Golden Retriever Postcard from Zazzle
IMHO, good lyrics are poetry. For example, I’m listening to Paul Simon this morning — his song, Father and Daughter has a wonderfully poetic image in it, “I’m going to stand guard, like a postcard of a golden retriever.” Also, the song always makes me cry; it came out the year my father died and, of course, I still miss him. A great song, like a great poem evokes a response.
My favorite lyricist is Joni Mitchell. Her lyrics can stand on their own as poems in almost every case. Who has ever written a better line than, “I could drink a case of you and still I’d be on my feet…”? While I’m not a drinker, I can appreciate the binge image. Additionally, Bruce Springsteen, John Mellencamp (underappreciated), and Warren Zevon also come to mind for complex, evocative lyrics.
Poetiosity 
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March 29, 2009 at 10:00 pm
Jen
As a song-writer, I completely agree that lyrics can be and are poetic. If a song speaks to me either through humor, stating a percieved truth, etc, then that truely makes the song for me. That, and an amazing melody line. Good quality singing also. So, I guess there are a number of things that make a song for me; lol; but, excellent well-written lyrics are definetly up there on my list.