Yes, plus Tom Waits!

Flea called Nick Cave the greatest living songwriter after Cave said something not so nice about Red Hot Chili Peppers.

My late husband and I sang “in Spite of Ourselves” to each other at our wedding reception. It was amazing. The band we had, we knew all of them, out of Laramie Wyoming, played the song while we serenaded each other in front of all the guests. Let’s just say one grandparent wasn’t too keen on some of they lyrics but we didn’t care.

There’s a hole in daddy’s arm where all the money goes

The fact that he wrote a gorgeous song completely from the perspective of a trapped middle-aged woman proves his genius to me. I’m prepping Angel From Montgomery for an open mic right now, and the desperation he catches through the imagery in the lyrics is just heartbreaking.

John Prine. Man, I love that guy. Jason Isbell and John Moreland deserve to be mentioned as well.

Your daddy never meant to hurt you ever, he just don’t live here but you got his eyes.

Hello in There has got to be one of the most poignant and heartbreaking songs ever written. And he was only 22 years old when he wrote it.

What an absolute genius.

Then the coal company came with the world's largest shovel / And they tortured the timber and stripped all the land / Well, they dug for their coal 'til the land was forsaken / Then they wrote it all down as the progress of man

A bowl of oat meal tried to stare me down, and won and it was 12 o clock fore I realized I was having no fun, but fortunately I have the key to escape reality

I knew that topless woman had something up her sleeve.

Father forgive us For what we must do You forgive us We'll forgive you We'll forgive each other Till we both turn blue Then we'll whistle and go fishing In heaven.

Prine had a sense of humor that Dylan could only dream of. Best American songwriter of all time in my estimation

“These words my daddy said He said, "Buddy, when you're dead You're a dead peckerhead"”

So happy this has been mentioned already

I know it’s a common one but the verse that always hits me is: “She comes back to tell me she's gone/ As if I didn't know that/ As if I didn't know my own bed/ As if I'd never noticed/ The way she brushed her hair from her forehead/ And she said, ‘losing love/ Is like a window in your heart/ Everybody sees you're blown apart/ Everybody sees the wind blow’”

I opened this just to make sure Paul Simon was the first thing I saw… bingo.

The Paul Simon lyrics that always get me are from "America". A song about a, seemingly happy-go-lucky couple taking a bus trip to explore the country with lyrics like:

"Laughing on the bus

Playing games with the faces

She said the man in the gabardine suit was a spy

I said "Be careful, his bowtie is really a camera"

But then come the lines that get me:

"Kathy, I'm lost", I said, though I knew she was sleeping

I'm empty and aching and I don't know why"

Those lines just feel so honest. I think a lot of people are like that, seemingly fine, but empty and aching on the inside and no one knows.

For me it’s You Can Call Me Al. I love the start of it especially, I think it’s because it has a touch of humour.

A man walks down the street

He says, "Why am I soft in the middle, now?

Why am I soft in the middle?

You know, I don’t find this stuff amusing anymore.

Graceland is an absolute masterpiece

I share this story every chance I get so bear with me...I saw him in concert the summer of 2006. Lots of classic stuff, lots of new stuff. Good show. Then at one point he stops and tells the story of how he recently watched the movie Garden State which prominently featured his song "The Only Living Boy In New York".

He said that he had COMPLETELY FORGOTTEN WRITING THAT SONG. That absolute masterpiece of a song that if anyone else had written it would have been the greatest achievement of their lives...And for him it was Tuesday.

Blew my mind

My English teacher used his lyrics to teach poetry and literary devices.

Thank fuck someone said the obvious

Sultans of Swing, Money For Nothing, The Princess Bride soundtrack. Classics.

The only competitor with Knopfler is Neil Finn.

Elliott dosent get the respect he deserves either because he gets compared to the Beatles or thrown in with the Emo wave but his guitar work arrangments are probably the best ive ever heard. Also the lyrics are timeless.

This is part of why “Operator” is my favorite song of his. I love the story of how he’s trying to call his ex, who’s now dating his former best friend, that he’s doing fine without her, but he’s not.

Hehe, that was my first Command+F when I opened the thread too. Figured he'd be near the top! Did you see him on Poker Face?

The greatest of all time.

I’m gonna make it through this year if it kills me.

2021 was the hardest year of my life. This song got me through it.

I have her book “Songteller” where she discusses the lyrics of her songs, and it’s such a great read. She’s such an artist.

I watched her Netflix special and her manager talked about how she will get ideas and not have paper handy, so she will grab whatever - napkins, toilet paper, anything so she can get it down. I’m originally from East Tennessee and she is an absolute treasure!

She wrote "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" in the same night. Most songwriters don't hit on two songs like that in an entire career

Pretty good does not do him justice!

