Lou Reed

[Anonymous No.12586743]

Is he /lit/? He wrote a book of poetry and some of his lyrics are interesting.

[Anonymous No.12586779]

>>12586743
1. Leonard Cohen
2. Bob Dylan
3. Lou Reed
4. Lennon/McCartney
5. David Bowie
6. Jarvis Cocket
7. Nick Cave
8. Alex Turner

Lyrics-wise.

[Anonymous No.12586791]

>>12586743
1. Leonard Cohen
2. Bob Dylan
3. Lou Reed
4. Lennon/McCartney
5. David Bowie
6. Jarvis Cocker
7. Nick Cave
8. Alex Turner

Lyrics-wise

[Anonymous No.12586796]

>>12586743
A lot of his stuff is godawful but he has his moments

[Anonymous No.12586806]

usually can't stand velvet underground
venus in furs a good song tho
over-played, but

[Anonymous No.12586835]

>>12586796
Agreed. He peaked with The Velvet Underground but a few of his solo albums are excellent.
>>12586791
Solid list. Although Alex Turner shouldn't be on it. He isn't a bad lyricist but he isn't a God tier one either.

[Anonymous No.12586847]

>>12586791
Replace Alex Turner with Tom Waits

[Anonymous No.12586862]

>>12586847
Yeah, Tom Waits is far superior. I would also rank Ian Curtis, Mark E. Smith and John Lydon above Turner. Lydon has written a ton of awful lyrics but some of the stuff he wrote in the early days of PiL is pretty good.

[Anonymous No.12586864]

>>12586847
>>12586835
>not liking the best lyricist of the 21st century
Let me guess, Americans?

[Anonymous No.12586873]

>>12586864
>likes bullshit post-Pavement indieshit
Let me guess, British?

[Anonymous No.12586886]

>>12586873
>American and British are the only nationalities on earth

[Anonymous No.12586924]

>>12586862
>Tom Waits
Literally who. Turner will be remembered years from now the same way we think of Bowie or Iggy Pop. Some of this songs are already classics in modern culture.

[Anonymous No.12587066]

>>12586791
Absolutely based.

[Anonymous No.12587113]

>>12586924
not that anon but, i dont think we will remember a. turner the same way we remember about Bowie, mostly because we remember bowie not just because the music. his face is a fucking tshirt stencil, an not only ziggy stardust, but a lot of his charecthers of his different eras. so, i dont think that fits, they will be remembered just as the strokes will be remembered. the list is also about lyricism, and not what will be remembered in years to come. if that were the case people like earl sweatshirt o kendric lamar will be there. (but /lit/ hates those ;))

[Anonymous No.12587149]

>>12587113
>kendrick lamar
>earl (literally who)
You Americans really think the world cares about your "musicians", don't you? Absolute cringe. Yea he won't be as famous as Bowie but I've seen people with Arctic Monkeys tshirts and even tattoos. And The Strokes are has-beens at this point. Angles was their last decent record.

[Anonymous No.12587172]

>>12586886
>Implying otherwise

[Anonymous No.12587203]

Men of good fortune, often cause empires to fall
While men of poor beginnings, often can't do anything at all
The rich son waits for his father to die
The poor just drink and cry
And me I just don't care at all

Men of good fortune, very often can't do a thing
While men of poor beginnings, often can do anything
At heart they try to act like a man
Handle things the best way they can
They have no rich daddy to fall back on

Men of good fortune, often cause empires to fall
While men of poor beginnings, often can't do anything at all
It takes money to make money they say
Look at the Fords, but didn't they start that way
Anyway, it makes no difference to me

Men of good fortune, often wish that they could die
While men of poor beginnings want what they have
And to get it they'll die
All those great things that live has to give
They want to have money and live
But me, I just don't care at all

Men of good fortune
Men of poor beginnings

[Anonymous No.12587405]

He has moments of great lyricism. TVU has amazing albums. But he was indeed a major asshole and he produced more garbage than gold

[Anonymous No.12587451]

>>12587149
You really come onto a literature board and complain about people talking about writers? Kendrick and Earl are insanely talented writers how the fuck is it cringe to talk about them

[Anonymous No.12587733]

>>12587451
Consider suicide if you're serious.

[Anonymous No.12587772]

>>12587733
they're objectively great you imbecile

[Anonymous No.12587836]

>>12587772
they're objectively not great you mongoloid

[Anonymous No.12588078]

>>12587451
>>12587836
>>12587836
Post a great moment of Kendrick

[Anonymous No.12588095]

>>12588078
I dislike that trash, why would I do that?

