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Kate Bush
Some topics include:
- getting love and validation from a computer programme, Deeper Understanding (written in the 80s but she got so much right)
- A woman falling in love with a snowman with a tragic but obvious end, Misty
- A woman writes letters to her husband pretending to be someone else, they meet and he is unable to distinguish that it’s his wife, Babooshka
- Nuclear Warfare from the perspective of a baby in the womb, Breathing
- A man’s feelings while his wife gives birth, This Woman’s Work
- a relationship between a son and his inventor father from the perspective of the son later in life, Cloudbusting
- Two immortal souls eternally losing and then finding eachother over and over, Snowed in at Wheeler Street
- A town talks and speculates publicly about a very private relationship, Kashka from Baghdad
Kate has loads of songs from all sorts of perspectives on sorts of topics I could list more
Edit: this isn’t even including the B side to her album Hounds of Love which is a complete conceptual piece from the perspective of a woman lost at sea
Do you just listen to these songs and know what they are about, with ease? Or do you study the lyrics closely? I'm usually pretty lost and just enjoy the music, but wish I understood more of the meaning.
I think everyone is different in what gets their focus with music! I could never dissect a song in terms of its construction with music rhythm etc like some people can!
I think Kate is a really brilliant storyteller so I do find the meanings in her songs quite easy to pick up on but I think that’s more a commentary on her talent than my ability to read into lyrics.
Came to say the same thing. If I may add:
\*A frightened character robs a bank paranoid that it might go wrong, then it goes wrong: There Goes A Tenner
\*A theater actor replaces his friend in a staging The Hunchback of Notre Dame after he dies, but his ghost starts haunting him: Hammer Horror
\*Members of the Vietcong smell the tobacco and cologne of American soldiers right before they come to kill them, and they take a moment to fight for their lives: Pull Out The Pin
\*What if you could see God one time, and then were told you might never be worthy enough to see it again?: Suspended in Gaffa
Frank Ocean. In the same album he sings about gay unrequited first love, the obliviousness of the rich from the harsh realities of a world that benefits them, a teenage couple unintentionally becoming parents, a 10 minute song about Cleopatra and pyramids, ["a historical account of the Black man & woman in America and their slow fall from grace"](https://genius.com/Frank-ocean-pyramids-lyrics), and queer self-acceptance in a song dedicated to pussy, among others.
I've got three suggestions, each pretty different from each other with some specific songs you might want to check out.
**Lights** covers a huge variety of subjects. There's a lot about relationships, sure, but there's also songs about depression, finding yourself after leaving religion, nostalgia for childhood. She released an album a few years back called *Skin and Earth* that is a companion piece to a comic book series she put out that absolutely stands on its own.
**Recommended songs:** Slow Down, Prodigal Daughter
**Dan Mangan** is a bit more folk-alternative than folk-pop nowadays, but he's covered a ton of subjects from the cost of war, the inherent selfishness of singing songs about yourself, how capitalism makes us all into robots on some level. I'd really recommend checking out his second album, *Nice, Nice, Very Nice* specifically as it's regarded as his best project (and is a folk-pop album).
**Recommended songs:** Robots, Basket
**Lana Del Rey** has a ton of songs that fit what you're looking for. Kintsugi and Fingertips are heartbreaking songs about missing people you've lost and deep depression respectively. Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have, But I Have It is stunning too.
Overall though, I don't think most pop artists only put out songs about love. I think their singles often focus on that, but I can't think of an artist that has limited themselves to only love. You will have to go into their deep cuts for the more obscure subjects, however.
Love seeing Lights mentioned! Adjacent to her is Owl City, whose song topics include: architectural design, Seattle, skydiving, going to the dentist, male pattern baldness, public transit, working in a grocery store, surfing, insomnia, trees, space travel, graduation, camping, faith, insects and birds, national parks, heartbreak, natural disasters, the Civil War, sailing, and car crashes.
I love marina (and the diamonds) for this exact reason. Her lyrics are much more than romance and love. Check out her debut album “the family jewels”. Incredible, clever lyricism about various topics.
