Music with smart lyrics?

October 31, 2005 10:24 AM

Lately I've been fascinated by "smart" songs: songs with witty, intelligent lyrics, especially if the lyrics are literary. Can you recommend more music of this sort? [samples inside]

Joanna Newsom is typical of what I'm after. Here's the first stanza from "Bridges and Balloons":

We sailed away on a winter's day
with fate as malleable as clay;
but ships are fallible, I say,
and the nautical, like all things, fades.

And I can recall our caravel:
a little wicker beetle shell
with four fine maste and lateen sails,
its bearings on Cair Paravel.

I adore the complexities of those lines: the vocubulary, the rhyme, the assonance. In "Sea Ghost" by the Unicorns, it is the metaphor that I like:

I dove into that freezing sea with the parasite attached to me
I had hoped the salt below would divorce what was wed above
But league after league it yet remained
For the fleshy vessel, I, kept it sustained

And so we froze a while surrounded by one big tear
Which only reminded me of a former home
But we weren't welcome, the sea made that clear
By filling us with saline and sailing us blue blue back into
The atmosphere

Are there other songs with great, extended metaphors? Or, there's the more obvious wordplay of Colin Meloy, such as that found in The Decemberists' "The Legionaire's Lament" (note that I think some of this gets forced: "mirage/shiraz" is wince-worthy):

Medicating in the sun, pinched doses of laudanum,
Longing for old fecundity of my homeland.
Curses to this mirage! A bottle of ancient Shiraz,
a smattering of distant applause is ringing in my poor ears.

On the old left bank, my baby in a charabanc,
Riding up the width and length of the Champs Elysees.

If only summer rain would fall on the houses and the boulevards
And the side walk bagatelles. It's like a dream,
With the roar of cars and the lulling of the cafe bars,
The sweetly sleeping sweeping of the sand.
Lord I don't know if I'll ever be back again.

What I'm looking for is music with smart lyrics (or maybe smarty music, too) from any genre. Bonus points for songs that are catchy and tuneful (as I feel the above are). I want to make a brainy mix, just for fun. (Also acceptable: classic poems by modern performers.)

posted by jdroth to media & arts (100 comments total)

Champs Elysees.

Sounds like you need a copy of John Cale's Paris 1919. Sort of the Ur-Document for this approach to rock.
posted by bendybendy at 10:27 AM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

I'm listening to Elvis Costello's "Beyond Belief" from Imperial Bedroom, it's literate as hay-ell.
posted by johngoren at 10:28 AM on October 31, 2005

Classic poem by a modern performer: Loreena McKennitt's (spelling is probably wrong) version of The Highwayman.

Smart lyrics, catchy tune, actually a very sad song: Vertebrae by Christine Fellows
posted by odinsdream at 10:29 AM on October 31, 2005

You'd probably appreciate Visions of Sin.
posted by cribcage at 10:31 AM on October 31, 2005

The Highwayman, by Loreena McKennitt is a great version of the poem set to song. For intelligent, literary lyrics, I don't think you can go wrong with Bright Eyes.
posted by pmbuko at 10:31 AM on October 31, 2005

they might be giants are relentlessly smart, in a kind of stupid way
posted by pyramid termite at 10:34 AM on October 31, 2005

Just about anything The Residents have ever done. Duck Stab and The Commercial Album for choice, though you may be the right audience for God In Three Persons too. I'd link to lyrics, but I'm having trouble reaching rzweb.net at the moment, which is the best site for info on their stuff.
posted by PinkStainlessTail at 10:35 AM on October 31, 2005

I've always been impressed with the lyrics of the Trash Can Sinatras. An excerpt from "Obscurity Knocks":

rubbing shoulders with the sheets till two
looking at my watch and i'm half-past caring
in the lap of luxury it comes to mind
is this headboard hard? am i a lap behind?

but to face doom in a sock-stenched room all by myself
is the kind of fate i never contemplate
lots of people would cry though none spring to mind

though i ought to be learning i feel like a veteran
of "oh i like your poetry but I hate your poems"
calendars crumble i'm knee deep in numbers
i've turned 21, i've twist, i'm bust and wrong again

know what it's like
to sigh at the sight of the first quarter of life?
ever stopped to think and found out nothing was there?
posted by xo at 10:38 AM on October 31, 2005

Loreena also did The Lady of Shallot.

Elysian Fields has done some excellent work with Poe's poetry. The female vocalist has a beautiful, breathy, bluesy voice that will "lick you up and down," as one reviewer said.

For good lyrics that aren't literally poems, I like Tool. Not many of their songs sound like they were written to hook radio listeners, if you get my meaning.
posted by xyzzy at 10:38 AM on October 31, 2005

I continue to pimp Andrew Bird.
posted by boo_radley at 10:42 AM on October 31, 2005

Don't neglect the American Musical (aka show tunes) -- especially like the giants like PG Wodehouse, Dorothy Fields, Ira Gershwin, and Cole Porter.
posted by phliar at 10:42 AM on October 31, 2005

A few suggestions:
- The Handsome Family - gloomy alt-country
- Neutral Milk Hotel - perhaps a little angsty or weird for you, but lots of strange metaphors and imagery.
- Songs:Ohia
- The Mountain Goats

Or, you could look at musicians who've also been successful as authors. Two that come to mind are Leonard Cohen (that might be a painfully obvious one), and Patti Smith (if you're into the wild post-beat stuff). Most members of Sonic Youth have also written books, and I like a lot of their lyrics, especially those by Lee Ranaldo, probably the group's most litarary member (see "Karen Revisited" from Murray Street, "Skip Tracer" from Washing Machine, and many more.)
posted by ITheCosmos at 10:42 AM on October 31, 2005

This is my kind of question.