[Anonymous No.12588109]

Imo Alex Turner is worthy of top tier but it’s easy to shit on him cause he’s kinda lame, tried too hard to be cool

>>12587149
britfag here

It’s not even a fashionable opinion, all my friends who listen to/idolise rock music share it. Rap/hip-hop has truly replaced rocks place in society. It’s noy temporary. Kendrick has a Pulitzer Prize. Much of it is white apologism sure, but they’re still great writers

[Anonymous No.12588161]

>>12588109
>Kendrick has a Pulitzer Prize
yea for "music", it's like winning the Song category at the Oscars or the Nobel Prize for Peace, it doesn't really matter.

[Anonymous No.12588218]

Candy says
I hate the quiet places
That cause the smallest taste of what will be
Candy says
I hate the big decisions
That cause endless revisions in my mind

I'm going to watch the blue birds fly
Over my shoulder
I'm going to watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me

[Anonymous No.12588284]

The gift off white light/white heat is fucking god tier

[Anonymous No.12588309]

>>12587836
If were talking hip-hop with literary merit billy woods and milo should probably be in the conversation before earl n kendrick imo.

[Anonymous No.12588329]

>>12588078
not him but I think "how much a dollar cost" is pretty well written. Also it's hard to judge Kendrick solely by lyrics, often times it's his vocal delivery and the backing instruments of the song that really sell the aesthetic. Anyway, I think he isn't a great literary mind but he sure knows the art of rap

[Anonymous No.12588340]

>>12586791
>alex turner

also no richey edwards, no nick drake, no tom waits

[Anonymous No.12588359]

>>12588340
>>12586847
>>12586862
>Tom Waits

[Anonymous No.12588397]

>>12586743
you just reminded me to listen to him today

[Anonymous No.12589186]

>>12588284
That's John Cale - iirc, but a literary songwriter in his own right.

[Anonymous No.12589190]

>>12589186
Looked it up, it's Lou Reed.

[Anonymous. No.12589215]

>>12586791
No Father John Misty... His main thing is the lyrics...

[Anonymous No.12589222]

>>12586791
>5. David Bowie
I'm glad somebody recognizes him for his lyrics

>1. Cohen above Dylan
REEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Anonymous No.12589227]

>>12589215
leave

[Anonymous No.12589238]

>>12588078
That moment when he invited a white woman on stage to sing part of a song the got mad at her when she said the word 'nigger' which was in the lyrics he wrote.

[Anonymous No.12589242]

>no one mentioning Joanna Newsom

[Anonymous No.12589243]

>>12589215
I think he's far too clever, and he doesn't have the songs to back it up.

[Anonymous No.12589252]

>>12589242
Monkey and Bear hits me so hard, good point.

[Anonymous No.12589586]

>>12586791
mark e smith, paddy mcaloon, jacques brel, michael gira maybe, lady from coctaeu twins

[Anonymous. No.12589603]

>>12589227
I really feel ambivalent about his sound too, but his lyrics are on fucking point.

[Anonymous No.12589639]

>>12589586
furthermore: stuart murdoch, mark hollis, neil young
the chap from gong is very creative lyrica wise

[Anonymous No.12589648]

>>12586924
Tom Waits is far more famous than turner though

[Anonymous No.12590273]

>>12589648
Maybe in Burgerland. Certainly not in Latin America and Europe.

[Anonymous No.12590333]

>>12589648
lol no

[Anonymous No.12590356]

>>12588340
>ichey edwards, nick drake, tom waits
literally who
>>12587451
>Kendrick and Earl
the absolute state of burgers lmao
>>12589215
>Father John Misty
lol
>mark e smith, paddy mcaloon, jacques brel, michael gira maybe, lady from coctaeu twins
Gira is based af.
>>12589639
>furthermore: stuart murdoch, mark hollis, neil young
I do regret not including Neil Young in my list.

[Anonymous No.12590368]

>>12588340
>ichey edwards, nick drake, tom waits
literally who
>>12587451
>Kendrick and Earl
the absolute state of burgers lmao
>>12589215
>Father John Misty
lol
>>12589639
>mark e smith, paddy mcaloon, jacques brel, michael gira maybe, lady from coctaeu twins
Gira is based af.
>>12589639
>furthermore: stuart murdoch, mark hollis, neil young
I do regret not including Neil Young in my list.

[Anonymous No.12590427]

>>12586924
>being this much of a pleb

[Anonymous No.12590433]

>>12590427
not an argument

[Anonymous No.12590438]

>>12586791
oh and btw this is my personal list, I couldn't care less about your literal who Burgers or niggernoise "writers". fuck you all.