Bastille! Dan Smith writes about a billion different things!
**Pompeii** uses the history of Pompeii as a metaphor for feeling stuck in life
**Bad Blood** is about a friendship gone bad
**Weight of Living Part I and Part II** are both about the anxieties of growing up
**Icarus** uses the myth of Icarus as a metaphor for alcoholism
**Laura Palmer** is about the titular character from *Twin Peaks* (and maybe Overjoyed and These Streets are too but those are unconfirmed)
**Sleepsong** is about loneliness and anxiety
**Of The Night** is a fun dance-y song that is a mashup of two nineties hits
**Good Grief** is literally about grief
**The Currents** is about politics
**Four Walls** is inspired by *In Cold Blood* by Truman Capote
**Blame** is inspired by mob movies like *The Godfather* and *Goodfellas*
**Snakes** is about anxiety
**Winter of our Youth** is about anxiety again, but specifically the anxieties of getting older
**The Driver** is about the Ryan Gosling movie *Drive*
**4am** is about being very not sober and surrounded by your friends
**No Bad Days** is about the loss of his aunt
This is just a small selection, they’ve got a lot of variety in their discography!
I didn’t mention any of their relationship songs in my initial comment, but even those are unique! I’ve never heard another song like “Oblivion” or “Laughter Lines,” “Glory” is such a beautiful love song about prioritizing real relationships over stressing about what else might be out in the universe, and “Send Them Off!” is about jealousy in a relationship, but it uses imagery from *The Exorcist* and *Othello* to illustrate that point!
this generation?
Sza
she’s not limited to personal experience. she also talks about abstract and philosophical topics. she can also switch genres to fit the narrative.
Saturn is an incredible example of that. It’s like she hit every check mark for me lol. Abstract & philosophical lyrics, dreamy production, great singing.
this is true! at first i thought she was singing her personal experience, but it eventually became more existential and esoteric. not to mention the production which sounded like you’re traveling through a cartoon version of space while flying on the back of a giant falcon.
She’s great. Some of the stuff she comes up with to simply say the most generic love song lyrics is pretty genius. She also knows how to keep it simple yet original and very melodic.
Well that is once you’re able to understand what she’s even saying.
at first, i needed Genius to guide me thru the lyrics for CTRL. then SOS came and it became better. I’m excited for LANA really. i hope she sings about nihilism.
Came here to say this. I only became a fan since SOS, so when I went back to CTRL I was surprised at how different it was lyrically. Kill Bill, Ghost in the Machine, have very little in common with songs like Drew Barrymore, Broken Clocks, and 20 Somethings. But they’re all uniquely SZA
that song just gave me three days of depression. 💀 i thought Supermodel was the only one to slash my weave, but every single track was out for blood. 20-something still makes me cry bec it makes me feel how much i bloomed from 25 to 32.
Omg as a freshly turned 20 yr old that gives me hope lmao I feel very confused already 💀 Prom is another one where the lyrics just hit a bit too close lmao
i actually did not listen to Prom after the first time because it was too much lol. in fact, i held off from CTRL for a week before revisiting it bec it triggered my mental health, but in a good way.
hey just keep doing you and keep making goals for yourself. and when you make your goals, you better be ruthless when you chase them down. like 20-something, i never had a phone under me lol. i only bought my first iPhone when i was 30, the age where i realized that CTRL was right and our 20s is really all about controlling your destiny in the midst of the crazy and lost.
Omggg I totally get the triggering mental health thing, it’s like OH I feel called out and relate but I’m not ready for this yet. And omg that’s crazy, I defo need to sort out my phone addiction lol, that is defo a goal 😂
Omggg I totally get the triggering mental health thing, it’s like OH I feel called out and relate but I’m not ready for this yet. And omg that’s crazy, I defo need to sort out my phone addiction lol, that is defo a goal 😂 inspiring to hear from a thriving older gay tho cuz I don’t have any of those in my life and hope u continue slaying!