You want to listen to, in the format of Artist (recommended album), with links to some lyrics:

The Lucksmiths (Warmer Corners)
Andrew Bird (Mysterious Production of Eggs)
Neutral Milk Hotel (In the Aeroplane Over the Sea)
Belle and Sebastian (If You're Feeling Sinister)

I'll add more if anything occurs to me. If I had to recommend one as being most similar to what you're looking for, it would be The Lucksmiths.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:43 AM on October 31, 2005

Oh yeah, and definitely The Mountain Goats (The Sunset Tree, Talahassee), and come to think of it, John Vanderslice (Pixel Revolt). And of course, Sufjan Stevens (Illinois). And probably Okkervil River (Black Sheep Boy).
posted by ludwig_van at 10:44 AM on October 31, 2005

Definitely check out The Magnetic Fields, especially their masterpiece, 69 Love Songs. All of Stephin Merritt's projects feature brilliant lyricism.
posted by arco at 10:45 AM on October 31, 2005

You might like some of the earlier Weakerthans, or maybe even some earlier work back when their lead singer was the bassist for Propaghandi. Neither might be your musical style, but they have excellent lyrics that read like reasonable prose on the printed page.

My city's still breathing (but barely it's true)
through buildings gone missing like teeth.
The sidewalks are watching me think about you,
sparkled with broken glass.
I'm back with scars to show.
Back with the streets I know
Will never take me anywhere but here.
The stain in the carpet, this drink in my hand,
the strangers whose faces I know.
We meet here for our dress-rehearsal to say " I wanted it this way"
Wait for the year to drown.
Spring forward, fall back down.
I'm trying not to wonder where you are.
All this time lingers, undefined.
Someone choose who's left and who's leaving.
Memory will rust and erode into lists of all that you gave me:
a blanket, some matches, this pain in my chest,
the best parts of Lonely, duct-tape and soldered wires,
new words for old desires,
and every birthday card I threw away.
I wait in 4/4 time.
Count yellow highway lines that you're relying on to lead you home.

Weakerthans, "Left and Leaving"
posted by anthill at 10:45 AM on October 31, 2005

Definitely check out The Magnetic Fields

That too. And I'll take this opportunity to say that I find pasting long lyrical excerpts in a thread to be really annoying. Just link to them.
posted by ludwig_van at 10:47 AM on October 31, 2005

Oh, and double props for The Mountain Goats and "69 Love Songs". Excellent lines from both:

"A pretty girl is like a violent crime - if you do it wrong, you could do time. But if you do it right, it is divine"

"Ain't no woman gonna change the way I think...
(all) I think I'll just sit here and drink!"
posted by anthill at 10:47 AM on October 31, 2005

I'll second the Lucksmiths. Catchy tunes and some of the cleverest pop lyrics ever.
posted by Wolfie at 10:49 AM on October 31, 2005

Try the Drive By Truckers. No, really. Their latest album, The Dirty South, is excellent. For example, the first track is about the narrator's father's moonshine business. Haha, moonshine and hicks, right? Wrong. The story takes place during Prohibition and is about how the rich folk still got their alcohol from the poor who turned to making it illegally, and how the poor suffered the most from the Prohibition laws. Toward the end of the song they hit you with this:

Daddy tell me another story
Tell me about the lows and the highs
Tell me how to tell the difference between what they tell me is the truth or a lie
Tell me why the ones who have so much make the ones who don't go mad
With the same skin stretched over their white bones and the same jug in their hand

Oh, and you should definitely check out John Cale's Paris 1919.
posted by driveler at 10:50 AM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Though Issac Brock appears to be mentally deficient in person, the lyrics on the first two Modest Mouse albums are nothing short of brilliant.

Same with Ryan Adams, provided you liten to the Whiskeytown stuff and stop after his first solo record.
posted by Heminator at 10:51 AM on October 31, 2005

I think you would like The Decemberists. Historical/literary references (both high and low) galore. Get Picaresque; I'm in love with it.

2nd The Dirty South and 69 Love Songs.
posted by missmobtown at 10:54 AM on October 31, 2005

The Decemberists - Picaresque

Pretty much every track. My favorites are:
The Mariner's Revenge Song
The Sporting Life
posted by srburns at 10:55 AM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Consider rilo kiley. Catchy and tuneful, too. From their "its a hit":

Any chimp can play human for a day.
Use his opposable thumbs to iron his uniform
and run for office on election day
fancy himself a real decision maker
and deploy more troops than salt shakers.

But it's a jungle when war is made,
and you'll panic and throw your own shit at the enemy.
The camera pulls back to reveal your true identity.
Look, it's a sheep in wolf's clothing.
A smoking gun holding ape.
posted by parma at 10:59 AM on October 31, 2005

Idlewild name-checks Gertrude Stein, among others.
Ted Leo is just a smart mofo all around.
Matthew Grimm (currently of the Red Smear, formerly of the Hangdogs) has a song about Henry Wallace (who?).
posted by notsnot at 1:16 PM on October 31, 2005

Nick Drake
posted by fire&wings at 1:19 PM on October 31, 2005

Also check out The Go-Betweens, especially Before Hollywood and Liberty Belle and the Black Diamond Express.
posted by smich at 1:22 PM on October 31, 2005

This suggestion borders on the painfully obvious, but: some of Bob Dylan's lyrics have the quality you're looking for, even in songs like "Mr Tambourine Man":

Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
I'm not sleepy and there is no place I'm going to.
Hey, Mr. Tambourine Man, play a song for me,
In the jingle jangle morning I'll come followin' you.

Though I know that evening's empire has returned into sand
Vanished from my hand
Left me blindly here to stand but still not sleeping--
My weariness amazes me, I'm branded on my feet
I have no one to meet
And the ancient empty street's too dead for dreaming.

You can actually buy a book of all his lyrics--check amazon.com with Bob Dylan as author name.
posted by availablelight at 1:22 PM on October 31, 2005

Try The Beautiful Few I know there are a few free MP3's avaialble from their record label.

