I can't say anything objectively but I feel deeper connections to the words of John Darnielle, Stephin Merritt and Elliott Smith. If I was gonna argue for objectivity the first one would be the only one I'd mention since the middle is insincere and the last one can be a tad bit maudlin.
I don't mean to be a fanboy, but I'm currently planning a 33 1/3 book on how Tori Amos has a whole Joycian side to herself, which doesn't seem so crazy when you consider that Boys For Pele was compared to reading "Gravity's Rainbow... In Greek" upon its 1996 release.
Also, in case it wasn't completely clear:
Kitty >>>>> Bob Dylan
Body of work. Dylan has written lyrics at a higher level than pretty much everybody for longer than pretty much everybody. Most who are considered to be really successful songwriters run out of gas in less than ten years, and most of the successful ones write fewer great sets of lyrics than there are on Highway 61 Revisited alone.
So, the number of lyricists to even compare to Dylan would be mighty small to start with. How many even reached his level...and then have been able to maintain that level for a long period of time would be less than a handful. _________________ I'm leaning on the threshold
Of her mystery
And crashing through the walls
Of dying history
I'm not huge on his music, but his lyrics really are great. I'd put him in a top tier with Morissey, Jesse Lacey, Stephen Merritt, MF DOOM, Tom Waits, Rakim, Lennon, McCartney, and Leonard Cohen. There's a ton of great lyricists but that'd be my top 10, but that's really tough and leaving out a lot of my favorites (Murdoch, Albarn, Kendrick has been rising, Costello, Johnston, Andre, and a lot of others). _________________
I'd put Dan Bejar, Stephen Merritt, Mark Kozelek, Robert Pollard, Jeff Tweedy, Johnathan Richman, Kendrick, Newsom and Cohen all on the same level as Dylan, and maybe a few others would be close too. I don't know if I'd say there's anyone I like more in particular, but there are a lot of favorites.
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