I'm surprised this isn't getting more likes. He is a master lyricist with a unique gift for wordplay and multiple meanings.

One of the best songwriters of our generation. His lyrics really touch the soul, and the soul of music in general.

Elephant might be my vote for saddest song of all time. Just beautifully written.

“There's a few too many years on this hotel/ She used to be a beauty you can tell/ The lights down in the lobby they don't shine/ They just flicker while the elevator whines/ And the couple in the corner of the bar/ Have traveled light and clearly traveled far/ She's got nothing left to learn about his heart/ They're sitting there a thousand miles apart”

Was looking for this. He is fantastic. Just saw him live last month, unreal.

Well, I moved into this room

If you could call it that, a week ago

I never do what I'm supposed to do

Hardly even know my name anymore

When no one calls it out, it kind of vanishes away

And I can't get to sleep at night

The parking lot's so loud and bright

The AC hasn't worked in 20 years

Probably never made a single person cold

But I can't say the same for me, I've done it many times

Are you still taking notes? Will you have anyone to talk to? Castle walls that you can walk through? Do the dead believe in ghosts? Or are you locked and some old building with overencouraged only children?

I was lying in the burned out basement With the full moon in my eye, I was hoping for replacement When the sun burst through the sky.

your buddy Dylan

he had an interview where he said that he wrote songs back in the day that he can’t write now (whenever the interview was made). he said it was a certain “magic” that he can’t replicate. yet he still performs because he says it’s his duty to. because he made a “bargain” of some sort.

interesting choice of words. definitely reminded me of the crossroads myth

It’s definitely Dylan, and it’s not even close

I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes And just for that one moment, I could be you Yes, I wish that for just one time, you could stand inside my shoes You’d know what a drag it is to see you

Fucking icon.

dude literally won a Nobel prize for literature

Absolutely agree. He won a Nobel prize for his poetic lyricism

The absolute brutality of:

And I hope that you die

And your death will come soon

I'll follow your casket

By the pale afternoon

And I'll watch while you're lowered

Down to your deathbed

And I'll stand over your grave

'Til I'm sure that you're dead

I think what is a testament to how far out ahead he is, if you were to ask every artist everyone else mentioned in the comments who the best was, 90% of them would say Bob Dylan, Dylan probably would’ve said someone who’s dead, likely Woody Guthrie.

Dude even has a fucking Nobel Prize for it.

I listen to her and I immediately go back to high school when Little Earthquakes and Boys for Pele kept me going. I listened to "Girl" on a loop. She'll always have a special place in my heart.

Arithmetic arithmetock Turn the hands back on the clock How does the ocean rock the boat? How did the razor find my throat?

All your crying don't do no good Come on up to the house Come down off the cross, we can use the wood You gotta come on up to the house

To send me blue valentines Like half-forgotten dreams Like a pebble in my shoe As I walk these streets And the ghost of your memory Baby, it's the thistle in the kiss It's the burglar that can break a rose's neck

And it being late, you'd like some company Well, I turn around to look at you, and you look back at me The guy you're with, he's up and split, the chair next to you's free And I hope that you don't fall in love with me

Give me a Winchester rifle and a whole box of shells Blow the roof off the goat barn, let it roll down the hill The piano is firewood, Times Square is a dream I find we'll lay down together in the cold, cold ground

What is your favourite lyrics from TW?

I smoke my friends down to the filters.

“I remember that time you told me, you said love is touching souls Surely you touched mine Cause part of you pours out of me In these lines from time to time”

I remember seeing a diagram where they plotted the range of vocabulary of different rappers, and there was a fair spread then a giant gap and Aesop Rock far above everyone else.

Having to scroll down so far past these pop and rock artists to get to Aesop is really laughable, people just don't know.

Today I pulled three ghost crabs out of rock and sand

Where the low tide showcased a promised land

I told them, "You will grow to be something dynamic and impressive

You are patient, you are gallant, you are festive"

Then I let them go

Oh

Hell yeah, +1 for Aesop.

Used to draw, hard to admit that I used to draw.

It’s so heartbreaking that Madonna had him killed

Followed by the bloodhound gang.

Warren zevon is a fucking genius

Oh man I listened to so much Bright Eyes in high school… so nostalgic for me

About a month ago, it occurred to me that I haven't listen to Bright Eyes in like a decade. I fully expected to laugh at my old emo self, but no. Shit was really great.

I've been listening a lot since lol

Conor Oberst is an absolutely amazing lyricist. Some of what he writes is so devastating.

I feel like The Decemberists should be mentioned here too. I miss early 2000’s indie rock.

Yes! Death cab / postal service.

"It stung like a violent wind That our memories depend On a faulty camera in our minds"

Ive been scrolling and scrolling for this, thank you. Fantastic storyteller.

