Ian Curtis is also a fantastic lyricist.

Sunny Jim

P.S. at least you didn't forget to mention talents like Damon Albarn (Blur) and Paul Heaton (TBS), which shows you must have some taste in music...

The second best chronicler of modern British life surely?

Dylan, Ice Cube, Joni Mitchell.

But Morrissey is the best of all, by far. 90% of the pop music I like has crappy lyrics. But that's OK. Not everyone can be a poet, but they can still write nice tunes. Don';t confuse the three I list above as being among my personal favorite mueic artists overall. I'm just very impressed by their lyrical abilities.

For examples of Bono's fine lyricism check out:

A Sort Of Homecoming (Unforgettable Fire),
Acrobat(Achtung Baby),
Stay(Zooropa),
Staring At The Sun(Pop)

Just to name a few!

Peace,
Scott

As for lyrics - well, Laughing Len Cohen's pretty good. As is Mr Dylan. Why weren't they on the list? Or are we 80's children all?

Warren, I hope you're not serious... Leonard Cohen is possibly the greatest songwriter this world has ever known (yes, even including Moz). And he was not in any band. He is a Canadian folk-singer, poet, and novelist who made his first album in 1968 and has had hits like "Suzanne", "Bird On a Wire", "Chelsea Hotel #2", "So Long, Marianne", "Sisters of Mercy" (Yes, that's where the band got their name from!) "First We Take Manhattan, Then We Take Berlin", etc. His last studio album was "The Future" from 1992. He has influenced artists like The Cure, R.E.M., Nick Cave, Lloyd Cole, Swans, John Cale, and Tori Amos. Check out his albums "Songs of Leonard Cohen", "Songs From a Room", "Songs of Love and Hate", "New Skin for the Old Ceremony", "I'm Your Man" and "The Future", and you will see how brilliant a songwriter he is.
Last I heard he was living as a monk in a convent on a mountain in California. Come back to us Lenny!
By the way, where the hell is Bob Dylan on this list???

WHERE'S SIOUXSIE SIOUX

Monks live in MONASTERIES. Nuns live in convents.

So, which one do you think Morrissey would qualify for? HA!!!

My brother is a monk and they don't support the "gay" lifestyle choice, as Morrissey has obviouly made. So, ultimately, I don't think he could become a monk even if he wanted to.

Yeah, Noel Gallagher totally sucks. "Toworrow never knows what it doesn´t know too soon" Blah blah blah. He´s made some pretty nice tunes, though.

Warren, eeeh. . .

And Ryan, YES!!!!!! I've just started listening to Red House Painters, and let me tell you - they have really TOUCHED me...I mean, REALLY touched me. Those words! That voice!

Anyway, I also voted twice; I'm sorry - I NEVER do that! It's just that, well...Stuart Murdoch AND Andy Partridge! What's a fan to do? I almost snuck back in to give "props" to Elvis and Peter Townsend, but I stopped myself. :)

PS: Neil Peart.

The guy you should all check out is a fellow named Linford Detweiler from a band called Over The Rhine (from Cincinnati, Ohio, USA).

Bloody genuis!

What a tough choice!

those who disagree have apparently never sat down to LISTEN to anything he says...

How on earth can you make a poll like this and _not_ include Neil Tennant?

It's really laughable...haha-hahahaha-hahahahaha-oh-oh-oh-oh

And look at who _was_ in that list...

Johan

bad taste runs rampant...

morrissey fans can be SO lame...

