Anyway, a few weeks back I emailed one of my favorite music bloggers (who is, as I have since discovered, also a musician) as I am currently in a serious creative slump. His name is Drew Worden and his wordpress blog, linesthroughlines, is scrupulously maintained and fucking fantastic. I somewhat presumptuously requested that he share with me a list of his favorite lyricists hoping it might spark a little sumpinsumpin in me that's been missing for a while.
To my surprise, he responded! In the sweetest, most generous way. Admittedly, upon getting his email back my heart was practically baking cookies in my chest, excited for the musical revelation to come. I doubt Drew will ever read this, but if you're out there buddy, thanks! I immediately was able to write a song, then I set mahself to thinking.
Who are my favorite lyricists?
Its hard to say. I like some really goofy shit sometimes, and its hard to deny the heart what it wants... even if sometimes what it wants is the refrain of a Hanson song. But attempting honesty as best as possible, without trying to be hip or novel, here are my faves:
1.) Aimee Argote of Des Ark
I've mentioned homegirl in a previous post, but god damn! She writes the most poignant things about ex girlfriends and ex boyfriends that I swear to Merlin, feel like they were torn from the perforated pages of my soul notes. Hyperbolic similes aside, she can be so perfectly raw and honest and masterful.
"We've got pills to ease our pain/And we've got bodies to hush our loneliness/There's enough of the two/ I think we're gonna make it through all right/We can get naked together/Take a turn and it's whatever/Just as long as we suffer from one another/You can hold my hand but you can never hold my heart"
-The Subtleties of Chores and Unlocked Doors
"Oh it feels so good to be used when you're using" -Lord of the Ring and His Fascist Timekeepers
2.) Chris Thile
Not always polished and perfect, but he writes the kind of things you'd love to hear that boy next door whisper in your ear.
"I am yours if you want me/and i'm sorry if you do/Cause i don't have that much to offer/ a girl who knows as much as you/ I am scared of your body/ I am scared of your soul /but i would rather be a letdown/ than let being with you go" -I'm Yours if You Want Me
"I came from California with an appetite for my own myths of music, love, and what they mean, I'm told it's borderline obscene. I tried to write this song before but had no one to write it for. My fellow travellers' vacant stares leave it up to you to care" -I'm Nowhere and You're Everything
Sometimes a pithy mouthful, but the texture and the imagery of his words is always excellent.
"so here at the end the war is over/there’s nothing left to defend/no cliffs of Dover/so let us put down our pens/ and this concludes our test/our minds are scattered about/from hell to breakfast" -Simple X
"you took my hand and led me down to watch a papillon parade
we let the kittens lick our hair and drank our chalky lemonade
you squeezed my hand and told me softly that I shouldn't be afraid
'cause all the while your finger's resting gently on the masterfade" -Masterfade
"Orange lamps shine by willow bay/Ice covers from the lake to where I lay/In a state/ In which I dream/If you were here/Winter wouldn't pass quite so slow/And if you were here/ Then I'd have a choice to live not be alone " -Winter '055.) Erykah Badu
I wouldn't say the word now but this is not what I meant/ For a woman that's fallen over head and ears/ And still so warm, but I'm lonely too/Suddenly she is still and says, "I hope that things will be better here." - Oh, La
Not genius lyrics by any stretch of the imagination, but the delivery is so easy you half expect she's improvising on every line, no matter how many times and ways you hear her sing it. I love that.
I'm feelin' kind of hungry/'Cuz my high is comin' down/ Don't feed me yours/'Cuz your food does not endure/ I think I need a cup of tea/The world keeps burnin'/Oh what a day, what a day, what a day" -On and On
"Everything around you see/The Ankhs, the wraps, the plus degrees/And yes even the mysteries/Its all me/Sometimes it hard to move you see/When you growing publicly/But if I have to chose between/I choose me." - Me
You can't get away with making popular music with these kinds of lyrics any more. For shame.
"I stumble into town just like a sacred cow/Visions of swastikas in my head/Plans for everyone/It's in the whites of my eyes/My little China Girl/You shouldn't mess with me/I'll ruin everything you are/I'll give you television/I'll give you eyes of blue/I'll give you men who want to rule the world" -China Girl
"A soldier with a broken arm/Fixed his stare to the wheels of a Cadillac/A cop knelt and kiss the feet of a priest/And a queer threw up at the sight of that/I think I saw you in an ice-cream parlour/Drinking milk shakes cold and long/Smiling and waving and looking so fine/ Don't think you knew you were in this song" -Five Years
