My list should have had four names on it.
I did forget John Prine.
I am an Idiot!!!
Leonard Cohen
Bruce Cockburn (not terribly well known in the US, but huge in his native Canada)
Lennon and McCartney, Dylan, Cohen, Phil Ochs.
You all get -1 for neglecting to mention Beck
Sea Change was a fucking masterpiece of a breakup album.
These days…I barely get by
I don’t even try
The late, great Howard Ashman.
Lou Reed. Leonard Cohen. And Robyn Hitchcock.
Billy Bragg
Nick Cave
Dido (I am not joking here - Thank You is a great song)
Post #48, and I’m the first to mention Ray Davies?
Yes.
I came in to say John Hiatt.
My other husband, John Darnielle.
Please get into him; the Mountain Goats are marvellous. Sometimes it’s the delivery, but he’s lyrically, in my opinion, top-notch engaging stuff. I’ve never seen an audience inspired to belt out I hope you die, I hope we both die with such genuine affection.
Since he hasnt been mentioned, I will add my 2 cents that Sting (though he may personally be a pompous jackass) wrote some incredibly insightful lyrics when he was with the Police (his solo stuff, not so much) and that in the late 70’s-early 80’s, the Police were about the most literate, lyrically significant rock band around…
I think his solo lyrics are better. More mature, less heavy handed.
Lyricists who don’t get anywhere near the respect they deserve:
Kirsty MacColl. She was a genius lyricist, the female Elvis Costello. Some samples:
Big Boy on a Saturday Night
*The last of England’s spoiled brats, grand order of the gutter rats
A big fish in a public house
You’re never going to learn to shut your mouth
A silly pseudo lager lout with nothing much to shout about
Spent hours looking in the mirror trying to perfect the perfect pout
Now take the spotlight and pause for your applause
Well my oh my you’re such a big boy on a Saturday night *
The internal rhymes, the alliteration, the structure…
Greg Brown is a legacy songwriter whose lyrics express so much without feel “fancy”. From “The Poet Game”, a song that talks about love and loss:
Natalie Merchant/10,000 Maniacs always seems to be ignored when it comes to these lists. Her topics revolve around heavier ideas and I’ve always been impressed that she can do it without being heavyhanded or trite. In
“Among the Americans” she recounts the Cherokee’s trail of tears and uses their word for President Andrew Jackson
John Wesley Harding does my favorite type of songwriting, mixing topical ideas with a dash of wit. In “Protest Protest Protest”, he takes the view of an aged cynic.
Poi Dog Pondering (Frank Orrall) has a way of writing uplifting lyrics without frommage, even if it’s about death.
There’s also: Jill Sobule, Tom Waits, Tim Minchin, Cheryl Wheeler, Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Ani DiFranco, Patty Griffin, and I’m sure I’m forgetting some big ones.
Poi Dog Pondering was SUCH a great band, and the couple of times I saw them play live were absolutely stand out performances…
I dont know too much about what is going on with Frank Orrall recently, but that guy is seriously talented.
Before this gets too out-of-hand (and methinks it will)…a few I haven’t seen mentioned…
Steve Goodman
Jackson Browne
Jay Farrar
and although he technically doesn’t fall into the last half century…Chuck Berry.
Warren Zevon
Paul Simon
Freddie Mercury
Marty Robbins
John Denver
Dolly Parton
I’m just ditto-ing a few.
Paul Simon- early stuff I really love “Cecilia” but mostly I like the later, solo career songs. There are VERY few albums that I like start from finish without any skipping songs, and Graceland is one of them. But my favorite song of his has to be *Hearts and Bones *,I especially love the line: “Mountain passes, slipping into stone”. It’s simple but it’s just something I turn over in my head over and over.
Morrissey/The Smiths: “Don’t you know…time’s tide will smother you”. I didn’t know when I was one of those depressed girls with the Hatful of Hollow t-shirt- but twenty years later, I sure as hell know now.
Then I don’t know if anyone mentioned him because overall, he may not qualify. But Iggy Pop’s The Passenger is my favorite song ever.
*Oh, the passenger. He rides and he rides.
He sees things from under glass.
He looks through his window’s eye.
He sees the the things he knows are his,
He sees the bright and hollow sky
He sees the city asleep at night
He sees the stars are out tonight.
And all of it is yours and mine… *
ricky lee jones