Who is the best lyric writing poet alive today?

[Miss_Woodhouse]

Sam Payne. You’ve probably never heard of him, but he’s good. I also love the poetry of David Wilcox and John Smith.

I find for the best lyricist you have to look outside popular radio. Popular radio just doesn’t seem to support the more complex, meaningful lyrics. People just don’t listen well enough to appreciate them for the most part.

[Rick_Kitchen]

From the young set, I recommend Ed Sheeran:

The A Team
By Ed Sheeran

White lips, pale face
Breathing in snowflakes
Burnt lungs, sour taste

Lights gone, days end
Struggling to pay rent
Long nights, strange men

And they say
She’s in the class A team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries

And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
'Cause we’re just under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams
And she don’t want to go outside, tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the motherland
Or sells love to another man
It’s too cold outside
For angels to fly, for angels to fly

Ripped gloves, raincoat
Tried to swim and stay afloat
Dry house, wet clothes

Loose change, bank notes
Weary-eyed, dry throat
Call girl, no phone

And they say
She’s in the class A team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries

And they scream
The worst things in life come free to us
'Cause we’re just under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams
But she don’t want to go outside, tonight
And in a pipe she flies to the motherland
Or sells love to another man
Its too cold outside
For angels to fly
An angel will die
Covered in white
Closed eye
And hoping for a better life
This time, we’ll fade out tonight
Straight down the line

And they say
She’s in the class A team
Stuck in her daydream
Been this way since eighteen
But lately her face seems
Slowly sinking, wasting
Crumbling like pastries

They scream
The worst things in life come free to us
And we’re under the upper hand
And go mad for a couple grams
And we don’t want to go outside, tonight
And in the pipe fly to the motherland
Or sell love to another man
It’s too cold outside
For angels to fly, angels to fly
To fly, fly
For angels to fly, to fly, to fly
Angels to die

[Alessan]

Randy Newman should definitely be on this list, perhaps even right after Dylan and Cohen. No other lyricists can be as darkly ironic as him (see *Sail Away, Rednecks, Political Science, God’s Song (That’s Why I Love Mankind), My Life is Good *and many more), but he could also evoke genuine emotion when he wanted to (as in *Louisiana, 1927 *and Dixie Flyer).

[Thudlow_Boink]

@astorian

Ray Davies and Paul Simon.

@tuesdayweld

I do not think Elvis Costello should be overlooked in this discussion.

Those are the three names I was going to suggest, if you hadn’t beaten me to it. And a personal favorite, Terry Scott Taylor.

Speaking of which, anyone who’s interested in songwriters or songwriting should check out the songwriter interviews at songfacts.com. What brought this to mind is that this thread reminded me of the interview there with Taylor in which he said

Songfacts: Who are some of the songwriters that inspired you or continue to inspire you?

Terry: Well, obviously, Dylan is one. Leonard Cohen is a real influence. Paul Simon. I love Paul Simon’s songwriting. Even apart from the musicality, the conversational way he writes and the word play, the fun of it, the mystery of it. It’s clever, but it’s not too clever that it’s self conscious or something. I’ve told young songwriters who’ve asked me the same question, who should I emulate? I say, “Paul Simon. Go get Graceland. Go listen to that record. Look at the lyrics, look what he’s doing there.”

[OneCentStamp]

Of people not yet named in this thread, I’d throw in Paul Westerberg and the slightly overrated, but still great Bruce Springsteen. Van Morrison and John Fogerty sneak in around the edges.

[KarlGauss]

@Octarine

For Cohen, I’d start with “Famous Blue Raincoat”,“Suzanne”, “Hallelujah” (link is to the Rufus Wainwright version, my personal favorite), and “Everybody Knows”.

There’s certainly no shortage of Cohen songs that illustrate his poetic (as opposed to musical) genius.

Still, any list of his songs having ‘the best’ lyrics has to include ‘The Stranger Song’ (link gives music and lyrics).

[Annie-Xmas]

Since both Bob & Bruce have been mentioned, I’ll throw in the other B-guy: Billy Joel.

Definitely above him, though is Kris Kristopherson. And Kinky Friedman

[Rather_a_Vicious_Gentleman]

@Annie-Xmas

And Kinky Friedman

Ahhhh, forgot all about them Texas Jewboys! Great comic westerns. Asshole from El Paso, Homo Erectus, Sold American, and Ride 'em Jewboy are terrific.

[Mixolydian]

Throwing in a few more that haven’t been mentioned yet:

Richard Thompson
Jeff Tweedy
Pete Townshend
Allen Toussaint
Jackson Browne

[Annie-Xmas]

@Rather_a_Vicious_Gentleman

Ahhhh, forgot all about them Texas Jewboys! Great comic westerns. Asshole from El Paso, Homo Erectus, Sold American, and Ride 'em Jewboy are terrific.

You forgot Kinky’s theme song They Ain’t Makin’ Jews Like Jesus Anymore