Guardian Great Lyricists booklets series of last week:

 

1. Bob Dylan

2. Bruce Springsteen

3. Morrissey

4. Joni Mitchell

5. Chuck D

6. Patti Smith

7. Alex Turner

8. Leonard Cohen

 

were they the right choices?

 

personally thought it was an alright selection but obv i would have changed 7. from Alex Turner to Jarvis Cocker....even tho i suppose Turner is one of the current media obsessions i think Jarvis is a much much better artist....

Glad to see Chuck D there actually.... He really is one of the most gifted, eloquent wordsmiths of our time.. If only Rap today had a tenth of the verve, intellect and articulation Chuck D and Public Enemy had perhaps we'd see less of these 'orrible little chavvy gits on our streets... :lol:

 

Wonder why it's only 8, why not 10... I'd've added Nick Cave and Jarvis Cocker to that list easily.... Emilie Autumn and Amanda Palmer are also good lyricists...

not a bad list - however, Morrissey should be number one - of course. Bruce bloody Springsteen?!?! And Dylan, surely the world's most over-rated musician ever? :rolleyes: :blink:

Glad to see Chuck D there actually.... He really is one of the most gifted, eloquent wordsmiths of our time.. If only Rap today had a tenth of the verve, intellect and articulation Chuck D and Public Enemy had perhaps we'd see less of these 'orrible little chavvy gits on our streets... :lol:

Don't be so hasty in your criticism of Rap as a whole. Yes mainstream rap is definitely stale and undignified and everything you suggest but with all genres on the underbelly/underground or whatever you like to call it you have genuinely stimulating, intelligent and articulate rap artists and albums in existence. Take Invincible for example, a female rapper from the USA via Lebanon. Recently she released her debut album 'Shapeshifters' and it's an incredible varied, intelligent and articulate album: a hip hop artist rapping from the union pulpit, advising that sledgehammers (a central metaphor) are both a symbol of the displacement of the urban population and employment for the urban poor and a means of active resistance. Her social activism; her cutting dissections of racism and sexism; her self-owned fair-trade, cooperative economics-based label; her ability to contextualize gentrification and urban decline in a global context without being reductive; her ambitious and novel willingness to rap about people, rather than herself (mostly); or her endless undercutting of academic lingo that shrouds a lot of the issues she discusses with non-populist language. All thoroughly excellent.

 

You have artists like M.I.A., Clipse and even Lil' Wayne who use rap as a channel to critique the real world around us, as was the case in the 80s and 90s. Rap never really changes; only the voices do.

Don't be so hasty in your criticism of Rap as a whole. Yes mainstream rap is definitely stale and undignified and everything you suggest but with all genres on the underbelly/underground or whatever you like to call it you have genuinely stimulating, intelligent and articulate rap artists and albums in existence. Take Invincible for example, a female rapper from the USA via Lebanon. Recently she released her debut album 'Shapeshifters' and it's an incredible varied, intelligent and articulate album: a hip hop artist rapping from the union pulpit, advising that sledgehammers (a central metaphor) are both a symbol of the displacement of the urban population and employment for the urban poor and a means of active resistance. Her social activism; her cutting dissections of racism and sexism; her self-owned fair-trade, cooperative economics-based label; her ability to contextualize gentrification and urban decline in a global context without being reductive; her ambitious and novel willingness to rap about people, rather than herself (mostly); or her endless undercutting of academic lingo that shrouds a lot of the issues she discusses with non-populist language. All thoroughly excellent.

 

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I've never heard about Invincible, but I may check her out... If she's as radical as you say, it's little wonder she's not breaking through to the mainstream....

 

not a bad list - however, Morrissey should be number one - of course. Bruce bloody Springsteen?!?! And Dylan, surely the world's most over-rated musician ever? :rolleyes: :blink:

Wonder why it's only 8, why not 10... I'd've added Nick Cave and Jarvis Cocker to that list easily....

 

its not a top ten list of who is best - it parts so part one comes out on the saturday, part 2 on the sunday...and i suppose they wanted to start on a sat and end on a sat - as to end mid-week would be messy in their plans

I agree with Bob Dylan and Cohen! Well, Bob Dylan might seem overrated, but only as a singer. To be honest I like his songs more sung from other artists ( esp. Joan Baez and an artist in my country, which nobody have heard off so I don't put his name :lol: ).

 

Expecting to see Lennon and Cat Stevens somewhere! :dance: . Are here only english lyricists? As are a lot of french ones who are fab...

Are here only english lyricists? As are a lot of french ones who are fab...

 

True...but seeing as they came free with an English Newspaper - the Guardian - it would be a bit pointless as everything would have to be translated into English...(tho i guess someone might one to post the reply - but Guardian readers - their so civilised surely they can all speak French already :lol: )...maybe Le Monde might pick up on the idea and produce a series of Chansoners.

I'd have thought Joe Strummer could have made the list and possibly Ian Curtis.

 

Totally agree with Chuck D and, while he's an awful singer, Bob Dylan's lyrics can be pretty special.

Most of Jeff Buckley's own-written stuff is better than Springsteen and Arctic Monkeys.

Most of Jeff Buckley's own-written stuff is better than Springsteen and Arctic Monkeys.

 

yeah, you're right but I've got the impression that no one here bothers to check his music and his lyrics :(