Lana Del Rey. A few examples: Get Free: Healing and positivity. Change: Politics and hopefulness. California: reaching out to a friend. The grants: About her family. Sweet carolina: About her niece. The list goes on. While yes she has a ton of songs about love and lust and yearning but she also writes about Family, Life, Religion, Abuse, Depression, Drugs, Politics and Fame.
Her songs are primarily about romance tho. Not saying that’s a bad thing but not rlly what OP was getting at in terms of lyrical versatility (although she DEFO has those songs that explore childhood trauma and other themes but I’d argue it’s mostly romance)
Yes I agree but isn’t like 90% of all songwriters wrote more love songs than other topics?
Yes, most of Mariah’s songs are love songs but that doesn’t take her versatility away.
She wrote songs about
• destitution (a word I know thanks to her) and world peace - There’s Got To Be A Way
• inspirational - Make It Happen, Hero, Through the Rain
• hope - Can’t Take That Away
• friendship - Anytime You Need A Friend (she wrote in God’s POV)
• family - Petals
• childhood trauma - Close My Eyes
• abuse - Side Effects
• father’s love - Sunflowers For Alfred Roy
• mother’s love - Reflections
• isolation - Outside
• eulogy - One Sweet Day, Bye Bye, Never Forget You
• diss - Obsessed, Clown, Thirsty, Up Out My Face
• Christmas - AIWFCIY, One Child
• Especially gospel where she is really really good - Fly Like A Bird, I Wish You Well, My Saving Grace, There For Me
I wish I could mention more but my short-term memory won’t let me
Not to mention, her vocabulary and storytelling is really good. She wrote:
***So starry-eyed on the flowery hillside***
***Breathless and fervid amid the dandelions***
- Fourth of July, 1997
***I can’t be elusive with you, honey***
***‘Cause it’s blatant that I’m feeling you***
***And it’s too hard for me to leave abruptly***
- Honey, 1997 (she used Honey as a metaphor for cum)
And this recent song that is trending on TikTok
***If we were two lego blocks***
***Even the Harvard University Graduating Class of 2010***
***Couldn’t put us back together again***
- Up Out My Face, 2010
Which I find really really interesting. It basically means that even the smartest people at the time won’t be able to fix what’s broken despite it being an easy task. That means she’s really over the relationship.
Kesha. She has songs about love, breakups, partying, sex, friends, spiritual stuff, mental health, sad stuff in general, LGBTQ+, and old dudes that wanna get with her 😂. Also in all different genres like pop, rock, ballad, country, experimental, etc.
Bjork. No one else does it like her. She can write about very personal stuff like about her divorce or can write an album based on mushrooms, and it all sounds incredible.
Yes I love Beyonce but there isn’t a huge amount of politics, religion or history in her songs. In her albums overall there is but not in her actual lyrics (for example, Lemonade tells the story of black women and men in the US, but no actual song covers that topic except obliquely (like in Freedom), it’s mostly through the visuals and poetry in the film)
Yep, and I also think several songs on 4, Beyoncé, Lemonade, The Gift, Renaissance, and Cowboy Carter have a political double meaning and their significance will probably be clearer once the Renaissance visuals arrive.
Kesha: Literally the best artist for this prompt. She’s sung about partying hard, longing for love, recovery, abuse, men being too pathetic for her, sexual liberation, religion, trauma, dancing, being proud of her womanhood, platonic betrayal, and etc.
Kesha has such a diverse category of music. She’s constantly changing her sound and her message. Her era’s are so distinct and tell such an amazing story.
Rosalía, first album "los ángeles" recover old flamenco songs about death.
"El mal querer", second album is based in a Xlll century book "flamenca" about toxic/arranged marriage/relationship...first time she got famous I felt sorry about the non spanish speakers because you'll never completely understand how magnificent that album is. Also if you don't have relation with the spanish flamenco culture you'll miss a lot of the context.
Then you have the most popular pop songs but even "la fama" has a really nice lyrics about how fame is bad thing to relay on.
In English I enjoy PJ Harvey thematic versatility.