I came up with the poll idea. I basically just stuck to UK & Aussie rockers who were known for their "lyrical quality" like Morrissey is. I knew I wouldn't satisfy everyone with the list. Please accept my humble apol if you wanted to vote for Nick Drake, Bryan Ferry (Roxy Music, solo), Marc Bolan (T-Rex), Syd Barrett (Pink Floyd, solo), Paul McCartney (Beatles, Wings, solo), John Lennon (Beatles, Plastic Ono Band, solo), Mick Jagger (Rolling Stones), Rod Argent (Zombies), Pete Shelley (Buzzcocks), Joe Strummer & Mick Jones (The Clash), Paul Weller (The Jam, Style Council, solo), John Lydon (Sex Pistols, Public Image Limited), Siouxsie Sioux (w/The Banshees, The Creatures), Peter Murphy (Bauhaus, solo), Anne Clark, Robyn Hitchcock (Soft Boys, solo), Julian Cope (Teardrop Explodes, solo), Gavin Friday (Virgin Prunes, solo), Jim Kerr (Simple Minds), Michael Hutchenece (INXS), Richey Edwards & Nicky Wire (Manic Street Preachers), Billy McKenzie (Associates), Robert Forster & Grant McLennan (Go-Betweens), Tim Booth (James), Mark Hollis (Talk Talk, solo), Joan Armatrading, Seal and the people who write the lyrics for The Tindersticks, The Blue Nile, Gang Of Four, Killing Joke and The Church. Leonard Cohen was kept off the list cuz I do believe he is Canadian. He was on another poll idea I sent to David though. Anyway, the list was just getting TOO long. I appreciate all the comments you sent in on it. And to think I almost most of the comments were going to be along the lines of "STING SUCKS!!!!!" Take care.

Chris

Yup. I would vote for Michael Stipe too. But if the songwriter MUST be British, then I can't think of anyone better than Morrissey...even though I'm a huge fan of Britpop. No British songwriter has topped The Mozzer yet! (Although I've always quite liked OMD...) :)

(just had to put my two cents in....)

I totally agree - this list is not complete without Paul Westerberg. The Replacements were my co-favorite band of the 80's, along with the Smiths....and I'll throw in a vote for Michael Stipe as well.

What about Ian MacKaye or Guy Picciotto?

"But I woke up this morning
with the present in splinters on the ground
and then I drowned."
rites of spring

"My emotions are my enemies for being on my side."
embrace

GOD SAVE THE KINKS!

or dave matthews (dave matthews band)

those are 2 great lyricists imho

But then really: WHAT THE HELL??

Where is Neil Young??

Are you referring to Suggs from Madness?
Or is it a private kind of missing?
None the less if it is Suggs from Madness,
very cool!

i have 4, other than moz:

bono
robert smith
martin gore
bob dylan (trust me)

"i'll see you in the sky above
in the tall grass
in the ones i love
you're gonna make me lonesome when you go..."

In my room
With its broken door
The posters on the wall
Of Hitler, John and Paul
I see myself.

In my room
Theres books of Somerset Maugham
Of irving Stone and Oscar Wilde,
There's poetry of my own
And I can be myself.

In my room
There's imitation Lautrecs
Jane Avril is my favourite
The Moulin Rouge is next
I think I'll burn them all
For they're no good at all
You didn't understand.

By my head
Theres a photograph of you
Your face seems to be sad
I wonder where you are
I suppose your fine
I wanted to
Share my room with you
-------------------------------------------------
-------------------------------------------------

Compare this with, for example, lyrics from Noel Gallagher.

g, kno wha a mean?

JOE STRUMMER

(myths of manhood)

1) Michael Stipe. I saw REM live, and the guy has a great delivery to his excellent lyrics.

2) Lou Reed. I don't need an explanation. He's Lou Reed.

3) Joe Strummer. Someone asked him, "Are you a musician or a politician?" He brings up very relevant social issues.

4) Norman Blake (from Teenage Fanclub). I wish I could write love songs like that guy. Barry White could even learn something.

5) Chuck D. He's in the same league with Strummer.

These 5 gentlemen are just as good, if not better, than everyone else on the list.

"Really, it's not me..."

Nice to see Thom, Stuart and Ian getting a good percentage.

YOUCH! SUCH VITRIOL!!!!!! Let me try to explain this again. I had 2 poll ideas. One was UK & Australian lyricists that came out around the time of The Smiths and onward. The other poll was US & Canadian lyricists (like Stipe, Cohen, Waits and almost everyone everybody has griped about in the Comments section.) David Tseng (your humble webmaster for Moz-solo) decided to go with the UK/Aussie poll. I fully admit it's NOT perfect. I came up with it on the spur of the moment (a whim really.) Yes I put Bowie, The Kinks & Who on the list and wanted to make the list longer. But I knew David wouldn't have the space to put a list of 100 so I just cut it short at 35 and David decided to add the "Other, Not On The List" and "No other Favorite" bits (very smart of him I might add.) To be honest, I didn't even think David would even put either list up. There are tons of people I forgot (see my previous comment #72) that people have (and have not) griped about and because I love lists here's a short list of other UK/Australian/New Zealand lyricists I wanted to add but couldn't cuz I had to cut the list short in no particular order (again see my comment #72 for more artists I really wanted to add too):

