrix u have to totally go into his ghetto dimension world of pot and the fight against opression against the Black man.

Niggaz is a great lyric:( but in a writting sense leaves a lot to be desired...besides...I prefer Christopher Wallace.

He was so real he got shot.
 

oxx

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Thread starter #10
Donald Fagen and Walter Becker /aja /Steely Dan

HOME AT LAST

I know this super highway
This bright familiar sun
I guess that I'm the lucky one
Who wrote that tired sea song
Set on this peaceful shore
You think you've heard this one before

Well the danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last

She serves the smooth retsina
She keeps me safe and warm
It's just the calm before the storm
Call in my reservation
So long hey thanks my friend
I guess I'll try my luck again

Well the danger on the rocks is surely past
Still I remain tied to the mast
Could it be that I have found my home at last
Home at last



NEW FRONTIER

Yes we're gonna have a wingding
A summer smoker underground
It's just a dugout that my dad built
In case the reds decide to push the button down
We've got provisions and lots of beer
The key word is survival on the new frontier

Introduce me to that big blonde
She's got a touch of Tuesday Weld
She's wearing Ambush and a French twist
She's got us wild and she can tell
She loves to limbo, that much is clear
She's got the right dynamics for the new frontier

Well I can't wait 'til I move to the city
'Til I finally make up my mind
To learn design and study overseas

Have you got a steady boyfriend
Cause honey I've been watching you
I hear you're mad about Brubeck
I like your eyes, I like him too
He's an artist, a pioneer
We've got to have some music on the new frontier

Well I can't wait 'til I move to the city
'Til I finally make up my mind
To learn design and study overseas
Let's pretend that it's the real thing
And stay together all night long
And when I really get to know you
We'll open up the doors and climb into the dawn
Confess your passion your secret fear
Prepare to meet the challenge of the new frontier
 

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oxx

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Thread starter #13
I look for a few different things in songs

If we're talking lyricists then you immediately raise the bar to the level of claritable excellence cos they are afterall,following in the steps of other great writers,including novelists and playwirights etc

i like Taupin becsae of his uncanny ability to put the listener in the shoes of the principal role of the song while at the same time painting such a colorful backdrop with his translation of lyric into the mood of pre written music.

I expect Cobain will get a mention akthough I put him in the Suzi Quattro category of Decadent rebel artist of the decade as opposed to

If we're talking street blues rock then no=one spoke it like Bon Scot.

If u wanna go way back there is none better than George abd Ira Gershwin.

Their songs are the most performed in the world at any given time


I guess u have to look at what was going on in the world at the time of the song to get a full understanding of whats being said
 

oxx

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Thread starter #15
NorthBhoy said:
Maynard.

Lock this thread.
U cant say Maynards twisted take on earth surpasses the realities of a plethora of other good lyricists surely ?
 

oxx

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Thread starter #18
In Australia I think James Reyne is a great wordsmith,along wirth Paul Kelly
 

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#20
BRETT GUREWITZ

I Want to Conquer the World - (No Control 1989)

Hey Brother Christian with your high and mighty errand,
Your actions speak so loud, I can't hear a word you're saying.

Hey Sister Bleeding Heart with all of your compassion,
Your labors soothe the hurt but can't assuage temptation.
Hey man of science with your perfect rules of measure,
Can you improve this place with the data that you gather?

Hey Mother Mercy can your loins bear fruit forever?
Is your fecundity a trammel or a treasure?

And I want to conquer the world,
Give all the idiots a brand new religion,
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness and toil,
Promote equality in all my decisions
With a quick wink of the eye
And a "God you must be joking!"

Hey Mr. Diplomat with your worldly aspirations,
Did you see the children cry when you left them at the station?
Hey moral soldier you've got righteous proclamation,
And precious tomes to fuel your pulpy conflagrations.

And I want to conquer the world,
Give all the idiots a brand new religion,
Put an end to poverty, uncleanliness and toil,
Promote equality in all of my decisions
I want to conquer the world,
Expose the culprits and feed them to the children,
I'll do away with air pollution and then all save the whales,
We'll have peace on earth and global communion.
I want to conquer the world! [x4]


GREG GRAFFIN

Against the Grain - (Against the Grain 1990)

three thousand miles of wilderness
overcome by the flow,
a lonely restitution of pavement,
pomp and show,
I seek a thousand answers,
I find but one or two,
I maintain no discomfiture,
my path again renewed,

against the grain,
that's where I'll stay,
swimming upstream,
I maintain against the grain

here labelled as lunatic,
sequestered and content,
there ignored and defeated
by the government,
there's an oriented public who's magnetic
force does pull,
but away from the potential of the individual,
against the grain.....

the flow is getting stronger
with smaller increments of time and eddies
of new ideas are increasingly hard to find,
you need all that the other has,
your right to seize the day
but in all your acquisitions you will soon
be swept away,

against the grain......
there's a common consensus
and an uncomfortable cheer,
a reverberating chorus that anyone can hear,
it sings "leave your cares behind you,
just grab tenaciously",
this lulling sense or purpose will
destroy us rapidly,
against the grain.....


The Lenonn and McCartney of the punk rock world.
 

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#25
Van Der Zeevalk said:
Todd Rundgren
Hm.. almost forgot this one..

Paddy McAloon from Prefab Sprout.

Most of Todd Rundgren's best work was pre 1975. Started to go more ' commercial' and mainstream after the 1975 album ' Initiation ' and more involved in the Utopia band concept, although still maintained a solid output of great lyrics on subsequent releases, most notably ' Hermit Of Mink Hollow ( 1978 ) and ' The Ever Popular Tortured Artist Effect " ( 1983 )

McAloon's lyrics though are the produce of one brilliant mind and many of Prefab Sprout's songs are some of the most emotive stuff I have ever heard.
To cite a few examples, Cruel, We Let The Stars Go, Life Of Surprises and Carnival 2000 stand out, and then there are their two gems which were minor chart hits here in the mid to late '80s, ' Appetite ' and ' Cars & Girls ' .
Cars & Girls I would say is close to the best lyric ever written.

Others pop up from time to time with one gem. Benny Maedones' 'Into The Night ', 'Shandi ' by Kiss and ' Fool ( If You Think It's Over ) by Chris Rea are good examples.
 
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