Was Dylan The Best Lyricist Of All Time?

[MDS]

The song For You is another example of a Springsteen written song that was done better by Manfred Mann (think also Blinded By the Light and Spirit in the Night).

Don't call for your surgeon, even he say's it's late
It's not your lungs this time but your heart holds your fate
Don't give me money back, don't want it anymore
It's not that nursery mouth I came back for
It's not the way you're stretched out on the floor
I've broken all your windows and I ran through all your doors
and who am I to ask you to fight my wars?

And you should know that's true...
[I came for you]
You should know that too
[I came for you]

Great song, great lyrics...but really, 'Haven't Lived Life' if you've never heard it or don't appreciate it? That's a little over the top.

 

[Symptom7]

The song For You is another example of a Springsteen written song that was done better by Manfred Mann (think also Blinded By the Light and Spirit in the Night).

Yeah, the Manfred Mann version of "Blinded by the light" is musically superior but makes no sense what so ever because they've changed the lyrics and left half of them out.
Ya know what... Nevermind. Now that I think about it, Springsteen's version doesn't really make to much sense either. Whenever I hear that song, I imagine Bruce was just experimenting with song writing.
Anyway, The point is there's a reason why those 2 are being disscussed above all others. We are trying to decide who is the best? I think that the fact that we're having this disscussion speaks for itself. Dyaln and Springsteen will always come up in any conversation about who the best lyrisist ever was. And that pretty much syas it all.

 

[MDS]

Yeah, the Manfred Mann version of "Blinded by the light" is musically superior but makes no sense what so ever because they've changed the lyrics and left half of them out.
Ya know what... Nevermind. Now that I think about it, Springsteen's version doesn't really make to much sense either.

But isn't that the beauty of music? The best lyrics are the ones that are slightly obfuscated and leave much to interpretation (IMO). Some lyrics are straightforward and really can mean only one thing; others are so wild that it makes the mind wonder and people will debate the 'meaning' behind them for decades.

Let's talk Dio for a second (not that I am saying his lyrics are overly profound or in the same realm as Springsteen or Dylan - but I like the music nonetheless).

[Invisible] 'He was just eighteen and in-between - a lady and a man. He was daddy's girl in mommas' world...that was when he ran'. What does that mean? On the one hand you can say it is non-sensical but on the other hand you can see it is talking about the conflicts of growing up and finding your identity. That is what is powerful about music - it can say so much without saying it directly. Don't even get me started on Holy Diver [and No it is not about religion.]

 

[Joe Schmoe]

[Invisible] 'He was just eighteen and in-between - a lady and a man. He was daddy's girl in mommas' world...that was when he ran'. What does that mean?

It means he hitchiked to San Fransisco and became a transvestite. I don't see how that is ambiguous at all.

 

[Johnd]

To the OP. Is it Oak Creek of WI?

I saw Dylan's son Jakob (via the Wallflowers) playing Summerfest in '05. They really rocked the house. Some of that lyrical mysticism clearly worked it's way through to son Jakob.

 

[najmad7]

2pac

he has to be up their at least in the top 10.
i mean bob dylan has to be up high there as well.

With all this extra stressin
The question I wonder is after death, after my last breath
When will I finaly get to rest? Through this supression
they punish the people that's askin questions
And those that possess, steal from the ones without possesions
The message I stress: to make it stop study your lessons
Don't settle for less - even the genius asks-es questions
Be grateful for blessings
Don't ever change, keep your essence
The power is in the people and politics we address
Always do your best, don't let the pressure make you panic
And when you get stranded
And things don't go the way you planned it
Dreamin of riches, in a position of makin a difference
Politicians and hypocrites, they don't wanna listen
If I'm insane, it's the fame made a brother change
It wasn't nuttin like the game
It's just me against the world

-2pac me against the world

 

[STRONGBADF1]

I admit to being a huge Bob Dylan so I am biased. But I believe Dylan wrote some of the best lyrics that have EVER been written. Has anyone just read the lyrics to "All Along The Watch Tower"? No musical accompanyment, just read the words to the song. It reminds me of Robert Blake.

When Dylan was asked, "Do you consider yourself a poet or a song writer?", he laughed, "I consider myself a song and dance man"!

No.

SBF1

 

[jliedeka]

I don't think we'll all agree on the greatest lyricist of all time. Bob Dylan is certainly one of the greats but you could also make the case for Springsteen, Lou Reed, John Lennon, Neil Young, Jim Morrison and several others.

Lyrics don't necessarily have to make sense in any sort of linear way to be good but I tend to favor songs that tell or at least imply a story like Spirit in the Night and others by Springsteen. In fairness to Dylan, Like a Rolling Stone is a good example of what I mean, also.

 

[jliedeka]

To shift the argument in favor of Bob Dylan....

I was messing around with my guitar tonight and played Tangled up in Blue. There are a couple of lines in that song I like.

"Later on the crowd thinned out and I was just about to do the same." That one amuses me.

Also "And every one of those words rang true and glowed like a burning coal..." I like that whole verse.