UK workers icon Billy Bragg can also be considered intelligent under your definition.

I could make an endless list, but they are the first 2 that spring to mind.
posted by mule at 1:23 PM on October 31, 2005

Just got back. Thanks for the suggestions so far.

I've not head the Lucksmiths. I'll have to check them out. I've heard "Dance Music" by the Mountain Goats, and quite like the song (though it had never occurred to me to think of it for my list of "smart" songs). I'm familiar with Loreena McKennitt's Shallott. I'm well-versed in Decemberists music (being from Portland). I ought to have linked to the lyrics to "Red Right Ankle", since that's my favorite of theirs. I despise "The Sporting Life", though; it's their one song that I hate, and in fact I remove it from every Decemberists mix I make. Ugh. I'm moderately familiar with Magnetic Fields, and do find some of their lyrics smart. I'll have to listen to them more closely.

I should have mentioned that I'm very familiar with American musical theater, and am aware of all the smart songs to draw on from that genre. In fact, Cole Porter's lyrics are the most consistently intelligent I've ever heard. He typifies what I'm after.

Thanks again, everyone!
posted by jdroth at 1:26 PM on October 31, 2005

I'm surprised no one has mentioned Moxy Fruvous yet.

And if you like 'em smart and funny, then don't miss Tom Lehrer.
posted by briank at 1:26 PM on October 31, 2005

I would recommend The Beautiful South. Great melodies with smart writing. Second Andrew Bird and add M. Ward. Aimee Mann writes lyrics very well, but I find her melodies to be repetitive and annoying.

And I'll take this opportunity to say that I find pasting long lyrical excerpts in a thread to be really annoying. Just link to them.

And I'll take this opportunity to completley disagree and say that I'd rather have the examples here, in one place and be able to read them in the thread, than have to bounce all over the internet. So, there you have two opposing viewpoints.
posted by spicynuts at 1:32 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Hard to find but one of my favorites is The Apartments (AMG link).

Also see:
Felt (AMG)
Momus (lyrics to Poison Boyfriend album)
Gang of Four (official US site)
posted by strangeleftydoublethink at 1:35 PM on October 31, 2005

The Divine Comedy! Lush, dramatic, orchestral pop with witty, literary lyrics, all courtesy of wunderkind Neil Hannon. Imagine Noel Coward crossed with Magnetic Fields . Or Cole Porter dropping by a Scott Walker recording session. The Secret History is their "best of" from about 5 or 6 years ago, and is a good place to start.

Gin-Soaked Boy

I'm the darkness in the light
I'm the leftness in the right
I'm the rightness in the wrong
I'm the shortness in the long
I'm the goodness in the bad
I'm the saneness in the mad
I'm the sadness in the joy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy, the gin-soaked boy

I'm the ghost in the machine
I'm the genius in the gene
I'm the beauty in the beast
I'm the sunset in the east
I'm the ruby in the dust
I'm the trust in the mistrust
I'm the Trojan horse in Troy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy, the gin-soaked boy

I'm the tiger's empty cage
I'm the mystery's final page
I'm the stranger's lonely glance
I'm the hero's only chance
I'm the undiscovered land
I'm the single grain of sand
I'm the Christmas morning toy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy, the gin-soaked boy

I'm the world you'll never see
I'm the slave you'll never free
I'm the truth you'll never know
I'm the place you'll never go
I'm the sound you'll never hear
I'm the course you'll never steer
I'm the will you'll not destroy
I'm the gin in the gin-soaked boy, yeah, the gin-soaked boy

I'm the half-truth in the lie
I'm the why not in the why
I'm the last role in the die
I'm the old school in the tie
I'm the sprirt in the sky
I'm the catcher in the rye
I'm the twinkle in her eye
I'm Jeff Goldblum in "The Fly"
Who am I?
posted by scody at 1:38 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

I've not head the Lucksmiths. I'll have to check them out.

Methinks you're in for a treat!

I despise "The Sporting Life", though; it's their one song that I hate, and in fact I remove it from every Decemberists mix I make. Ugh.

That's interesting. It's one of theirs that I enjoy less than most, but it doesn't bother me as much as the interminable Mariner's Revenge Song.

And I'll take this opportunity to completley disagree and say that I'd rather have the examples here, in one place and be able to read them in the thread, than have to bounce all over the internet.

Bounce all over the internet? Clicking a link isn't exactly embarking on an arduous journey. I just think it makes a thread a huge pain in the ass to scroll through when everyone posts huge chunks of line-break-laden text, and it smacks of "No, these lyrics are the most important, so they deserve the most space on the page!" But I'll stop the meta-discussion/derail now.
posted by ludwig_van at 1:39 PM on October 31, 2005

Nick Cave, for obscure references to Papal Encyclicals, arcane usages and whatnot.

"The candle it gutters on the ledge"

"along the loom of land"
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:41 PM on October 31, 2005

Nothing Painted Blue has alot of smart lyrics and wordplay, and has sent me running to the dictionary on more than one occasion. I'd recommend starting with the album "Placeholders". (Their lead singer, Franklin Bruno, also has a few solo albums out, but the lyrics for his solo material tend to be more clever than really "smart".)
posted by 23skidoo at 1:43 PM on October 31, 2005

I've seen references to Magnetic Fields and Mountaingoats up there.... and dammit, 23skidoo beat me to Nothing Painted Blue...


...but I would like to see them all, and raise them a Momus.
posted by kaseijin at 1:45 PM on October 31, 2005

I'm partial to Roger Waters, particularly The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking.

From 4.33 A.M. (Running Shoes):

So I stood by the roadside
The soles of my running shoes gripping
The tarmac like gunmetal magnets
Fixed on the front of her Fassbinder face
Was the kind of a smile
That only a rather dull child could have drawn
While attempting a graveyard in the moonlight
But she was impressed
You could see that she thought I looked fine
And when she turned sweeter
The reason, between you and me, was
She'd just seen my green Lamborghini

(I think it was the Lamborghini.)