Pete Ham (Badfinger), Van Morrison, Richard Thompson (Fairport Convention, solo), Sandy Denny (Fairport Convention, solo), John Martyn, Roy Harper, Tom Robinson, Kate Bush, Sinead O' Connor, Annie Lennox (Eurythmics, solo), Neil Hannon (Divine Comedy), Roddy Frame (Aztec Camera), Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout), Frank Reader (Trash Can Sinatras), Neil & Tim Finn (Split Enz, Crowded House, The Finn Bros., solo), Paul Kelly (w/The Colored Girls, The Messengers, solo), Ed Kuepper (The Saints, Laughing Clowns, solo), Chris Bailey (Saints, solo), Peter Garrett (Midnight Oil), Kirsty MacColl, Astrid Williamson (Goya Dress, solo), Liz Fraser (Cocteau Twins), Enya, Beth Orton, Beth Gibbons (Portishead), Ben Watt & Tracy Thorn (Everything But The Girl), Robert Scott (The Clean, Th

um...you can barely understand the first four albums, and dear Lord! Have you listened to "Up?", particularly "Lotus"????

Talk about obtuse! Gimmie a break.

3. Stuart Murdoch: Belle and Sebastian is the new Smiths, and Stuart is the only other writer today remotely equivical to Morrissey. Equally poignent and humourous, Stuart is a wonderfully articluate spinner of everyday life.

2. Grant Lee Phillips of Grant Lee Buffalo: Now defunct, Grant Lee Buffalo was the last unique voice in american pop rock songwriting. Equal parts folk and pop, Dylan and Bowie, Grant Lee Phillips introspective style and unearthly voice are unparalalled in contemporary american music.

1. Martin Rossiter of Gene: Gene are the next REM, whether you know it yet or not. Not since Elvis have I heard a singer as emotive. Rossiter's lyrics are, today, second only to Michael Stipe, the best pop lyricist who ever lived. And Rossitter is gaining ground FAST. There is not a more beautifully passionate, artistically skilled, and emotionally captivating band than Gene. And Martin's writing only gets better with each album. After listening to "You'll Never Walk Again" from their most recent album "Revelations," if you don't wipe the tear from yuor eye and bend down the earth and kiss it just for spinning and keeping you on it, I feel sorry for your pulse-less self. Gene are everything pop music should be, and Martin Rossiters lyrics are its skeleton. Go, Gene, Go. I'll be right behind you all the way.

I also am surprised that so few people voted for Ian McCollough. Anyone who's heard 'The Killing Moon' would understand.

22
The kichen drawers were open
Hot water in the bath
And the phone call that you'd promised me
I'd given up on the last

I was oniy 22
All undone and overdue
My friends burned all around me
And the smoke was full of you
But let's stop here for a prayer
For what happend there
And let have a beer
For anyone who's still here

I didn't have a letter
I just wrote my baby's name
On the mirror all steamed over
With water,heat and shame

All hopes were long-time missing
They'd had enough for me
I found them hanging through the moon
From the Hooker oak tree

The knife was on the basin
Wrapped in my baby's towel
My friend the water let me in
And I lowered myself down

Cause you can drink and you can shake
And you can dry up bitter tears
But the first to pass right through you
Will age you fifty years
And you could say,"well I don't know
You got to love the same"
But I say all I got
Was a phone call that never came

The towel was lying open
And it didn't hurt so bad
Ther was red smoke in the water
And all the thing We'd had

Now honey you don't need this heart
Now that I'm dead and gone
So dig me up and give me back
What I never should've lost

I was fallig asleep
You see I felt a little weak
I closed my eyes and thought of you
As the phone let out a ring

love mr.tim XXX

THE ROLLING STONES RULE!

P.S. The best thing that happened to rock n roll is that John Lennon was shot!! F--- the Beatles!!

