# Who are the best modern lyricists? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 14, 2010, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998 "2010-01-14T22:41:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![koufax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7ea924/32.png) [@koufax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koufax)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/61 "2010-01-17T17:30:27Z")
errr I mean Rickie ---
**Author:** ![PookahMacPhellimey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pookahmacphellimey/32/3175_2.png) [@PookahMacPhellimey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PookahMacPhellimey)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/62 "2010-01-17T19:05:34Z")
Townes van Zandt. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2010, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/63 "2010-01-17T20:25:56Z")
> [@slowmovingvehicle](#): > > I agree about Paul Simon and Bruce Springsteen, but I’m sorry - **Bob Dylan is not in the same league as Ani DiFranco**. Hahaha, what? > [@PookahMacPhellimey](#): > > Townes van Zandt. I second the hell out of this. He belongs on any Best Lyricist list. I’ve seen Jay Farrar was mentioned, and I like him, but I think Jeff Tweedy is better. In fact, I’d put Jeff Tweedy high up on the list with Bob Dylan, Lennon/McCartney, and Paul Simon. From the abstract of **I Am Trying to Break Your Heart** > [@](#): > > I am an American aquarium drinker > I assassin down the avenue > I’m hiding out in the big city blinking > What was I thinking when I let go of you > > Let’s forget about the tongue-tied lightning > Let’s undress just like cross-eyed strangers > This is not a joke so please stop smiling > What was I thinking when I said it didn’t hurt and **She’s a Jar** > [@](#): > > Please beware the quiet front yard > I warned you > Before there were water skies > I warned you not to drive > Dry your eyes, you poor devil > > Are there really ones like these? > The ones I dream > Float like leaves > And freeze to spread skeleton wings > I passed through before I knew you To the more concrete expressions of love and loss like **I’ll Fight** > [@](#): > > And if I die, I’ll die, I’ll die alone > On some forgotten hill > Abandoned by the mill > All my blood will spring and spill > I’ll thrash the air, then be still > > You’ll wake with a start from a dream > And know that I am gone > You’ll feel it in your heart but not for very long > > You’ll rise each day as planned > Your will as your command > And stand each Sunday > A hymnal steady in your hand > > And you’ll sing to yourself the rising, falling melody > That you could never read > Without the choir’s lead > Still alone and lost indeed > And your soul will not be free ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/64 "2010-01-18T01:45:57Z")
Elvis Costello, Dylan, and Townes Van Zandt. But let us not forget **John Prine** : \*\*I been brought down to zero, pulled out and put back there. I sat on a park bench, kissed the girl with the black hair and my head shouted down to my heart “You better look out below.” Hey, it ain’t such a long drop don’t stammer don’t stutter from the diamonds in the sidewalk to the dirt in the gutter and you carry those bruises to remind you wherever you go.\*\* Also… **Grampa’s on the front lawn staring at a rake Wondering if his marriage was a terrible mistake** ---
**Author:** ![BigNik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/73ab20/32.png) [@BigNik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigNik)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/65 "2010-01-18T02:26:35Z")
For consistency, Don Walker, Paul Kelly and John Darnielle in that order, although there are a number of songs whose lyrics blow each of the best of those three out of the water. Tim Rogers is erratic, but brilliant when he’s on form and very underrated. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/66 "2010-01-18T03:07:29Z")
> [@pepperlandgirl](#): > > Hahaha, what? Laugh all you want - Ani DiFranco writes subtle, thought-provoking and moving lyrics _that tell a story_, which is what I look for in a lyricist. Check out _Lost Woman Song_: _I opened a bank account when I was nine years old I closed it when I was eighteen I gave them every penny that I’d saved And they gave my blood And my urine A number Now I am sitting in this waiting room Playing with the toys I am here to exercise My freedom of choice._ And then later in the same song: _Under the fierce fluorescent She offered her hand for me to hold She offered stability and calm And I was crushing her palm Through the pinch pull wincing My smile unconvincing On that sterile battlefield that sees Only casualties Never heros My heart hit absolute zero._ I’ll put that up against anything Bob Dylan ever wrote any day. ---
**Author:** ![HongKongFooey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/c4cdca/32.png) [@HongKongFooey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HongKongFooey)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/67 "2010-01-18T03:23:38Z")
Maynard James Keenan of Tool belongs on this list. From _10,000 Days (Wings, pt.2)_: > [@](#): > > High is the way, but all eyes are upon the ground. > You were the light and the way they’ll only read about. > I only pray, Heaven knows when to lift you out. > Ten thousand days in the fire is long enough; > You’re going home. > > You’re the only one who can hold your head up high, > Shake your fists at the gates saying: > “I’ve come home now! > Fetch me the spirit, the son, and the father. > Tell them their pillar of faith has ascended. > It’s time now! > My time now! > Give me my, give me my wings!” > > You are the light and way that they will only read about. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/68 "2010-01-18T04:03:13Z")
> [@slowmovingvehicle](#): > > Laugh all you want - Ani DiFranco writes subtle, thought-provoking and moving lyrics _that tell a story_, which is what I look for in a lyricist. Check out _Lost Woman Song_: > . I guess we’ll just have to agree to disagree but I am perplexed by the implication that **Bob Dylan** doesn’t write songs “that tell a story”…let alone songs that are “thought provoking” and “subtle.” ---
**Author:** ![xanthous](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/53a042/32.png) [@xanthous](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xanthous)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/69 "2010-01-18T07:15:29Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I’ve always thought that Elvis Costello had the sharpest, smartest, and most intriguing lyrics in pop music. I think of him as the modern-day Cole Porter…TRM I need read no further. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Electric\_Warrior](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@Electric\_Warrior](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Electric_Warrior)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/70 "2010-01-18T15:58:37Z")
Matthew Good, formerly of the Matthew Good Band > [@](#): > > Crawl from the sea > Wait for some thumbs > A greatness to breed > Build the mall of America > When I was a rat > The rat would be king > I imagined ashes and us alone Richey Edwards, formerly of the Manic Street Preachers (just going to link to the lyrics in their entirety - NSFW) [http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/81931/](http://www.songmeanings.net/songs/view/81931/) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/71 "2010-01-18T16:03:30Z")
> [@stpauler](#): > > [Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs](http://www.nataliemerchant.com/r/the-wishing-chair/lyrics/among-the-americans) always seems to be ignored when it comes to these lists. Good catch! ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/72 "2010-01-18T17:18:48Z")
**Neil Finn** of Split Enz, Crowded House, Finn Brothers, and, of course, his own solo career. ---
**Author:** ![MsWhatsit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/eb8c5e/32.png) [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2010, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998/73 "2010-01-18T17:48:22Z")
Dar Williams. No other songwriter can as consistently move me to tears or joy. Her music is really remarkable. If you’re interested, check out “February” on YouTube. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-best-modern-lyricists/524998.md?page=3)