So we went for a spin in the country
To feel the wind in our hair
To feel the power of my engine
To feel the thrill of desire

posted by Khalad at 1:47 PM on October 31, 2005

If hip-hop is your flavor, get some Aesop Rock:

About Catholicism:

Just a little bruised in the back of the pews,
acting amused with a mask on them Vatican blues,
for in the eyes of the organization I was raised in,
Aes is just another sinning brick in hell's basement.
Cubicle adjacent to the killers and rapists.
For what? Drugs and fucking part of growing up.
Like cuffs over dumb shit is better than the schools.
I'm not an asshole, I'm just a little confused.
Just a lit fuse in the back of the pews
watching a thousand flavors of the same God feud.
I figure ultimate peace is the common theme,
so it's a no-brainer peace when the blood hit the screen.
I got a basic good and evil sensibility born.
Good neighbor know a halo wouldn't fit over horns.
I'm more science than faith,
I'm more karma than bread and booze.
I'm not an asshole,
I'm just a little confused.

About War:

I shimmy up out of the foxhole, disorderly,
only after having logged every cadaver accordingly.
High scores keep automatons enthralled.
No cause given.
There is no cause at all.
If his perspective is merked,
sneaky detective work is aborted
and it's no longer whisper mode on the red alert.
No bed of dirt sniper rifle peaking out the bunker.
Now I'm center city looking for something to puncture.
Help me up the numbers or the hero status suffers,
treat the public like a tin can riddled before it plummets,
but adrenaline could lead to lazy eye hassles
so be missed the little boy inch the pin out the pineapple.
That's funny.
Bumps into the steel toe.
That's lovely.
Sum it up in 'hell no'.
And just as quick as the parachute cable snipped,
I was rag doll horizontal 2 limbs short of fixed.
Leak a baby pool around the standard issue weaponry while fading as a blemish in civility's memory,
they will step over the body for the looting...
strap on a helmet and start shooting.
posted by vito90 at 1:52 PM on October 31, 2005

"along the loom of the land"
posted by StickyCarpet at 1:53 PM on October 31, 2005

I've been pimping this left and right, it's just such a wonderful piece of storytelling: The Trapeze Swinger, by Iron & Wine.

Please remember me, fondly
I heard from someone you're still pretty
and then they went on to say that the pearly gates
had some eloquent graffiti
like 'we'll meet again' and 'fuck the man'
and 'tell my mother not to worry'
and angels with their gray handshakes
were always done in such a hurry

<self-link>Download</self-link>
posted by mumble at 1:55 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

If it's Cole Porter-type stuff you're after, definitely check out the Magnetic Fields.
posted by arco at 1:58 PM on October 31, 2005

> Nick Drake
> posted by fire&wings

yes indeed
posted by Substrata at 2:06 PM on October 31, 2005

I like Janis Ian who I thought of right away reading your question.

And on a tangent: for deranged word-play it might be worth tracking down a CD of Sir Henry at Rawlinson End by Vivian Stanshall - patches are brilliant - also made into a movie, which is also good.
posted by selton at 2:08 PM on October 31, 2005

A lot of the music by Neil Hannon (a.k.a. The Divine Comedy - he toured with Ben Folds recently) is like this, lyrically.

One of my favorite verses:

Lovers watch their backs
As hacks, in macs, take snaps
through telephoto lenses,
Chase Mercedes Benzes through the night
A mourning nation weeps
And wails, but keeps, the sales
of evil tabloids healthy
The poor protect the wealthy in this world
posted by wackybrit at 2:08 PM on October 31, 2005

I second The Divine Comedy, Magnetic Fields, and the Drive-By Truckers.

Also, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists have some great, erudite lyrics. For example, the song "Bridges, Squares":

"As i walked to kendall square,
and crossed the river basin there,
the charles was black, the sky was blue,
the view was old, the bridge was new.
and past the flow's constricted mouth,
commercial lines flowed mostly south,
or east across a boundless sea,
where rising soon, the star would be.
the tides are moved by sun and moon.
the spring will last from march to june.
the red line train will pass behind,
as long as bridge joins stream and sky.
and from that point where i did stand,
i wondered at the works of man.
i wondered how this walk began,
til red line train came round again.
but it's not the time to ossify.
it's not the end of wondering why.
it's not in your faith or your apostasy.
it's not the end of history."
posted by Falconetti at 2:10 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Off Topic: Thanks for the Trapeze Singer mumble. I have all the Iron & Wine albums, but hadn't heard it. It's fantastic!
posted by driveler at 2:14 PM on October 31, 2005

"Bridges, Squares" is brilliant. I don't even have to hear it to know that I love it. I appreciate all the lyrics posted in this thread, by the way; it helps to be able to read all these examples here. I look forward to making a mix from these suggestions...
posted by jdroth at 2:15 PM on October 31, 2005

an actor will seek revenge
i don't know why i don't know when
there'll be talk , there'll be action
boys demanding satisfaction
from girls
you'd hate to play a girl!
from An Actor's Revenge

rock and roll's not dead yet.
i'm sewing wings on this thing.
from Makin' Angels

absolve, absolve, absolve!
you spent the better part of the day
waiting for the wave to hit our side of town at six.
absolve, absolve, absolve!
I washed my hands of the stuff of legends.
And what news of the horizon?
I hear it's all just a horizontal myth
so stop your cruisin' start your criticizin'
indulge yourself
for once feel medium between their hands
goddamn your eyes!
they just had to be twin prizes waiting for the sun.
from The Bad Arts

Dan Bejar writes good lyrics. His band's called Destroyer.
posted by carsonb at 2:26 PM on October 31, 2005

Welcome, driveler. Just for the record, it was on the In Good Company OST and also released as a single according to the iTunes Music Store. And yes, absolutely stunning song.
posted by mumble at 2:35 PM on October 31, 2005

Harvey Danger have clever, literate song lyrics, especially on King James Version (2000). It's out of print in CD format, but available through iTunes or your local used-record shop.
posted by S.C. at 2:45 PM on October 31, 2005

A few of my current favourites are Iron and Wine, and The Decemberists.
posted by purephase at 2:45 PM on October 31, 2005

I suggest this in so very many contexts: Wilco.

