I guess I’m missing out on a lot of great lyricists because I haven’t listened to much hiphop in my day, but I know some little gems that give me shivers of jealousy. You know those cleverly placed words that roll off your tongue and satisfy some inner quest for the perfectly descriptive, witty phrase. I’ve been writing poetry and stories since I was a wee tyke, I wanted to be an author until I turned thirteen and decided I wanted to be Claire Danes in Romeo and Juliet instead. I can’t say I fancy being an author anymore, but for the past eight or nine years I’ve been in singing and playing in bands and as a result, writing a lot of lyrics. Studying some of these masters of discourse has been a saving grace when I find myself writing lines like “the stars shine in your eyes, I’m so emo I could cry”. Since I have a lot of favourites when it comes to great lyrics, I’ll post them in installments. Here is…
My #1 Most Jealous Of:
Joni Mitchell.
She combines beautiful, playful imagery, rhythm, wit, rhyme, EVERYTHING.
Choosing a favourite from Joni’s infinite collection of excellence is daunting. It’s also wrong to pull lyrics out of their songs and paste them as a shell of something whole and perfect, so I’ll also add a link to youtube so you can also listen.
Song: Blue// Album: Blue// 1971
Blue, songs are like tattoos
You know I’ve been to sea before
Crown and anchor me
Or let me sail away
Hey blue, here is a song for you
Ink on a pin
Underneath the skin
An empty space to fill in
Well there’s so many sinking now
You’ve got to keep thinking
You can make it through these waves
Acid, booze, and ass
Needles, guns, and grass
Lots of laughs, lots of laughs
Everybodys saying that hell’s the hippest way to go
Well, I dont think so
But Im gonna take a look around it though
Blue, I love you
Blue, here is a shell for you
Inside youll hear a sigh
A foggy lullaby
There is your song from me
Excerpt from the song: My Old Man//Blue//1971
But when he’s gone
Me and them lonesome blues collide
The bed’s too big
The frying pan’s too wide
~
The words she chooses are so simple, but so true to life and well put.
~
Chelsea Morning//Clouds//1969
Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I heard
Was a song outside my window, and the traffic wrote the words
It came ringing up like Christmas bells, and rapping up like pipes and drums
Oh, won’t you stay
We’ll put on the day
And we’ll wear it ’till the night comes
Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I saw
Was the sun through yellow curtains, and a rainbow on the wall
Blue, red, green and gold to welcome you, crimson crystal beads to beckon
Oh, won’t you stay
We’ll put on the day
There’s a sun show every second
Now the curtain opens on a portrait of today
And the streets are paved with passersby
And pigeons fly
And papers lie
Waiting to blow away
Woke up, it was a Chelsea morning, and the first thing that I knew
There was milk and toast and honey and a bowl of oranges, too
And the sun poured in like butterscotch and stuck to all my senses
Oh, won’t you stay
We’ll put on the day
And we’ll talk in present tenses
When the curtain closes and the rainbow runs away
I will bring you incense owls by night
By candlelight
By jewel-light
If only you will stay
Pretty baby, won’t you
Wake up, it’s a Chelsea morning
~
This one drives me nuts because it’s ridiculously hard to write good lyrics that aren’t sad. Happy ones usually sound super cliche. The only other person I know who can do that extremely well is James Taylor.