Jim

 

[GTHill]

Any votes for Metallica? I know many may not like the music, but I have heard quite a few say that the lyrics are quite good.

Gene

 

[Joe Schmoe]

But isn't that the beauty of music? The best lyrics are the ones that are slightly obfuscated and leave much to interpretation (IMO).

For example:
"Go-Kart Mozart was checkin' out the weather chart
to see if it was safe outside
while little Early Burly came by in his curly wurly
to ask me if I needed a ride."

 

[3db]

Don Mclean

I admit to being a huge Bob Dylan so I am biased. But I believe Dylan wrote some of the best lyrics that have EVER been written. Has anyone just read the lyrics to "All Along The Watch Tower"? No musical accompanyment, just read the words to the song. It reminds me of Robert Blake.

When Dylan was asked, "Do you consider yourself a poet or a song writer?", he laughed, "I consider myself a song and dance man"!

I would rank him up very close to Boby Dylan in his lyrics ability. American Pie was a phenomenal album in that light.

 

[Martymilton]

If not the greatest of all-time, Bob Dylan was definitely the most influential in the 1960s. He had some great songs during the Civil Rights and Viet Nam war era. He was the voice for a lot of us who were in college in the 1960s.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I appreciate a lot of Dylan's lyrics, and his guitar playing, but not his singing. What I like best are his songs covered by others. (The Byrds practically built their career on Dylan covers, all of which are awesome.)

 

[kghoopdown]

Easily Eminem

I know most of ya'll get pissed with me for sayin this, but eminem's lyrics are the best... who else makes lyrics like this that are so illustrative:

If I could capture the rage of today's youth and bottle it
Crush the glass from my bare hands and swallow it
Then spit it back in the faces of you racists
and hypocrites who think the same **** but don't say ****

 

[Joe Schmoe]

I know most of ya'll get pissed with me for sayin this, but eminem's lyrics are the best... who else makes lyrics like this that are so illustrative:

If I could capture the rage of today's youth and bottle it
Crush the glass from my bare hands and swallow it
Then spit it back in the faces of you racists
and hypocrites who think the same **** but don't say ****

My, that's just lovely.
FWIW Eminem is a racist (specifically, he openly despises gays.)

 

[stratman]

That makes him a homophobe not a racist.

 

[Joe Schmoe]

That makes him a homophobe not a racist.

I started to respond here, but decided it was getting into steam vent territory.

 

[ilnoca]

Don't forget the lesser-known Texas and alt-country writers

First off, I love Dylan and count Highway 61, Blood On The Tracks, and Desire as three of the best albums I own. I think, however, Steve Earle summed it up nicely: "Townes Van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that."

I won't say TVZ or anyone else is "the best" songwriter out there, but I think his songs (esp. Mr. Gold and Mr. Mud, If I Needed You, and Poncho and Lefty) stand up quite well when compared to Dylan, Bruce, Neil Young, or most any popular songwriter. I would also say that about Guy Clark, Steve Earle (I love all his albums, but the post-prison and pre-politics period produced his best writing IMHO), Billy Joe Shaver, James McMurtry, and Robert Earl Keen. If you enjoy Dylan's and Springsteen's folkier stuff and are unfamiliar with any of these cats, pm me and I can recommend specific albums to check out.

Also, many newer songwriters in Texas and alt-country (whatever that means) are writing entire albums that are nothing short of lyrical classics. Chris Knight's first three albums made me claim he is the second coming of Bruce because of how well they captured the haunting nature of The River and Nebraska. All of Uncle Tupelo's albums, as well as some of Son Volt's and Wilco's, are just as good as anything Dylan, Woody Guthrie, and Bruce have put out, at least to the ears and mind of this former rustbelter. Finally, the Drive-By Truckers, whose songwriters have been compared not only to Dylan, Bruce, and Jaggar/Richards by the press but also to William Faulkner and Flannary O'Connor, show that you can write lyrical masterpieces that flat out rock. Check their albums Decoration Day and Southern Rock Opera to see what I mean. Check them out live and you will start claiming that they are the saviors of rock and roll.

OT, but have you all heard Dylan's Theme Time Radio Hour on XM? It's great to hear him play songs that influence him, and surprisingly his voice is perfect for being a DJ.

 

[ilnoca]

Any votes for Metallica? I know many may not like the music, but I have heard quite a few say that the lyrics are quite good.

Gene

I haven't really listened to metal much since I was in college, but Ride the Lightning and ...And Justice For All seem to have lyrics that are very strong when accompanied by the music and James Hetfield's unique voice. I don't know if that makes sense, but I think of it like Hank Williams' My Main Trial Is Yet to Come or Robert Johnson's Love In Vain: lyrically, the songs are pretty simple and even a bit inane, but when coupled when song by Hank's cracking voice or Johnson's faux falsetto and put to an spare acoustic guitar (and the archaic recording methods), the effect is (with Hank) a devastatingly haunting song about being executed and (with Johnson) a song that perfectly captures the feelings of desperation and futility that come with love lost.

Also, the ever-disturbing video for One adds another dimension to this. It might be the only thing I remember from a few years of watching MTV.