Is Morrissey your favourite lyricist?

[the more you explore me!]

sort of and can be sometimes!!!!


Andy Partridge, Ray davis, lennon & mccartney, Paul weller, stuart Murdoch, Pete townsend, jaques brel, scott walker.

 

[nogodsnomasters85]

I think Morrissey is the greatest LYRICIST the human race has ever produced. He has a mastery of the english language which rivals, or comes damn close, to his inspirations, Shakespeare and Wilde.

 

[Girlgoneshoplifting]

Well for all of the artists I know he is. Thats the main reason why I am such a huge fan of him.

 

[the judge]

That's the problem when you reply to the topic and lots of people have already replied: someone has already said what you wanted to say. So... what can I add?

Yes, Morrissey is my favourite lyricist for all the reasons mentioned above. Also, his lyrics are better than lot (if not all) of the poetry I've read.
I love especially the lyrics from The Smiths days and I hope he'll write great lyrics again (which Ringleader's ones are not).

Before knowing Morrissey I loved Thom Yorke and Ian Curtis (even though I've read only few lyrics of his (when I heavily listened to Joy Division my listening skills were pretty poor, I'm referring to English language)).

Good topic, albion.

 

[Bluebirds]

I think his particular skill for me is when as a gawky teenager the lyrics (specifically Smiths ones) appealed on that "I'm so sensitive and angst-ridden with spots" level but with the passing of time one appreciates the humour and the prevalent irony.

I think it was Will Self who said about his particular skill something along the lines of he writes about human emotion, the battle between self and soul and manages to lace it with ambiguity and irony. Or something like that anyway!

 

[HIM]

That's the problem when you reply to the topic and lots of people have already replied: someone has already said what you wanted to say. So... what can I add?

Yes, Morrissey is my favourite lyricist for all the reasons mentioned above. Also, his lyrics are better than lot (if not all) of the poetry I've read.
I love especially the lyrics from The Smiths days and I hope he'll write great lyrics again (which Ringleader's ones are not).

Before knowing Morrissey I loved Thom Yorke and Ian Curtis (even though I've read only few lyrics of his (when I heavily listened to Joy Division my listening skills were pretty poor, I'm referring to English language)).

Good topic, albion.

but, what about the man in your avatar?!

 

[Worm]

Yes, Morrissey is definitely my favorite lyricist. Before Moz came along, I was quite obsessed with the cold, desolate lyrics of Ian Curtis. I thought that verses such as this were the greatest lyrics ever written:

I never realized the lengths I'd have to go
All the darkest corners of a sense I didn't know
Just for one moment, I heard somebody call
Look beyond the day in hand - there's nothing there at all

But then one day in early 1984 I was reading my latest copy of the sadly-extinct magazine Trouser Press and there was a review of the first two Smiths singles.

Wonderful post!

Ian Curtis is a perfect example of how lyrics are "improved" by the music surrounding them. I don't think there are many of Ian's lyrics that hold up well when read on a page. Some of them don't even make sense, or only make sense impressionistically. But set in the whole experience of Joy Division's music, the words are transformed. For instance the "God in his wisdom made you understand/God in his wisdom took you by the hand" bit in "Colony" is an uninteresting line in writing but when Ian sang the words over that music they were harrowingly effective.

Comtesse also mentioned Bono, and I think the same is true of his lyrics (the earlier lyrics, before he became self-conscious about his writing around 1993 and the quality took a nosedive). They're very vague in places, abstract and impressionistic, but set in U2's music they're pretty effective. One of my favorite songs by them, "Elvis Presley And America", is literally nonsense. It's just so hard to separate the words from the music. Morrissey is among that unique group of pop songwriters whose work reads well taken out of context, but even his work, as with Leonard Cohen and Bob Dylan and others, sounds so much better set to music and sung in his voice. I'd even go so far as to say that his lyrics are enhanced when printed in the font style he carefully chose for the record sleeves.

 

[Ilmarë]

Yep, he is. And second best Ian Curtis.

 

[Not Right in the Head]

I think Morrissey is the greatest LYRICIST the human race has ever produced. He has a mastery of the english language which rivals, or comes damn close, to his inspirations, Shakespeare and Wilde.

But who will still be listening to or reading Morrissey's lyrics 100 years from now?

 

[Raquel]

But who will still be listening to or reading Morrissey's lyrics 100 years from now?

I actually do believe his lyrics will endure.
In this forum, we see fans in their young teens, and I do believe the torch will be passed beyond them.
Some of us are just fortunate enough to be living at the same time as Moz, is that sycophantic enough?!

 

[nugz]

I actually do believe his lyrics will endure.
In this forum, we see fans in their young teens, and I do believe the torch will be passed beyond them.
Some of us are just fortunate enough to be living at the same time as Moz, is that sycophantic enough?!

I will make sure my children listen to Morrissey!!! i will put headphones on my tummy while they are still in the womb!



(not anytime soon, however, haha....)

 

[stipey]

He's becoming one of my favorites.

My favorites in order are

Michael Stipe
Bernie Taupin
Eddie Vedder writes some amazing lyrics.
Patti Smith

 

[JoyDiv007]

He's becoming one of my favorites.

My favorites in order are

Michael Stipe
Bernie Taupin
Eddie Vedder writes some amazing lyrics.
Patti Smith

I'm glad I could help you understand why I think so highly of him.

Yeah Stipe's a good too.

 

[Camilla]

I actually do believe his lyrics will endure.
In this forum, we see fans in their young teens, and I do believe the torch will be passed beyond them.
Some of us are just fortunate enough to be living at the same time as Moz, is that sycophantic enough?!

I will try my best!!!!!

 

[sweet and tender hooligan]

Morrissey is deffanatly the best lyricist in my opinion

 

[lucky lisp]

Van Morrison is a wonderful lyricist, along with Leonard Cohen and Morrissey

 

[bored]

Morrissey is my favourite..

The guy from Nickleback is close, ranking at 10,329,104, right behind "The Brady Bunch" and my dog when he howls at police sirens.

 

[anotherordinaryboy]

The Smiths songs were written 20 years ago. I'm 21, and every their songs touch me strongly and explain feelings that I have. He's also amazing at social commentary, and has moments of beautiful anger in his writing. Nobody touches him lyrics wise for me, nobody.

 

[AlbertFinney]

I would wonder why anybody would suggest another lyricist other than Morrissey on this thread. I got into The Smiths firstly through the music and discovered the lyrics later. Once you have got them surely you can't believe that anything else can be better?

Dylan, better? :2funny:

 

[TLOTFamousIP]

A simple question, most people I suppose are on here because the effect Morrissey’s pretty poetic words had on them but is he your favourite lyricist? If so, what is it that makes him so and seperates him from fellow ink splashers? If not, who in the world of music do you regard as greater with words than monsieur Morrissey?

I thought there may have been a similar thread before regarding this matter but if there was I couldn't find it. If someone does happen to stumble across one, then I offer my sincerest apology to Kewpie in advance.

Yes.

"Why should I make up my own words when somebody else expressed my thoughts to perfection?"