Love Ray Davies and the Kinks, but I think Tom Waits needs to be in this conversation:
*Wasted and wounded, it ain’t what the moon did,
I’ve got what I paid for now
See you tomorrow, hey Frank, can I borrow
a couple of bucks from you
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You’ll go waltzing Mathilda with me
I’m an innocent victim of a blinded alley
And I’m tired of all these soldiers here
No one speaks English, and everything’s broken,
and my Stacys are soaking wet
To go waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You’ll go waltzing Mathilda with me*
<snipped several verses>
*And you can ask any sailor, and the keys from the jailor,
And the old men in wheelchairs know
And Mathilda’s the defendant, she killed about a hundred,
And she follows wherever you may go
Waltzing Mathilda, waltzing Mathilda,
You’ll go waltzing Mathilda with me
And it’s a battered old suitcase to a hotel someplace,
And a wound that will never heal
No prima donna, the perfume is on an
Old shirt that is stained with blood and whiskey
And goodnight to the street sweepers, the night watchmen flame keepers
And goodnight to Mathilda, too*
But that’s just it. You can compare Davies to Townsend, because they wrote the lyrics. Comparing The Kinks to The Who is a different situation because of the other band members, etc.
I’m really just talking about the ability to write catchy, memorable, moving or clever songs. The other names mentioned are all good, although some are much less prolific, and that counts (to me.) This wasn’t about who has written the best song, or even album, but more about their entire catalog.
It is all opinion and personal taste of course.
And I don’t know if anyone else could write a song about spousal abuse and pull off:
Leonard Cohen is, although he’s maybe not so much rock though.
I’d second the nomination of Morrissey, biting wit, keen observationist, ability to turn a good phrase, and, perhaps the clincher, awesome song titles.
I too like Leonard Cohen (although I have to admit that Suzanne and Bird On A Wire are my two favorites by him, but Ray gets into the psyche, and that makes him a genius songwriter to me.
Davies is enjoyable, but not the best. The best lyrics in rock and roll are to be found in Tambourine Man by Robert Zimmerman. And I’m not a big Dylan fan. But the lyrics there are the work of a genius of the very first order.
Other good lyricists in rock, but hardly exhaustive:
Robert Hunter (Grateful Dead)
Pete Townsend
Roger Waters
John Lennon
