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Anyone still do insightful or intelligent lyrics?

I have always loved lyrics as much as music and think that music I enjoy must be a combination of both good lyrics and good musicianship. I love some of Paul Simon's lyrics from as far back as the '60's. He was only 16 when he wrote "Sounds of Silence." There are dozens of other examples from Simon and Garfunkel.

Lyle Lovett has written some great lyrics i.e. "Simlpe Song."

Bob Seger, Jackson Browne, Hoyt Axton, John and Paul, Mick and Richard, Emmylou Harris, Gordon Lightfoot, and even Midge Ure have written things that impressed me, but I find very few people writing great lyrics anymore!

Is anyone writing intelligent, insightful lyrics anymore?
128x128nrchy
millercarbon's avatar
millercarbon
12,531 posts
 
Actually no, that is not a translation, that is a completely different thing altogether! What the OP actually said was,
Is anyone writing intelligent, insightful lyrics anymore?


How do you "translate" that into "lost touch with modern music"????!!!

But hey, you're the expert. Translate these monster hits for me- into something intelligent and insightful: 

I feel stupid and contagiousHere we are now, entertain us
A mulatto, an albino, a mosquito, my libido
A denial, a denial, a denial, a denial, a denial


and that was an "oldie" compared to this NUMBER ONE from TODAY'S Billboard Top 100:
Once upon a time, man, I heard that I was ugly
Came from a bitch who nigga wanna fuck on me! said my face bomb, ass tight
Racks stack up Shaq height
Jewelry on me, flashlight
I been lit since last night
Hit him with that good-good
Make a nigga act right
Broke boys don't deserve no pussy (I know that's right!)Big bag bussin' out the Bentley Bentayga
Man, Balenciaga Bardi back and all these bitches fucked
It's big bags bussin' out the Bentley Bentayga, man
Birkin bag, Bardi back and all you bitches fucked 
Intelligent. Insightful. ROTFLMAO!

glupson
7,842 posts
 
"Anyone still do insightful or intelligent lyrics?"

Not for a bit over a month now.
simao's avatar
simao
1,834 posts
 
Another thought about the OP's post. Writing in 2004 and bemoaning the paucity of "insightful and intelligent lyrics" also translates into not being able or willing to branch out into other genres. The artists mentioned in the OP were all comfortable, safe, white Boomer artists firmly entrenched in that cultural paradigm of lyrical, non-confrontational poetry which, compared to the world of the first decade of the 21st century, was analogous to the mushy comfort of mashed potatoes and stuffing. 

And yet in 2004 you had Nas and KRS-1 perpetuating and redefining intelligent, insightful lyrics; you had Lady Gaga and Prince penning masterful lyrics for themselves and other artists; you had "conventional" singer-songwriters like Josh Rouse, Neko Case, and even Tori Amos all writing powerful, poetic lyrics.
I realize my dinosaur comment was condescending, but anyone who bemoans the lack of anything in contemporary music and then proceeds to reel off artists from decades ago is simply confessing a static perspective.
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