More impressionistic than some of the stuff here, often deceptively simple-sounding, and sometimes gleefully goofy, but it's no accident there's an online archive just of their lyrics.

"I Am Trying To Break Your Heart" has one of my all-time favourite opening couplets:

I'm an American aquarium drinker
I assassin down the avenue

I never ever stumble out of a bar into a darkened street anymore without thinking of those lines.

And there's "Someone Else's Song," which is a song that sounds like it was written a hundred years ago about writing a song that sounds like it was a hundred years ago:

You already know the story
And the chords are just the same
You already know I love you
And I sound like what's his name

Or there's this among a half-dozen incomparable stanzas in "Spiders (Kidsmoke)":

Why can't they wish their kisses good
Why do they miss when their kisses should
Fly like winging birds fighting for the keys
On a private beach in Michigan

This is just for starters. Can't go wrong with Wilco.
posted by gompa at 2:48 PM on October 31, 2005

A bit dated, but check out Nothing Painted Blue or the work of Franklin Bruno solo. He/They used to put out cassette releases on the same little label in California that first broke The Mountain Goats.
posted by matildaben at 2:51 PM on October 31, 2005

Elvis Costello's Juliet Letters - razor sharp, witty and literary.
posted by tellurian at 2:51 PM on October 31, 2005

Give a listen to Freedy Johnston. He's always been one of my favorite lyricists. Andy Partridge from XTC is also a great lyricist.
posted by gfrobe at 2:52 PM on October 31, 2005

Elvis Costello

I considered using Elvis Costello and Aimee Mann's "The Other End (of the Telescope)" as example in my question. (Both Costello and Mann offer more of type of music I'm after.)

Excerpts from "Telescope":

Shall we agree that just this once I'm gonna change my life
Until it's just as tiny or important as you like?
And in time we won't even recall that we spoke
Words that turned out to be as big as smoke
As smoke that disappears in the air
There's always something that's smoldering somewhere

The promise of indulgence in my confidential voice
Approached immortal danger but you'll never know how close
Then down the hall I overheard such a heavenly choir
They interrupted my evil designs
One day you are up in the clouds
The next thing you're down with the Sweet Adelines

You're half-naked ambition and you're half out of your wits
Or several tiny fractions that this portrait still omits
And it's so hard to pick the receiver up when I call
I never noticed you could be so small
The answer was under your nose but the question never arose

Also, there are some Billy Bragg songs that qualify: "The Milkman of Human Kindness", "A New England", "Lover's Town Revisited", etc.
posted by jdroth at 3:05 PM on October 31, 2005

I've always been struck by Rhett Miller, both his solo stuff and his songs with his band, the Old 97's. Lots of clever wordplay and literary references.

Some lyrics from Rhett Miller "Our Love":
Richard Wagner's letters to his lover Mathilde were a mess
He should have quit before he had written the address
They made love on the mezzanine her husband was his friend
Vienna in a fugue-state working on a thing
That when he finished it took almost seven hours to sing
He still found time to write to her his heart-exploding words
posted by peppermint22 at 3:18 PM on October 31, 2005

a few hip hop albums come to mind, as far as things with lyrics that sound good and are carefully put together, but avoid being pretentious

El-P, Fantastic Damage
Cannibal Ox, The Cold Vein
Canibus, MiClub: The Curriculum
posted by rxrfrx at 3:38 PM on October 31, 2005

Canibus is famous the world around for being by far the most pedantic rapper who has not succumbed to the PoMo hip-hop stuff that i always hear hipsters touting.
(from the song Levitibus, via the first link above)

"I was created by intelligent design
you are merely a descendant of the unmodified
you diss me out of pride
but when youre finished talkin bout money and bitches youre simply out of rhymes
even my worst album was sublime
if I dont slow down, i'll distort the timeline
back through the time, turned into a 100 bars again
a master like the honorable Earl of Cannaben
the grand architect
used to be a partisan to LeMarketson's theory but I lost the bet
no regrets, you live and you learn
I'm through givin advice, I just give concern
sterilize my hands to prevent catchin the germs
and try to rebuild all the bridges I've burned
I prefer modesty over con-troversy
but what am I to do when these jerks keep botherin me
jealius cuz they cant rhyme like me
and they never had a scientific mind like me"
posted by markovitch at 3:52 PM on October 31, 2005

The Bloodhound Gang's lyrics are very, very clever.
posted by gramcracker at 4:06 PM on October 31, 2005

This was a radio single, which might disqualify it but I'd recommend Semisonic.

Singing in My Sleep
I've been living in your cassette
It's the modern equivalent
Singing up to a Capulet
On a balcony in your mind
posted by Octaviuz at 4:06 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Another (in this case entirely self-indulgent) vote for Billy Bragg, so I can have the pleasure of writing out the following verse, maybe not his best in the literary vein, but just lovely to me in its combination of romance and mundanity, which is what he does best imho (hoover = vacuum for our American readers):

And the sound of happy couples
Coupling happily in the dark
While you and I sat down to tea
I remember you said to me
That no amount of poetry could mend this broken heart
But you can put the hoover round if you want to make a start
posted by penguin pie at 4:19 PM on October 31, 2005

Agreed on the Nothing Painted Blue/Franklin Bruno front--terrific stuff.

