Twenty Favorite Living Lyricists
(When Bob Dylan won the Nobel Prize in Literature, I was one of those naysayers who considered it a category error, since his lyrics are so inextricable from his recordings—not to mention which: Leonard Cohen. That said, I do of course admire lyrics as an art form, and one whose virtues are explicitly literary. What follows is a list, in alphabetical order, of my twenty favorite living lyricists. I should say that I’m distinguishing here between recording artists, songwriters, and lyricists; David Sylvian might be my favorite living recording artist, Stevie Wonder at least one of my favorite living songwriters, but while they’re both fine lyricists, they don’t make my top twenty. I’ll add two caveats: (1) these are all writers working in English, the only language in which I’m fluent, and (2) I have a listening deficit when it comes to hip hop, so you won’t find any of the greats of that genre here.)
Laurie Anderson (sample track: The Dream Before)
Phoebe Bridgers (sample track: Punisher)
Greg Brown (sample track: Lord I Have Made You a Place in My Heart)
Tracy Chapman (sample track: Matters of the Heart)
John Darnielle (sample track: The Mountain Goats’ Riches and Wonders)
Howard Devoto (sample track: Luxuria’s Against the Past)
Christine Fellows (sample track: Vertebrae)
Neil Hannon (sample track: The Divine Comedy’s Your Daddy’s Car)
Joe Henry (sample track: God Only Knows)
Robyn Hitchcock (sample track: Agony of Pleasure)
Stephin Merritt (sample track: The Magnetic Fields’ (Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy)
Randy Newman (sample track: A Wedding in Cherokee County)
Glenn Richards (sample track: Augie March’s One Crowded Hour)
Richard Shindell (sample track: Transit)
Paul Simon (sample track: Hearts and Bones)
Justin Sullivan (sample track: New Model Army’s I Love the World)
Frank Tedesso (sample track: Margaret)
Tracey Thorn (sample track: Oh, the Divorces!)
Tom Waits (sample track: Tango Till They’re Sore)
Dar Williams (sample track: After All)
— February 24, 2023