re: Best lyricists ever?

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Mr. Siegal
i spent all my money in a mexican whorehouse,
across the street from a catholic church,
and then i wiped off my revolver,
and i buttoned up my burgundy shirt,
i shot the morning in the back,
with my red wings on,
i told the sun he'd better go back down,
and if i can find a book of matches,
i'm goin' to burn this hotel down.
you got to tell me brave captain,
why are the wicked so strong,
how do the angels get to sleep,
when the devil leaves the porchlight on.

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quote:

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"Swordfishtrombones"
Well he came home from the war with a party in his head
and modified Brougham DeVille
and a pair of legs that opened up like butterfly wings
and a mad dog that wouldn't sit still
he went and took up with a Salvation Army Band girl
who played dirty water on a swordfishtrombone
he went to sleep at the bottom of Tenkiller lake
and he said "gee, but it's great to be home."
Well he came home from the war with a party in his head
and an idea for a fireworks display
and he knew that he'd be ready with a stainless steel machete and a half a pint of Ballentine's each day
and he holed up in room above a hardware store
cryin' nothing there but Hollywood tears
and he put a spell on some poor little Crutchfield girl
and stayed like that for 27 years
Well he packed up all his expectations he lit out for California with a flyswatter banjo on his knee
with a lucky tiger in his angel hair
and benzedrine for getting there
they found him in a eucalyptus tree
lieutenant got him a canary bird
and shaked her head with every word
and Chesterfielded moonbeams in a song
and he got 20 years for lovin' her
from some Oklahoma governor
said everything this Doughboy does is wrong
Now some say he's doing the obituary mambo
and some say he's hanging on the wall
perhaps this yarn's the only thing that holds this man together some say he was never here at all
Some say they saw him down in Birmingham,
sleeping in a boxcar going by
and if you think that you can tell a bigger tale
I swear to God you'd have to tell a lie...

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Paul Simon, then...
Bob Dylan, then...

is there anyone else?

quote:

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John Prine
Townes van Zandt
Kris Kristofferson

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Nice

quote:

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Paul Simon, then... Bob Dylan, then... is there anyone else?

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Leonard Cohen is arguably better than both in terms of lyrics.

You have to include Bernie Taupin. Taupin was the lyricist on most of the 30 different hits Elton John had on the top 40 charts between 1970 and 1982, which accounted for almost 250 million records sold. Candle In The Wind is the 2nd greatest selling single of all time.

Can't believe nobody has yet come up with:

Carole King/Gerry Goffin

Burt Bacharach/Carole Bayer Sager

Adele is off to a pretty good start...

Burt Bacharach

Smokey Robinson

Dylan
David Allan Coe
Kristofferson

And I'm not talkin about the songs by DAC that get radio play, I'm talkin about the more obscure songs.