I also enthusiastically endorse Dog Faced Hermans, a Scottish/Dutch art-punk band that was around in the late '80s and early '90s. One of their songs is a setting of the following sentence by Angela Carter:

She came from a community where women ruled the roost, imparted effortlessly a sense of my sex's ascendancy in the scheme of things, and every word and gesture of hers displayed a natural dominance, a native savagery, and I am very grateful for all that now although the core of steel was a bit inconvenient when I was looking for boyfriends in the South in the 1950s when girls were supposed to be as soft and pink as a nursuree.
posted by 88robots at 4:31 PM on October 31, 2005

She's got cheekbones like geometry
And eyes like skin
And she's sexually enlightened by
Cosmopolitan

Lloyd Cole and the Commotions, "Perfect Skin"

Billy Bragg's Talking with the Taxman About Poetry ("the difficult third album") and Workers Playtime are both good for smart lyrics.
posted by kirkaracha at 4:44 PM on October 31, 2005

It wasn't entirely clear if you just wanted smart lyrics, or poetically complex lyrics. Those are different orders of magnitude. You're talking to a similarly besotted Aimee Mann and Decemberists fan, though, so I think I know where you're coming from here.

If you like Mann, you should like her husband Michael Penn well enough too. I don't find his wordplay quite as precise or complex, but he's definitely capable of great pop songs and has plenty of sardonic fillips, e.g. "Bunker Hill"

Oh man, look what the cat drug in
It's got the dress, tho the color's gone
that I gave my one true love on

Oh man, look what the wind blew home
Never had this much stimulation
since her low down elevation, but

Oh, don't look in those eyes
bluer than blue
her rule's on the rise
and if I wear apathy's crown
don't call me highness
it's a long way down

A similar neo-folk singer-songwriter who doesn't get a lot of notice is John Wesley Harding.

In the movie of your life
They'll get some real jerk to be you
Edited so he can act
Cast because of his TVQ
In the movie of your life
You'll be less famous than he is
That'll be a strange turn of events
You'll be a cameo amongst the rushes

And you're learning all the lines
Though it was you who said them in the first place
Since then someone wrote them down
To pay for his new beach space
There's all these things you can't recall
And things you know you didn't say
But in the move of your life
The truth just flirts and runs away

Taking pop sardonicism to a new level, Jarvis Cocker and Pulp has some real bite. Surely you know "Common People", but try "Disco 2000":

Well we were born within one hour of each other.
Our mothers said we could be sister and brother.
Your name is Deborah. Deborah. It never suited ya.
Oh they thought that when we grew up we'd get married, never split up.
We never did it although often I thought of it.
Oh Deborah do you recall.
Your house was very small with wood chip on the wall.
When I came around to call you didn't notice me at all.

In something of the same vein is Dresden Dolls, e.g. "The Perfect Fit":

i can write a song
but i cant sing in key
i can play piano
but i never learned to read

i can't trap a mouse
but i can pet a cat
no i'm really serious!
i'm really very good at that

i can't fix a car
but i can fix a flat
i could fix alot of things
but i'd rather not get into that

i used to be the bright one
smart as a whip
funny how you slip so far when
teachers dont keep track of it

i can shuffle cut and deal
but i can't draw a hand
i can't draw a lot of things
i hope you understand
i'm not exceptionally shy
but i've never had a man
that i could look straight in the eye
and tell my secret plans

Or Nellie McKay with a similar whack-cabaret style, less expressionistic and influenced by Eminem as much as Cole Porter:

In high school it was cool to say
you look funny
youre a retard dummy
a retarded dummy
yeah you suck out of luck
youre no Playboy bunny
hee hee
so you laugh, its a gas
theyre right on the money
theyre just being funny, hysterically funny
yeah im stupid its true
now can we be chummy?
Maybe

And I always loved the mysterious Tanita Tikaram:

Everyone has said that I might go
'Cos my red suitcase and my ray-bans
Weren't quite so
I'd bear the heavy wind and rain that falls
I'll never come back again
'Cos you know I laugh when winter shows her hand
Well, that picture framed the saddest thing you'll see
But it bought me time and a place that love could be
And since I'm going now please rearrange
'Cos I'd like to think that things have changed
I don't believe you'll be open anymore

Tell me if, you want to see
A world outside your window
A world outside your window isn't free
And tell me if you wanna catch that feeling of redemption
That feeling of redemption doesn't do much for me
posted by dhartung at 5:02 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Hold Steady
Billy Bragg
Paul Barman (perhaps more clever than smart, but he even gets into meta lyrics, trying to work palindromes, forms, etc.)
Buck 65
Old 97s
Pernice Brothers
Pogues
The Roots
posted by yerfatma at 5:24 PM on October 31, 2005

Unmentioned so far is the one and only Robyn Hitchcock. His sensibility tends toward the surreal and melodically he's a disciple of Lennon and McCartney. And those of you who flip over The Decemberists should also take a listen to see where Colin gets his shtick (Robyn should get royalties from "July July", for a start).

I was also surprised not see The Shins get a namecheck. I find their lyrics to be more literate and poetical than most (I'm thinking of Pink Bullets here, in particular). Their main songwriter James Mercer also knows how to write a winding, beautiful melody.