[Anonymous No.12590612]

You've read too many books
You've seen too many plays
And it's things like this, that turn you away
Hey, hey, now, now, look, ha, look
Hey look, hey look, hey look, you better think about it twice
I know that your good breeding makes it seem not so nice
It's just a temporary thing
Aha, aha, aha, it's just a temporary thing

[Anonymous No.12590686]

>>12586791
>jarvis cocker
>lennon/mccartney
>nick cave
fucking brainlet

[Anonymous No.12590759]

>>12590686
>not liking based Jarvis, aka the best lyricist of the 90s

[Anonymous No.12591222]

>>12586924
Who's Alex Turner?

[Anonymous No.12591225]

>>12589215
Why are you here?

[Anonymous No.12591278]

>>12591222
The guy that sings and writes all the Arctic Monkeys music
I like him a lot, especially considering he wrote most of their first album at like 16 and has a wide range of sounds he can get into
Don't know how he can compare to earlier artists like Bob Dylan or Tom Waits or whoever the fuck because I'm 21 and don't give much of a fuck about listening to hundreds of albums of boomer music just so I can shitpost about which one's superior

[Anonymous No.12591659]

>>12586743
LULU is his best.

[Anonymous No.12591680]

>>12590686
nick cave had a handful of god-tier lyrics very early on in his career and then it went downhill really really fast. His stuff after 1990 is trash, lyrically.

[Anonymous No.12591704]

>>12586791
I agree with most of this list, but honorable mentioned for John Prine and Randy Newman for their ability to pack a ton into just a few simple words. They're too Americana to be remembered forever, but they're on my list either way.

[Anonymous No.12591848]

>>12591659
are you ralsei

[Anonymous No.12592016]

Well I may be a phoneposting ebook reading faggot but boy am I glad not to be enough of a no99er to actually consider Alex Turner to be more than a decent-teenage-pop-song-writer-turned-poor-wanna-pop-teenage-cherry-songwriter

[Anonymous No.12592055]

>>12592016
>no99er
What's that? I just like his lyrics. Specially those in Humbug and TBHC.

[Anonymous No.12592079]

>>12591222
For better or worse, the best lyricist of the 21st century.

[Anonymous No.12592465]

>>12592016
Yeah look at this cuck desperately trying to get teenagers to look at him, he'll never get as much pussy as us right lads

[Anonymous No.12592603]

>>12592055
It's a more ~sűbtlė~ way of saying N I G G E R

>>12592465
My point was, he's doing his navel-gazing lounge crooning shit precisely for the teenage poontang and he exhausted what little amount of artistry he had in less than half a decade.

Anyone who thinks that someone who moans "why'd u only call me when ur hi" (while ondulating their tightly clad hips) is by any metric "/lit/", is a mental runt. The first three albums were quite entertaining, clever, even, at times, but he's more akin to a Maroon5 than to a Bobby Dylans.

[Anonymous No.12592617]

>>12590759
dude i love jarvis, but he's not a great lyricist. i mean, his lyrics are great, but his songs aren't literary. also he sings about himself in second-person a lot
>>12591680
maybe i'll check out his early stuff. he seems really overrated imo

[Anonymous No.12592686]

hes /lit/. listen to his live i cant stand it anymore.
>"i woke up at 6:30 and on the radio i heard a truck driver ran over his baby boys head and it burst like a watermelon
>"i graduated with honours in Kierkegaard"
>"i made the existential leap, who wouldnt waking up at 6:30 listen to that"

[Anonymous No.12592735]

>>12592617
Aborigine by Pulp (written by Jarvis Cocker)

Starts so slowly, just a place to stay
Somewhere warm where they can spend their days
Air is stagnant and he feels unclean
Hair hangs greasy and he smells obscene
Something's happened and it's not so good
Broken bottles in the face of love
Mottled flesh under the harsh strip-light
Nylon sheets to keep them warm at night
Once it's started it can never stop
Fills his head with a dark damp fog
In the distance is a constant cry
Growing louder as the years go by
Days get longer and he starts to drink
Spews his stomach in the kitchen sink
Tells his children they should have respect
Tells his wife that she's a nervous wreck

He hates his wife and he hates them all
He hates his wife and he hates them all

Can't be bothered when it's all the same
Leave it long enough, it goes away
In the meantime stomach turns to fat
She tries to tell him but he can't have that
She's only jealous and she's telling lies
Standing naked in his flesh disguise
It took him months to get her into bed
Now he's got her he just wants her dead
She wants excitement and she needs romance
All she gets are dirty underpants
Stupid animal that can't know why
Something's wrong so someone has to die
The wind is blowing and the rain falls down
Sends his family on a trip down town
Sees them die in a burning wreck
Sees them burn, smokes a cigarette
He hates his wife and he hates them all
He hates his wife and he hates them all