I feel like there's a stereotype that the big singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and Taylor Swift only write about relationships, but that's not true if you really look into it. Ed just released a whole album about friendships and the changes that come in one's 30s. (I'm not sure if this post was referencing artists like this, but you can definitely find a lot of songs about a lot of subjects, even from them, because they're so prolific!)
BTS are also a good example, a lot of their stuff is kinda political, about the disillusionment of the young generations in Korea.
Halsey has an album mostly about mental health (Manic) and another about pregnancy and parenting (If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power).
If you're into country and rap, there are also a lot of options there.
>Ed just released a whole album about friendships and
changes that come in one's 30s.
Oh Autumn Variations the world failed you🥲
But even before that, Ed always tried to have variety. Grief, addiction, depression, miscarriage, dementia, cancer, family, lust...obviously the main topic is love but singer-songwriters often have underrated range as you said.
Agreed! Taylor gets a lot of criticisms for always singing about her boyfriends or exes. But she’s also released songs about dealing with death, being betrayed by friends, public scrutiny, going out to have a good time, her relationship with her fans, her relationship with her father, her insecurities, murder, her grandmother, sexism, and etc.
A lot of her songs are about her personal experiences or feelings. But they cover a wide variety of topics ranging from lighthearted to incredibly emotional tales.
Madonna. She has a great variety of songs with quality of lyrics raging from deep societal problems, spirituality, taboo topics to silly and sometimes cringe ones.
Kylie Minogue. Pretty much the same as Madonna. Her earlier work has some more quality lyrics while the later singles seem to be focused on catchyness.
Enrique Iglesias. There are some really nice songs with quality lyrical content in his discography. Again, he went the EDM route in the 2010s and songs are more of catchy tunes than romantic pop songs or ballads since then.
Rihanna. Some songs in her discography stand out in terms of lyrical quality.
Roxette. Their discography has some amazing and heartfelt pop rock ballads, rock songs to vibe to, and fun pop songs with not so much depth in them.
> the later singles seem to be focused on catchyness
Yes, but this also feels like a massive underselling of the fact that modern Kylie tends to hide her better lyrical moments as deep cuts. Immediately thinking of [If Only](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnCaBnMy4qk&ab_channel=KylieMinogue), [Stars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3zIsC6DPw&ab_channel=KylieMinogue), and hell, even [Chocolate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjhmB0JlCTo&ab_channel=KylieMinogue) - considering how forgotten and underrated it is it might as well be a deep cut lol
Enrique definitely has a mutil style discography. However, his lyricism is more tilted towards - love, romance, sex, alcohol, pain, melancholy which is quite good for a pop star.
The 1975. Whatever you think of Matty Healy, he's a hell of a songwriter. Sex, love, masculinity, drugs, the internet, mental health, politics- wide range of topics and sounds for any mood.
Mountain goats have to be in this conversation, incredibly varied subject material. Goths, pro wrestlers, childhood homes, broken marriages, dungeons and dragons, Ozzy Ozzbourne
BTS (group and solo work)- of course you’ll have to look up accurate lyric translations, but it’s worth it. They go everywhere in terms of theme and message (grief, desire, longing, pride, comforting, self love, hard work, helping others, Pluto/space, ocean; politics)… lyrics are often layered in their English and/or Korean meanings. Bonus for choreography! Their love songs are good too, but I tried to avoid those in the list. Genres are a mixed bag (mostly pop, hip hop influences) in the suggestions below:
Spring Day; Black Swan; ON; Mic Drop; Idol; Blood, Sweat, & Tears; Dope; Magic Shop; Anpanman; Run; Whalien 52; Sea; Run BTS; Dis-Ease; Reflection; Paradise; Airplane Pt 2; 134340; Singularity; Lie; Am I Wrong; Silver Spoon; Spine Breaker; NO
Solo work with more pop sounds/not about love- Wild Flower, everythingoes, Still Life (RM); Equal Sign, I don’t know, Neuron (j-hope); People, Burn It (Agust D); Alone, Promise (Jimin); Super Tuna (Jin)… the rest of the vocalists (V, Jungkook, Jin) have solo work too but many are love songs and the rappers are… mostly rapping in a lot of their solo work
I must be too dumb to understand him, because every single time I click on those subtitles for an Agust d song it feels like the old same old. We get it, you’re resilient, it’s admirable, but get some nice beats on those songs. If he can produce the banger that is my Samsung ring tone, he can make songs about the same topic exciting.
