[Killer Whale Tank]

I wanted to take up Lord Brazle's suggestion about a poll for which album has the best lyrics, but being a complete computer moron, I can't figure out how to generate polls cratch: So let me launch a thesis instead:

-Downie's lyrics got too abstract and obtuse in M@W. 'You loaded the variables like acquisitions from under the germ-led advance?' The only non-asbtraction there is the verb 'loaded.' And is there a flatter come-on in rock and roll than 'we could skip to the coital fury?'

-IVL marked an improvement but some of the same problems remained: e.g., even the wonderful 'Dire Wolf' goes all scholarly ('the colourable seas...made one think of...' etc.) before hitting the great chorus.

-IBE has him roaring back into form with sharp, focused, disciplined lyrics. 'He said fuck this fuck that and this guy's the diplomat'...all of Gus...the incredible imagery on 'You Are Everywhere...' etc.

Whaddaya think? :mrgreen:

[grooveless touque]

no doubt about it, the lyrics on M@W work on some songs (the fact that Toronto #4 was written for family makes the line "did you know you were thre rock plug for all of us [rock plugs being geological devices employed to avoid landslides]?" seem incredibly powerful) but not on others - "purple Italians"? Not what I'd expected from him.

I'm gonna take a crack at that poll...

[lord brazle]

Phantom Power gets my vote for the best lyrics. On the surface, they're simple and everyday but when you think about them, there's this hidden wisdom present, like they are more than they actually are. This is my opinion as the "definition" of good lyrics; ambiguous but worthy of closer inspection... There's too many bands out there that have the tired lyrics to their songs that could fit in everyday conversations and such. I like the extravangance of the english language and, although some people think that art should not be dissected, I feel it could prove beneficial to study the Hip's lyrics...

[akoso]

Phantom Power gets my vote for the best lyrics. On the surface, they're simple and everyday but when you think about them, there's this hidden wisdom present, like they are more than they actually are.

That's interesting, because although I would never consider the lyrics on PP weak, I think the lyrics are one of the biggest things preventing PP from being as good of an album as DFN. Some of my favourite Hip lines come from Emporer Penguin and Escape, but aside from those two, I'd only rank the lyrics to this album as middle of the pack compared to the other 9 discs.

**DISCLAIMER**: Again, this is only comparing Hip albums to Hip albums. I still think PP (or any Hip album) is in the top echelon (top 0.001%) of great albums lyrically.

[Billy]

I was thinking about Hip lyrics the other day and it struck me that this is my favorite line of any Hip song...just works so bloody good together. I catch myself skipping back in the song to hear this line again.



And it sounds heroincredible
Sound that makes the headphones edible
Awake affiliated and indelible

[The Darkest Canuck]

IMO GD gets better lyrically with each album.