He knows he's finished but he can't stop now
And he wants to end it but he can't see how
And it's all in pieces, thrown it all away
Oh, but he's not ugly, he just looks that way
And he wants some quiet and he needs it now
But the scream he's started's getting far too loud
And he still pretends he does it just for now
His day will come he'll lose it all somehow
Killing time until his ship arrives
Been dead ten years but he's still alive
And the time is wasted and the ship has sunk
But he hasn't noticed and he comes home drunk
And he's just dead weight, he'll never leave the ground
He tries to stand but he keeps falling down
And it's hard to know he doesn't count for much
He's not a has-been, just a never-was
Oh he hates his wife and he hates them all

He hates his wife and he hates them all
Hates his wife
Hates them all

[Anonymous No.12592748]

>>12592603
Listen to Humbug, m8. AM is their more poppy album.

[Anonymous No.12592755]

>>12592617
>his lyrics are great, but his songs aren't literary.
What the fuck does that even mean? No song is literary.

[Anonymous No.12592759]

>>12592603
>he's more akin to a Maroon5 than to a Bobby Dylans
That's quite the exaggeration, but suit yourself. Turner a good lyricist.

[Anonymous No.12593074]

>>12588284
>>12589186
>>12589190
Cale sings The Gift but Reed wrote it. Reed wrote it when he was in college.

[Anonymous No.12593126]

>>12590433
It is. If you haven't heard of Tom Waits then you're a total fucking pleb when it comes to rock music. He's one of the most critically acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation and he's a damn good lyricist. Plus he has had a fine acting career. He has worked with Joel & Ethan Coen, Francis Ford Coppola, and Jim Jarmusch.

[Anonymous No.12593173]

>>12593126
Tom Waits' greatest talent is acting, imo.

[Anonymous No.12593242]

>>12593126
Hi Tom

[Anonymous No.12593359]

>>12593242
I'm too busy making millions of dollars and basking in critical acclaim to post on 4chan.org. Nice try.

[Anonymous No.12593432]

>>12593359
Aren't you like a has-been at this point, though?

[Anonymous No.12593817]

bumpo

[Anonymous No.12593830]

>>12586791
tom waits

[Anonymous No.12593834]

>>12593830
Not in my llst. Make your own.

[Anonymous No.12594002]

>>12586791
No Elliott Smith?

[Anonymous No.12594204]

>>12592755
then why the fuck is this board on lit?

[Anonymous No.12594332]

>>12589215
Back to /r/eddit with you.

[Anonymous No.12594356]

>>12586791
this is an absolute shit list

[Anonymous No.12594377]

>>12594356
Do share yours, genius boy. It's easy to talk shit.

[Anonymous No.12595721]

>Half the thread has been based around fucking Alex Turner

So lit/ has finally fulfilled its metamorphosis into a fucking garbage bin.
Also Stephen Malkmus' lyrics during Pavement are the GOAT.
Stipe is also good and Morrisey is a complete fucking hack

[Anonymous No.12595747]

>tfw no Patti Smith

[Anonymous No.12595802]

>>12589215
5 (You)s with this shit tier bait?

[Anonymous No.12596552]

He was lucky. His songs blow and his poetry is embarrassing.

[Anonymous No.12597006]

>>12593432
My last album received outstanding critical acclaim, was nominated for a Grammy, and reached numerous high spots on the Billboard charts (including number 6 on the top 200). Also, I just appeared in an academy-award nominated Coen brothers film. By what metric am I a hasbeen?

[Anonymous No.12597191]

>>12586862
Tom Waits and Townes Van Zandt.
Both great
>>12589215
>father John misty
Fucking wew. I swear one of these days I'm going to cringe so hard I actually injure myself.

[Anonymous No.12597611]

>>12586743
>>12591659
>i'll cut my tits off
>AH-AH-AH-ICED HONEY

[Anonymous No.12597625]

>>12594377
>>12594356
>no list from him so far
That's what I thought.

[Anonymous No.12598802]

[Anonymous No.12598816]

>>12589586
>paddy mcaloon
absolutely yes. my god, never thought i'd see someone else rep him like that. for anyone curious check out don't sing, although part of the beauty is realizing it has lyrics like that after having heard it as a pop tune for a while. i trawl the megaheartz also

[Anonymous No.12598845]

>>12598802
I did not respect Lou read until I read this. Did she ever realize he was fucking with her?