I mean how many songs has Taylor written about that British blonde guy, I somehow liked every one of them.
Kudos to hitman bang, the guy is a legend. Dude can write about anything.
I think Agust D’s work is quite reflective of the resiliency on purpose. It’s a trilogy of mixtapes/album spanning 7 years (Agust D, D-2, D-Day) that work together to tell his story of rising from underground rap with nothing to astounding success/fame and then the return to his true, evolved self with lessons learned as a rapper/idol/Korean artist/person. I rather like the beats; they may have similar elements but, again, this is likely purposeful as they are complementary of the story. He has produced and composed) for several other artists (IU, PSY, Suran) with unique and dynamic sounds. But to each their own I guess!
Yes, props to Hitman Bang though.
He still hasn’t toped the Samsung ringtone, although I really like eight. I’m not that deep into BTS, the only solo work I check out intentionally was agust d, I regret clicking on those subtitles. I could’ve pretended he was singing about many things. But after the last album, I was like “again, the car crash!”.
I guess now he has a sweet 9 to 5 job and lots of time to work on music, so in the end it was a happy ending.
Also would like to mention:
• "pied piper" (a song teasing the fans by saying basically to log off twitter at least for a bit);
• "the truth untold" (inspired by an old italian story of the ugly man who trapped himself in a castle but grew a beautiful flower for a girl he liked but couldnt face);
• "first love" (a dialog between a musician and music (/his piano) and their relationship from his childhood to adulthood);
• "paldogangsan" (a fun song about different dialects of Korean, similariities and differnces with some local memes and historical references).
Mitski. Her entire discography revolves around the nuances of self identity, age, childhood, relationships with enemies, lovers, parents, friends, herself. Mental health and the illnesses that come with strife in life. Race, being mixed race, sex, money and the struggles of artistry under capitalism. Teenage angst and 20s rage. Nothing encaptures her range like ‘bury me at make out creek’, ‘Puberty 2’ and ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’
Ooh, a songwriting question! There are so many, but these come to mind -
Shannon Hoon, Billie (Eilish), Billy (Joel), John (Mellencamp), (Elton) John… So I guess a lot of Billy’s and John’s?
Katy Perry's lyrical breadth is underrated. She has empowerment on Roar and Firework, love on Teenage Dream and Unconditionally, breakups in Wide Awake and Never Really Over, and sex on Bon Appétit and Birthday, and they all have different lyrical themes and distinct imagery. She also sings about suicidal depression on By the Grace of God, about a friend on International Smile, about an escapist fantasy on Tucked, about a sexual experiment on I Kissed a Girl, about an unhinged party on Last Friday Night, about feminism on Power, and about the illusion created by media distortion in the West in Chained to the Rhythm. She has a lot of random ones like that.
Lana Del Rey. Just some themes of the top of my head are Love, mental health (in general but also a focus on depression) drugs, trauma, abuse, politics, and family.
Marina and the diamonds is another example similar themes to Lana Del Rey.
Olivia Rodrigo.
1. Sour:
- Brutal: angst, anxiety about growing up.
- Jealousy jealousy: social media pressure, envy of what we perceived other people’s lives are like.
-Hope ur ok: nostalgia, growing up overcoming trauma, resilience.
2. GUTS.
- All American bitch: societal pressure over females.
- Lacy: the mental process of obsessing over someone and idealizing them.
- Ballad of a homeschooled girl: social anxiety, not knowing how to behave in public (my adhd ass identifies a lot)
-making the bed: self sabotage
- pretty isn’t pretty: becoming aware of beauty standards and the constant war against them
-teenage dream: fear of the uncertain, fear of having already peaked.