Second the mentions of John Wesley Harding, Costello, and Belle & Sebastian
posted by alexfw at 5:30 PM on October 31, 2005

I have to put in my vote for favorite Billy Bragg lyric, from The Saturday Boy:

I had to look in the diction'ry/
To find out the meaning of unrequited/
While she was giving herself for free/
At a party to which I was never invited
posted by yerfatma at 5:30 PM on October 31, 2005

I'm compelled to 3rd/4th/5th (what are we up to?) the Magnetic Fields. Don't forget Stephin Merritt's other bands, particularly the 6th's. Check out "I've Got New York" and "Kissing Things" from Hyacinths and Thistles.
posted by hydrophonic at 5:31 PM on October 31, 2005

My first thoughts were Elvis Costello and Rilo Kiley, which were already suggested, so I'll just throw in Barenaked Ladies.
posted by mbrubeck at 5:40 PM on October 31, 2005

Dar Williams.
posted by weston at 5:47 PM on October 31, 2005

song:

Kardinall Offishall - We Good (on Pete Rock's Soul Survivor 2)
posted by rxrfrx at 6:08 PM on October 31, 2005

I'll second (third, fourth, etc.) some that have already been mentioned: The Lucksmiths, Old 97's "...She made a big impression for a girl of her size...", Wilco, Billy Bragg, Bob Dylan and add John Prine and Stephen Malkmus.
posted by Frank Grimes at 6:48 PM on October 31, 2005

The Decemberists and Ted Leo suggestions are great. I usually end up recommending...

The Silver Jews (two best songs: 1, 2, via)
The band behind Dave Berman, eccentric Southern genius who sings about everything from midnight executions to Protestant thighs to B.B. King on General Hospital.

I mean, the guy is a critically acclaimed poet for crying out loud. Here's a poem: "The Summer Before the Night Ecstasy Became Illegal in the State of Texas."
posted by themadjuggler at 6:55 PM on October 31, 2005

Howe Gelb (of Giant Sand, which would also fit the bill)
Grandaddy
any of Will Oldham's incarnations (Palace, Bonnie Prince Billy) though he is rarely catchy or tuneful
and I second the Silver Jews.
posted by kmel at 7:09 PM on October 31, 2005

Weakerthans, Christine Fellows, but nobody mentions Hawksley Workman?

- Your Beauty Must be Rubbing off on me
- Clever no Beautiful
- no beginning no end

All 3 of his albums are excellent.. and he gets better with each one.
posted by margaretlam at 7:24 PM on October 31, 2005

Whoa, this is a long set of replies, ain't it.

Fiery Furnaces.

Their most recent album was a take on south-asian history, as told by one specific book whose title I don't remember right now. And it's great fucking stuff.
posted by metaculpa at 7:41 PM on October 31, 2005

I know many songs with intelligent lyrics, but I thought I'd post one in which the lyrics are the most unusually intelligent for the band - the rest of their lyrics are pretty pedestrian:

Linkin Park - FRGT/10
posted by azazello at 7:53 PM on October 31, 2005

No one so far has mentioned Chris Smithers. Here's a couple of samples:

He told me "You ain't got no problem, you're self-deceived.
These seeming contradictions are all make believe."
It was then that I decided that my life was being guided
By a second-rate dependence on first-class thieves.
They told me I was breaking through when I was breaking down.
By the time I learned the difference, they had all left town.

from The Devil's Real on Happier Blue


It's hard to believe, but I'm telling you, your heart will soon recover,
You don't want it to, you love this achin' agony,
It's noble and it's true, you can't forsake this pain for other lovers,
Happiness would fill your mind with misery,
But time will wound all heels, and it ain't pretty,
With any luck at all she'll find some dope that you can pity,
Your loss is measured in illusions, your gain is all in bittersweet intelligence,
and your winsome smile will lose some of its innocence.

from Winsome Smile on Small Revelations

I'd also recomend Dar Williams, Ani DiFranco, Chris Chandler, and Emily Strand.
posted by tdismukes at 7:59 PM on October 31, 2005

Thanks for the great suggestions so far. In case anyone is curious, here are those suggestions with two or more advocates:

Two
Dar Williams
The Silver Jews
John Wesley Harding
Wilco
Iron and Wine
Momus
John Cale
Christine Fellows
Neutral Milk Hotel
Belle and Sebastian
Nick Drake
Rilo Kiley
Weakerthans

Three
Old 97s (Rhett Miller)
The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
Aimee Mann
Bob Dylan
Loreena McKennitt
Andrew Bird
Lucksmiths
Ted Leo

Four
Nothing Painted Blue (Franklin Bruno)
Mountain Goats

Five
Elvis Costello

Six
The Decemberists (despite me naming them in the question!)

Seven
Billy Bragg
Magnetic Fields
posted by jdroth at 8:01 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Alan Parsons Project not only has smart lyrics (Eye in the Sky for example) but have often done albums that are completely about literary things. Tales of Mystery and Imagination is about Edgar Allen Poe; I Robot is based on an Isaac Asimov novel; Turn of a Friendly Card is based on somebody, but I forget who.

Also, I have to second XTC, who write some simply splendid lyrics - often biting, often satyrical, often political, often pastoral - and they are fantastic musicians. There's lots to recommend from them, going back all the way to their beginning, but you might enjoy Apple Venus volume 1.
posted by ashbury at 8:07 PM on October 31, 2005

Out of the past but extraordinarily intelligent and tuneful: Dory Previn
posted by phhht at 8:13 PM on October 31, 2005

Perhaps more "literary" than "intelligent," but BlöödHag's entire repetoire consists of heavy-metal songs like "Octavia E. Butler" and "Harlan Ellison," whose lyrics are mini biographies of science-fiction and fantasy authors. Motto: "The sooner you go deaf, the more time you can spend reading."
posted by mbrubeck at 8:33 PM on October 31, 2005

I'll second Will Oldham/Palace (etc.). "Gulf Shores" gives me chills every time. And I'll toss in Smog, with Bill Callahan's similarly dark and engrossing storytelling. And I'll third XTC.