[Anonymous No.12598909]

>>12586743
his lyrics on Lulu are fantastic

[Anonymous No.12599044]

>>12589586
>Paddy McAloon
Fuck YES my dude
>>12598816
All of Jordan the comback is essentially a novel in music form (semi concept album).

[Anonymous No.12599794]

>>12586791
This is shit
>fucking John "rhymed crazy with lazy" Lennon
lmao
David Bowie had trouble really connecting his lyrics to his music too, unlike Lennon/McCartney where they fit much better for instance.
Anyway no musician has ever been a /lit/ tier lyricist and the fact that people replied to this post saying they liked it is proof /lit/ is fool of pseuds

[Anonymous No.12600421]

>>12586743
John Danielle is a really good songwriter with no mentions itt

[Anonymous No.12600431]

>>12586924
AM will go down in history as the most overrated album ever made

[Anonymous No.12600474]

>>12600431
good thing they had 4 excellent albums prior to that shit show

[Anonymous No.12600718]

>>12600474
I love shitty indie as much as the next guy (probably even more) , but "excellent" is way too far. The entire genre is p. much a wasteland of derivative derivatives, and the few good indie bands I've heard are either way too far off field for me to enjoy or not indie enough to be classified as such.

[Anonymous No.12600871]

Constructus Corporation's Ziggurat is /lit/ as fuck

[Anonymous No.12600963]

>>12591278
>he wrote most of their first album at like 16
Not him but, indeed he has some lirically interesting stuff wich can actually be impressive considering his age at the time. I dig "when the *sun goes down". That fucking accent, kek.

>and has a wide range of sounds he can get into
That said, the band is quite mediocre musically.
The only one who saved the group in some way, was that drummer who could be really energic sometimes. As a guitar player he's quite awful which is not an exception when we talk about "lyrical" songwriters instrument wise at least. Almost not even worth mentioning.

[Anonymous No.12601175]

>>12595747
We don't need this mare

[Anonymous No.12601198]

>>12598802
>Can I shit in you mouth?
Correct that it's actually:
Can YOU shit in my mouth?

[Anonymous No.12601488]

>>12599794
Lennon has moments of incredible lyricism (I am the walrus, across the universe, strawberry fields) but somewhat few and far between, nowhere near bobby D’s consistency.

[Anonymous No.12602500]

Pink Floyd has some very poetic lyrics too

[Anonymous No.12602558]

>>12600431
Hardly. We live in a world where Murifag pop music is all over the place. No 1 Party Anthem is a great ballad.

[Anonymous No.12602688]

>>12591659
Junior Dad is genuinely moving and a pretty strong end to his career.

[Anonymous No.12603187]

>>12591848
>ralsei
a what?

>>12602688
true

>>12597611
The hair on your shoulders
The smell of your armpit
The taste of your vulva and everything on it
We all really love you!

[Anonymous No.12603796]

I'm nominating Captain Beefheart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHjOuS-rABU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWkc3MsgRXc

Van Morrison
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FjSzsu9y9gY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbZf8GY1-Ag

and Tim Buckley
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozAaCiAeUFY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt2th2uanlI

[Anonymous No.12603843]

>>12586791

>hey that's actually a pretty good lis-
>Alex Turner

Seriously, what the fuck? That's not even funny.

[Anonymous No.12603857]

>>12603843
All you faggots just dislike him because his stuff is recent. He's already considered one of the best lyricists.

[Anonymous No.12603883]

>>12603857
Beat the Champ has excellent lyricism, and that's like 2015. Nigga you just wanna fuck the guy probably, he's slightly above median at best

[Anonymous No.12603909]

>>12603883
Born down in El Paso where the tumbleweeds blow
To the middleweight champ of all of Mexico
Dad fought many bloody battles and raised four sons
Chavo was the oldest one
Old man Gory could pop like a live grenade
Raised his boys in the way of the trade
Hector and Mando, young Eddie G
Chavo meant the most to me

vs

Fiendish wonder in a carnival's wake
Dull caresses once again irritate
Tread softly, stranger
Move over toward the danger that you seek
You think excitement has receded then the mirror distracts
The logic of the trance quickly reaches and grasps
Handsome and faceless
And weightless, your imagination runs

Are you a literal nigger? What a shit taste. And stop projecting your homosexuality.

[Anonymous No.12604110]

you all just like him because he fucked trannies

[Anonymous No.12604363]

>>12602500
Roger Waters is a pompous ass but he's an excellent songwriter. A ton of people get so hung up on his personality and politics they forget he was the most important part of Pink Floyd. The Final Cut is a heavily flawed album but it's a masterpiece compared to the PF albums that David Gilmour wrote.

[Anonymous No.12604412]

>>12604110
The funny thing is he ultimately married a woman.