Great Lyricists

I was asked the question, a few weeks ago: who do I think is a great lyricist today?  Who do I think is great at creating lyrics in music today?  It seems like it's getting harder and harder to find quality lyrics.  Even in some of my favorite bands, some of my favorite performers, the lyrics they write are not great.  More often than not, they're not even good.  They're mainly a patchwork of disjointed images, separated line by line, with no real connection between them.

As for singer/songwriters and the like, they lack something as well.  Bob Dylan is one of the first names that come to mind when people try to explain great lyrics, but I find even Bob's lyrics  too disjointed at times to be considered as great as most consider them.  Symbolism, imagery...these things are tools of poetry, and they are important, but they should not be the focus of poetry.  They should not be the subject of poetry, and that is where I find some of Bob Dylan's lyrics to be lacking.  A great set of lyrics can tell a story, whether it is a specific story or an ambiguous one, but a story that has a purpose.  Images are great, symbols are great, and they are important contributions to that one story.  They should not be the story.

Great lyrics should also have interesting phrases; interesting descriptions.  They should incorporate phrases that are unique and inventive.  In short, a great phrase in a lyric should be described as a phrase that "can't be told in a better way".  They can be direct, they don't have to be shrouded in mystery.  They can be said in any way, as long as they are said in the right way.

Great lyrics have to have memorable lines.  That's pretty much the point there.

Writing lyrics for Cadence Delicate has been a slow, turbulent growing process for me.  I know all the things I believe make great lyrics, and I want to implement them all, but actually doing so is much harder.  So far I have concentrated more on what I think makes lyrics great and tried to incorporate them, more than writing what I believe and how I feel, and editing from there.  To this point, I have not written many lyrics that I can say with utter certainty that I feel are great, but I know I am getting closer.

As for the original question: there are only a couple of artists I feel like, right now, I would call great lyricists, and they are even fewer if you ask me about current artists.  Here is one example of what I would call a great set of lyrics from a current artist.  TV on the Radio is one of the best bands I have ever heard, and have had the pleasure of seeing live.  This is a song of theirs off of their album "Return to Cookie Mountain".


"Wolf Like Me" (As performed by TV on the Radio)
by Tunde Adebimpe

Say say my playmate
wont you lay hands on me
mirror my malady
transfer my tragedy

Got a curse I cannot lift
shines when the sunset shifts
when the moon is round and full
gotta bust that box gotta gut that fish

My mind's aflame

We could jet in a stolen car
but I bet we wouldn't get too far
before the transformation takes
and bloodlust tanks and
crave gets slaked

My mind has changed
my body's frame but god I like it
my hearts aflame
my body's strained but god I like it

My mind has changed
my body's frame but god I like it
my hearts aflame
my body's strained but god I like it

Charge me your day rate
ill turn you out in kind
when the moon is round and full
gonna teach you tricks that'll blow your
mongrel mind
baby doll I recognize
you're a hideous thing inside
if ever there were a lucky kind it's
you you you you

I know its strange another way to get to know you
you'll never know unless we go so let me show you
I know its strange another way to get to know you
we've got till noon here comes the moon
so let it show you
show you now

Dream me oh dreamer
down to the floor
open my hands and let them
weave onto yours

Feel me, completer
down to my core
open my heart and let it
bleed onto yours

Feeding on fever
down all fours
show you what all that
howl is for

Hey hey my playmate
let me lay waste to thee
burned down their hanging trees
it's hot here hot here hot here hot here

Got a curse we cannot lift
shines when the sunset shifts
there's a cure comes with a kiss
the bite that binds the gift that gives

now that we got gone for good
writhing under your riding hood
tell your gra'ma and your mama too
it's true
we're howling forever