Matt Johnson(a pure genius)
David Bowie
Gerry Rosalie
Pete Shelley

SHAME ON YOU!!!!!

THESE ARE THE NAMES:
1.MORRISSEY
2.PATTI SMITH (STILL!!!)
3.GERT

I have alot fav lyricists some onthe poll some not . The wierd thing is is that 95% of my favorites are British. A few Canadiens including one fabulous Sarah McLachlan. Very very limited Americans. What great lyricists have we americans produced Ozzy osbourne?? Backstreet Boys?? Britney Spears?? DON'T THINK SO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean there is very limited Americans who can write. The Brits actually think before they write. The only thing we're good for is that trashy, sleazy hip hop stuff.

I gambled in two graveyards

I won against the odds

With the smiling saints and the silent saviors

With the maggots and the gods

I cursed the things they showed me

I could never see again

And the howling of the wind at night

I wrote upon the rain

--"USA," Shane MacGowan

They have an equal phiolsophical effect as The Smiths did. Maybe not better, but just as good.

Cheers,
Nick

Again, let me just state that I came up with this list on a whim. I put those people on the list because YES those are people I think most of when I think of Morrissey/The Smiths. Most (not all) of them are singers/lyricists for cool guitar bands that came out around the same time they did. And YES I enjoyed them just as much as The Smiths. ALL OF THEM along with Moz and co. certainly made the 80 & 90's better decades for me. Lou Reed, Leonard Cohen and tons of other US and Canadian artists did too but then so did Bob Marley (w/The Wailers, solo) and Q-Tip (A Tribe Called Quest) but that's another story. Anyway, we all know "Other, not on this list" is GONNA WIN THIS POLL RIGHT????

Again, if you wondered what other artists I wanted to put on this list see my comments #72 & #141. Here are some more worthy UK/Australian/New Zealand artists I thought should have made the list but had to cut short because of limited webspace (and/or that nobody would've heard of them):

Robert Scott (The Bats, The Clean), Martin Phillips (The Chills), Graeme Downes (The Verlaines), Joe Jackson, Steve Marriott & Ronnie Lane (The Small Faces), Cathal Coughlin (Microdisney, Fatima Mansions), Neil Halstead (Slowdive, Mojave 3), Emma Anderson & Miki Berenyi (Lush), Patrick Fitzgerald (Kitchens Of Distinction), Rob Dickinson (Catherine Wheel), Adam Franklin (Swervedriver), Howard Devoto (Buzzcocks, Magazine, Luxuria), Tricky, Massive Attack, Jake Burns (Stiff Little Fingers), Hugh Cornwell (Stranglers, solo), Suggs (Madness), Luka Bloom, Howard Jones, Thomas Dolby, Mark Nevin (Fairground Attraction, solo), Russell Yates & Kevin McKillop (Moose), Marc Almond (Soft Cell, solo), Sade, Donovan, Damian O' Neill (Undertones, That Petrol Emotion), TV Smith (The Adverts, solo) Mark Burgess (Chameleons UK), Miles Hunt (The Wonder Stuff, solo), Peter Hammill, Peter Gabriel and whoever writes the lyrics for The Damned, Squeeze, The Bonzo Dog Band, The Mekons, Wire, Crass, Teenage Fanclub, The Raincoats, New Model Army, Boo Radleys, The Mutton Birds, ABC, The Sound and many, many more!

Chris

"so empty at the airport
you don't set off the doors
we used to feel like chorus girls
and now we feel like whores
hearts built like reservoirs
words built like dams
thoughts built like juggernauts
our actions built like prams..."
- p. d. heaton ("alone" - the beautiful south, 1996.)

And who said I had bad hair?

ps. Morrissey is brilliant as well but not as good as old Rob!

What about that Kylie girl, she's a bit of a groovy chick...
"Put your hand on your heart and tell me
that we're through, ooough, oh oh oh"

1. Matthew Good- Matthew Good Band. They are currently only available in Canada but album will be available in US in 2000! check it out.

2. Tim Booth- James. How can you not like him. Heard his new singles yet? You need too.

3. Nick Cope- The Candyskins. This man is brilliant. Everyone has to own Death Of A Minor TV Celebrity and if you can find an import copy of Sunday Morning Fever you'll forever be grateful.