Greatest lyricists of all time

Check out someone I’d wager most of the folks on this forum probably have never heard of, he started out as a Contemporary Christian artist but fought to get out of that niche, died at age 40 but the lyrics on his last three albums are as good as it gets: Mark Heard.

Of more familiar people, I am going to go outside rock and vote for Tom T. Hall before he dried up after “Old Dogs and Children … .”

I think I'm goin' back
To the things I learned so well in my youth,
I think I'm returning to
The days when I was young enough to know the truth

Now there are no games
To only pass the time
No more coloring books,
No Christmas bells to chime
But thinking young and growing older is no sin
And I can play the game of life to win

I can recall a time,
When I wasn't afraid to reach out to a friend
And now I think I've got
A lot more than a skipping rope to lend

Now there's more to do
Than watch my sailboat glide
Then everyday can be a magic carpet ride
And I can play hide and seek with my fears,
And live my days instead of counting my years

Let everyone debate the true reality,
I'd rather see the world the way it used to be
A little bit of freedom's all we lack
So catch me if you can
I'm goin' back

- Gerry Goffin

My favorite of the many tears = raindrops songs:

I'll never let you see
The way my broken heart is hurting me
I've got my pride and I know how to hide
All my sorrow and pain

I'll do my crying in the rain

If I wait for cloudy skies
You won't know the rain from the tears in my eyes
You'll never know that I still love you so
Though the heartaches remain

I'll do my crying in the rain

Raindrops falling from heaven
Could never wash away my misery
But since we're not together
I look for stormy weather
To hide these tears I hope you'll never see

Someday when my crying's done
I'm gonna wear a smile and walk in the sun
I may be a fool but till then darling
You'll never see me complain

I'll do my crying in the rain
I'll do my crying in the rain
I'll do my crying in the rain

- Howard Greenfield

quote:

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I am going to go outside rock

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"Hey man, nobody said we were as good as Johnny Mercer" - Bob Dylan, 1980s



LINK

How has no one mentioned Bernie Taupin yet???

quote:

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has no one mentioned Bernie Taupin yet?

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only to say he deserves life in front of the firing squad for "candle in the wind"

"It sucks no matter what trashy blonde its about" - Keith Richards

It's nauseatingly maudlin drivel no matter who it's about

LINK

Leonard Cohen - Sisters of Mercy

HARVEST OF MY HEART

I stretch my bones at dawn and pull my brogans on
After coffee oh I head out for the fields
I slave away all day behind the mule and plow
And I pray that he don't break my wheel (will?)

I let my Saviour know at the end of every row
I'm thankful for a good and loving wife
And the children that she bore will be flowers evermore
Precious jewels from this man's work of life

Oh Mary you can rest assured I love you, yes
Honey I have known from the start
And everything I do, I do in love for you

'Cause you've always been the harvest of my heart
You've always been the harvest of my heart

When the ev'ning rolls around I cross that broken ground
Embrace my precious children by the gate
Standing by the door is the woman I adore
How I yearn to press my lips against her face

Around the table fare we'll bow our heads in prayer
Over supper-yes, we'll talk about the day
And when the kids are tucked in bed and all the rest is said
I'll pull my lady close and softly say
Oh Mary you can rest assured I love you, yes
Honey I have known from the start
And everything I do, I do in love for you
'Cause you've always been the harvest of my heart
You've always been the harvest of my heart

Oh Mary you can rest assured I love you, yes
Honey I have known from the start
And everything I do I do in love for you
'Cause you've always been the harvest of my heart
You've always been the harvest of my heart

this one makes me cry

REDBONE HOUND
Rodney Dillard

Fogeye, Piefoot, Redbone, Dragalong,
Cool, fall night you can still hear his song.
Runnin' with the moon on a black-faced riverbank,
Flatfoot and Fickly with a coon on the run.

Redbone hound, come and get your belly up,
Lyin' on your tail all day long.
The mist is a-risin' in the Cripple Creek Holler.
Gonna run till the dew on the grass meets the sun.

Old Fogeye been rackin' through the bean patch,
Diggin' up the corn seed, he can't do more.
Uncle Jack says he's goin' for his shotgun.
Gonna nail his hide on the chicken-house door!

Redbone hound, come and get your belly up,
Lyin' on your tail all day long.
The mist is a-risin' in the Cripple Creek Holler.
Gonna run till the dew on the grass meets the sun.

Fogeye, Piefoot, Redbone, Dragalong,
Cool, fall night you can still hear his song.
Runnin' with the moon on a black-faced riverbank,
Flatfoot and Fickly with a coon on the run.

Redbone hound, come and get your belly up,
Lyin' on your tail all day long.
The mist is a-risin' in the Cripple Creek Holler.
Gonna run till the dew on the grass meets the sun.