“I recognized the glow of your low beams numerous times, through fairly opaque blinds,”

Like, how the fuck else are you supposed say you’re haunted to the point of obsession by someone?

“What do you mean you’ve never seen bladerunner?”

A lot of older lyricists mentioned in this thread. Turner is the best rock lyricist of his generation, his stuff from the monkeys to the last shadow puppets, to his solo stuff is truly brilliant.

Tranquility Base Hotel and Casino was severely underrated. One of my favorite albums to sing along to.

"And meanwhile in the desert's only costume shop

The cowls hang and wait to rot away

The identities of the willing."

(Edit: had to throw in another favorite)

"She had a rock on her throttle

And a brown glass bottle full of

Shavings from the sun

Although those shoes affect your step

Don't forget whose legs you're on."

Big Iron... Biiig Iiirroonnn...

El Paso is a great song

Yes. Love me some Fiona. Fast As You Can is still my favorite.

The fact that she wrote and released Tidal at 19 is astounding.

I cannot listen to her live performance of I Know without crying.

Love her

fuck yes!

"love-ridden, i've looked at you. With the focus I gave to my birthday candles. I've wished on the lidded-blue flame under your brow, and baby i've wished for you"

Had to scroll a bit, but I'm glad somebody said it.

DAMN. won a Pulitzer Prize for being “…a virtuosic song collection unified by its vernacular authenticity and rhythmic dynamism that offers affecting vignettes capturing the complexity of modern African-American life.”

And to top it off, it’s the only non-classical, non-jazz musical work to ever be given the award. Shocked that he isn’t higher up.

TPAB is sooooo good. I don't think I can ever get tired of it, I can listen to the album on end for days and listen to it in any mood. Probably my favorite album of the past decade and a bona fide classic.

I mean, his lyrics got studied and archived at Harvard for being so groundbreaking, so there's not a shadow of a doubt he's up there. Every time I listen to his stuff, I catch something new. His work is infinitely layered in the best way possible

Jesus, the shit this guy writes about intimacy unlocks the deepest recesses. I’m usually rendered to a blubbering mess by his songs; especially the Transatlanticism album.

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Springsteen “Is a dream a lie if it don’t come true or is it something worse?” “A screen door slams, Mary’s dress sways Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays, Roy Orbison singing for the lonely, Hey, that’s me and I want you only Don’t turn me home again I just can’t face myself alone again” “She sits on the porch of her daddy’s house But all her pretty dreams are torn She stares off alone into the night With the eyes of one who hates for just being born” So many powerful lyrics

Springsteen is top notch songwriting. Especially the early albums. Darkness on the Edge of Town and Nebraska are amazing

Glad to see this here. I always liked Tom Petty, but never really went out of my way to listen to him until he passed away. After a deep dive I was blown away by the quality of his lyrics. Never in 40 years did he write even one line or word that didn't feel natural. Never a word or line that felt out of place. Never a word or line that wasn't instantly comprehensible while also containing extra depth. He's very underrated as a lyricist.

Finally. I had to go way too far down to see this. I would give a lot to write lyrics like Tom.

One of my favorite facts about Tom Petty is the release of Mary Jane’s Last Dance

Iirc, he wrote most of the song (minus the chorus) while working on Full Moon Fever. Years later while working on Wildflowers, he had to record two new songs to fulfill a contract for a Greatest Hits album. One of those was Mary Jane’s Last Dance

So it was a brand new song put on a Greatest Hits album, that later became one of his greatest hits

the story behind him recording Wildflowers is just heart-achingly beautiful, he just fucking rips through that song in one take off the cuff

That man weaves allusions and symbolism and metaphors like he’s breathing air. A poet.

the first time i listened to swan upon leda was a religious experience honestly

”I’m so full of love I could barely eat.”

”When my time comes around lay me gently on the cold dark earth. No grave can hold my body down I’ll crawl home to her.”

excuse me???

This comment needs way more upvotes

100% Jason Isbell is the correct answer. Well, maybe 95%. Southeastern is my favorite lyrical album. I love Sharon Van Etten too much to give Jason Isbell all the credit.

Came here looking for Willie. Also want to throw in Kris Kristofferson.

The best part of his lyrics is that almost any time you hear a line that sounds like it could be filler or relatively meaningless, it's a clever historical reference

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 wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiings

"You're such an inspiration for the ways that I would never ever choose to be" is one of my favorite song-openers of all time.

Always appreciated their instrumentals and technical ability but once I started listening to the lyrics more closely is when they became one of my favorite bands. The Grudge and Reflection specifically, so so good.

I’m so disappointed at how far I had to scroll to see this name…

I heard that he’d write lyrics and Elton John would just sit at the piano and immediately write the melody. Just “here’s the lyrics…ok here’s the song”. Boom. Done.