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what makes a great lyricist?

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Ishotdanieljohnston:
Bob Dylan. You do not get a better lyricist. You can listen to a Dylan song a hundred times and get something new out of it each time. Also, they are such subjective songs, they can be interpreted any way. His real masterpiece ofcourse is like a rolling stone cause it has some of the most surreal and beautiful images. I quote here It's All Over Now Baby Blue:

You must leave now, take what you need, you think will last.
But whatever you wish to keep, you better grab it fast.
Yonder stands your orphan with his gun,
Crying like a fire in the sun.
Look out the saints are comin' through
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

The highway is for gamblers, better use your sense.
Take what you have gathered from coincidence.
The empty-handed painter from your streets
Is drawing crazy patterns on your sheets.
This sky, too, is folding under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

All your seasick sailors, they are rowing home.
All your reindeer armies, are all going home.
The lover who just walked out your door
Has taken all his blankets from the floor.
The carpet, too, is moving under you
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

Leave your stepping stones behind, something calls for you.
Forget the dead you've left, they will not follow you.
The vagabond who's rapping at your door
Is standing in the clothes that you once wore.
Strike another match, go start anew
And it's all over now, Baby Blue.

I also agree that Will Sheff is one of the greats.

BrittanyMarie:
I agree with Kablaaamo in that the sounds the words make are very important. My favorite line is "Now she's a little boy in Spain/playing pianos filled with flames" -which is from Neutral Milk Hotel, just because of how it sounds when Jeff sings it.

Similarly, rhyme within the line is more interesting, I think, than the last words at the end of the line rhyming.

Ishotdanieljohnston:
This is so true of Magnum... my favourite line of his is, "and in my dreams you're alive and you're crying"- he sings it so beautifully, softly and oh so sincerely.

Ben yayayayayayayay:

muteKi:
Carbon Leaf is good for pretty much every single reason mentioned here.

Also, bands like TMBG are awesome because of how they play on certain concepts ("Wearing a Raincoat" is a prime example) as well as wordplay and a willingness to sing about things that don't normally get into song lyrics ("King Weed")

also

MARCH SO LONG YOU NEED OUTSIDE SCIENCE FICTION though the beauty of Polysics is their high-energy madness as a whole, not just lyrical insanity.

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