Here are some more:

- Mekons - try The Mekons Rock 'n' Roll
- The Jazz Passengers - In Love (although I didn't care too much for their later album with Debbie Harry.)
- Television - Marquee Moon
- Arto Lindsay's later stuff -- that is, from The Subtle Body and up.
- The Aluminum Group
- early Talking Heads -- Admittedly, the lyrics aren't too complicated or poetic, but the themes underneath are explored in witty, interesting ways. Spin Magazine had them on an early cover and proclaimed them the smartest band in the world.
posted by hydrophonic at 8:48 PM on October 31, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

The Alan Parsons Project not only has smart lyrics

I love me some Alan Parsons Project, but even when I was a kid I thought their lyrics were dumb.
posted by kindall at 10:03 PM on October 31, 2005

As I got farther down this thread (having come in somewhat late), I was pleased to see that some were recommending some artists from the OP's stated-ok "any" genre - Canibus, Linkin Park, TMBG etc. I was afraid I was going to be the only one mentioning such lyrical geniuses as Tupac and Ludacris. Tupac is often considered to be very literate and poetic; Ludacris is my current standby example for why I love me some good hip-hop: the clever turns of phrase, the dual meanings of words and phrases, the allusions...it's good stuff. Also please allow me to pimp, as some say, my new best friend Jonathan Coulton. His cover of "Baby Got Back" had garnered him quite a bit of attention lately, but (as good as it is) it is not as impressive as his original works. Intelligently funny songs, including a set written "as a soundtrack to the September 2005 issue of Popular Science on The Future of the Body."
posted by attercoppe at 10:08 PM on October 31, 2005

I've read all of the suggestions here, and I cannot think of a band that fits your needs more than The Mountain Goats. Hands down the most literate band around.
posted by OmieWise at 5:33 AM on November 1, 2005

Don't forget Iron Maiden and their rendition of The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
posted by jaded at 5:50 AM on November 1, 2005

If you like Cole Porter, I would highly recommend you check out a little-known guy named Pete Mills, who I firmly believe will one day be as well known as Porter or Sondheim. (Disclaimer: I went to college with him (with Pete Mills, that is, not with Porter or Sondheim), so I might be biased, but the Village Voice agrees with me.) At the moment, his work is usually produced at the off-Broadway theater company where he's writer-in-residence, and as far as I know, the only one of his shows available on CD is Illyria.

For a sample of his witty lyrics, listen to this MP3, or this one.
posted by yankeefog at 8:34 AM on November 1, 2005

So this thread is kind of old now, and I hope it's not too inappropriate to mention that I tend towards making this sort of music, too. Not to tout myself as a lyrical genius, but a lot of the bands mentioned here have influenced my music. A lyric:

A crestfallen verse, a doleful refrain
A melody caught in a vise, it hits your ear in broken strains
But just as it's heard, it soon starts to fade
It's quickly swallowed by the noise, a disappearing serenade

My pen is a blur, my mind is a sieve
I'm selling but nobody buys, so penniless is how I live
Hunched at my desk while everyone sleeps
Struggling with a turn of phrase at the start of stanza three

MP3s
posted by ludwig_van at 10:19 AM on November 1, 2005

Magnetic Fields.
posted by surferboy at 12:21 PM on November 1, 2005

I can't believe no one has mentioned the Manic Street Preachers! Very smart, literate lyrics (some political, some depressive), especially when Richey Edwards was around.

I would also second Bright Eyes, for whom I can say I like the lyrics exponentially better than the actual music.

And then there's Poe's "Hey Pretty" featuring her brother Mark Danielewski, which features excerpts from the book House of Leaves.

More that don't seem to have been mentioned yet:
Leonard Cohen (plenty of literary allusions and references)
Black Box Recorder (dark, playful humor)
Sebadoh (lovelorn but clever and funny)
Stars (love and its complications, brilliantly articulated)

I greatly enjoy catchy songs with witty, literate lyrics too and actually keep a lyrics journal to articulate and accompany certain events in my life, just because they express my sentiments beautifully and satisfy both my music-loving and readerly sides.

(E-mail is in profile, if you want to check it out; I'm pretty sure I'm going to regret posting it to MeFi at large!)
posted by Lush at 4:13 PM on November 1, 2005 [1 favorite has favorites]

Re Harvey Danger, their latest album is available as a free download.

(disclaimer: I helped with the online release)
posted by Good Brain at 7:54 PM on November 1, 2005

Pink Floyds tracks are awesome listen to:

Learn to fly
Comfortably numb
Summer of 69
posted by spooksie at 4:57 AM on November 2, 2005

As mentioned earlier Matthew Grimm of formerly of "The Hangdogs" now of The Red Smear has always had an impecable talent for telling the story of historical events long since forgotten thru lyric

Songs like
Wallace 48' - Henry Wallace FDR's VP who was ousted in his last run and then ran for president in 1948

Anacostia - The plight of the Bonus Army march in 1929 in which 20,000 WWI soldiers marched to demand their war bonus and were met by the last calvary charge in US history under the leadership of Gen Macarthur.

And most recently the Red Smear song "Honea Path" about the textile protest in Virginia.

Grimm has one of the most gifted abilities for capturing the spirit of the working man that I've come across in a long time .


posted by skeeziks at 11:27 AM on November 2, 2005

I can't believe I got through this whole post and there's not one mention of Bad Religion. Just in case you were wondering...not only are their lyrics smart, they are smart too. Lead singer Greg Graffin has a PhD from Cornell.

Check out this WIRED story about musicians with PhDs...
posted by ebeeb at 4:17 PM on November 2, 2005

I would recommend almost any song by Cake, especially off the Fashion Nugget album. "The Distance", "Friend is a Four Letter Word", "Frank Sinatra" and "Daria" stand out in my mind.
posted by jitterbug perfume at 3:35 AM on November 9, 2005

Guess I missed this thread. But:

The Mountain Goats (cf. Tallahassee)
Tom Waits (cf. Alice)
Bob Dylan (cf. Blood on the Tracks)
Leonard Cohen (cf. Songs of Love and Hate)
The Hold Steady (cf. Separation Sunday)

Actually, you could get pretty far on just The Mountain Goats and Tom Waits alone.
posted by Hildago at 9:49 AM on November 14, 2005