I'd have to put Robert Hunter right up there!

And I'd second the mention of Ray davies as well.

who cares for lyrics ?
As Chuck Berry said years ago, lyrics don't matter, only music does especially in rock'nroll

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jpasc95
who cares for lyrics ?
As Chuck Berry said years ago, lyrics don't matter, only music does especially in rock'nroll

perhaps rock's greatest poet said lyrics don't matter. figures. i think it was mozart who said that the notes don't matter. these guys!

If I was a musician I'm sure Mick would also be top of my list due to how much I have listened to him growing up. Plus there is a model of lyric writing one could honestly aspire to. Bob Dylan is a cut above all others, and trying to emulate him could make many a writer look like a fool.

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jpasc95
who cares for lyrics ?
As Chuck Berry said years ago, lyrics don't matter, only music does especially in rock'nroll

anyone who believes that is a neanderthal.

mick and keef are totally underrated. i mean look at shine a light, rocks off, sister morphine etc...yea everyone knows they can fool around and be silly but when they want to, its pure genius

Jagger WAS a great lyricist at one time. During the great golden era of the Stones he was excellent. He wrote some great stuff during the '60's too and some great stuff after Exile but some of it's pretty bad too. Alot of his lyrics from Voodoo Lounge on have been pretty cliched and well......just not very good.

But in his prime he was one of the very best ever IMO.

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Gazza

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jpasc95
who cares for lyrics ?
As Chuck Berry said years ago, lyrics don't matter, only music does especially in rock'nroll

anyone who believes that is a neanderthal.

oh yes, you should see me when I listen to rockn'roll...looking like a cro-magnon jumping and knocking with my cudgel down on the ground and yelling out loud...horrible !

Very good to see Mick getting the credit for his lyrics that he deserves. Apart from the usual frustrations of metre and rhyme, Mick was a poet. Also Serge Gainsbourg, David Bowie, Syd Barrett, Jacques Lanzmann & Anne Segalen (for Jaques Dutronc), Jacques Brel etc.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 2011-04-14 13:16 by Squiggle.

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KillRill
"More recently he's written a lot of stuff that could almost be described as sentimental, but which still has a cutting edge."

One time you were my baby chicken.
Now you've grown into a fox.
And once upon a time I was your little rooster.
Am I just one of your cocks?

lol.....funny.
But that lyric merely illustrates the level to which Jagger has fallen as a lyricist. When he seems moved, the man can still write some great stuff, PMS, Blind LEading the Blind, Don't Call Me Up....but too often he relies on contrived melodrama or juvenile sexual metaphors that are not sexy.
At his peak, however, Jagger was sharp as a lyricist - he had a quirkiness in his phrasing. Jagger himself has probably done more than anyone to diminish his greatness as a songwriter by refusing to acknowledge that his lyrics mean anything and people have bought that overused shtick for decades, even fans. (Sweet Black Angel - 'Well, there was a pretty picture of ANgela Davis on the wall....it doesn't actually mean[/[/b]i] anything....' blah blah etc..)
Bullshit. I think Jagger is one of the most autobiographical rock-era songwriters ever, next to Lennon. Rice mentions songs like "PLay With Fire" with its references to hieresses....that's what was happening to Jagger back then. Mick isn't Springsteen, someone who can write with the sensitivity of a novelist, drawing from other people's lives and experiences. Springstten paints mural of lives. Jagger is too lazy and narcissistic to write about poor destitute and forlorn Joe and Mary from the Heartland. Jagger seems inherently too self-absorbed to write about anything but himself...or about something that affects him, whether its a relationship or an issue. Rice is correct.



Edited 7 time(s). Last edit at 2011-04-14 00:10 by stupidguy2.

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jpasc95

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Gazza

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jpasc95
who cares for lyrics ?
As Chuck Berry said years ago, lyrics don't matter, only music does especially in rock'nroll

anyone who believes that is a neanderthal.

oh yes, you should see me when I listen to rockn'roll...looking like a cro-magnon jumping and knocking with my cudgel down on the ground and yelling out loud...horrible !

LOL...brilliant visual. I have this disturbing image of the Slag Brothers from Wacky Races in my head now...

Although I agree with Mick being at the very top of the list, there are way too many great writers that were not listed; where's Lennon-McCartney??? Where's Pete Townshend, Brian Wilson, Don Henley, Carole King, Joni Mitchell?? Bad list, except for Mick, of course.

why are some of you getting your panties in a bunch because this guy didn't list what YOU think are the greatest lyricists? i don't get it. music is subjective.
also, brian wilson wasn't much of a lyricist. sure he wrote a little bit but he left the lyrics mostly for others to write.