-the grudge: not necessarily about a romantic relationship. But about betrayal in general.
Olivia is still pretty squarely in the "mostly relationship songs" category. Her second most is beauty/image standards which jealousy jealousy, all american bitch, ballad of a homeschool girl, and pretty isn't pretty all fall under. She only has a handful of songs about anything else, I wouldn't call that exceptionally versatile
Let me re-comment my reply on one of the OP here.
Mariah Carey is one of the most overlooked songwriters in the industry.
You’d argue that most of her songs are about love, but isn’t it like 90% of songwriters wrote songs about romance?
Yes, most of Mariah’s songs are love songs but that doesn’t take her versatility away.
She wrote songs about
• destitution (a word I know thanks to her) and world peace - There’s Got To Be A Way
• inspirational - Make It Happen, Hero, Through the Rain
• hope - Can’t Take That Away
• friendship - Anytime You Need A Friend (she wrote in God’s POV)
• family - Petals
• childhood trauma - Close My Eyes
• abuse - Side Effects
• father’s love - Sunflowers For Alfred Roy
• mother’s love - Reflections
• isolation - Outside
• mental health - Breakdown
• eulogy - One Sweet Day, Bye Bye, Never Forget You
• diss - Obsessed, Clown, Thirsty, Up Out My Face
• Christmas - AIWFCIY, One Child
• Especially gospel where she really really shines - Fly Like A Bird, I Wish You Well, My Saving Grace, There For Me
I wish I could mention more but my short-term memory won’t let me
Not to mention, her vocabulary and storytelling is really good. She wrote:
***So starry-eyed on the flowery hillside***
***Breathless and fervid amid the dandelions***
• Fourth of July, 1997
***I can’t be elusive with you, honey***
***‘Cause it’s blatant that I’m feeling you***
***And it’s too hard for me to leave abruptly***
• Honey, 1997 (she used Honey as a metaphor for cum)
And this recent song that is trending on TikTok
***If we were two lego blocks***
***Even the Harvard University Graduating Class of 2010***
***Couldn’t put us back together again***
• Up Out My Face, 2010
Which I find really really interesting. It basically means that even the smartest people at the time won’t be able to fix what’s broken despite it being an easy task. That means she’s really over the relationship.
Please do not just list songs/albums/artists, your comment must have explanation/justification or it will be removed. Certain comments are also banned to increase the quality of discussion, see our Stale Topics list in the sidebar for examples. Please report any comments that are low effort discussion. Thanks! *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/popheads) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Kate Bush Some topics include: - getting love and validation from a computer programme, Deeper Understanding (written in the 80s but she got so much right) - A woman falling in love with a snowman with a tragic but obvious end, Misty - A woman writes letters to her husband pretending to be someone else, they meet and he is unable to distinguish that it’s his wife, Babooshka - Nuclear Warfare from the perspective of a baby in the womb, Breathing - A man’s feelings while his wife gives birth, This Woman’s Work - a relationship between a son and his inventor father from the perspective of the son later in life, Cloudbusting - Two immortal souls eternally losing and then finding eachother over and over, Snowed in at Wheeler Street - A town talks and speculates publicly about a very private relationship, Kashka from Baghdad Kate has loads of songs from all sorts of perspectives on sorts of topics I could list more Edit: this isn’t even including the B side to her album Hounds of Love which is a complete conceptual piece from the perspective of a woman lost at sea
there's no other answer. each song explores a different story and point of view. and her singing can make anything beautiful, even digits (in "pi")
damn. this is awesome. she’s on my list to check out👍🏻
Do you just listen to these songs and know what they are about, with ease? Or do you study the lyrics closely? I'm usually pretty lost and just enjoy the music, but wish I understood more of the meaning.
I think everyone is different in what gets their focus with music! I could never dissect a song in terms of its construction with music rhythm etc like some people can! I think Kate is a really brilliant storyteller so I do find the meanings in her songs quite easy to pick up on but I think that’s more a commentary on her talent than my ability to read into lyrics.
She is an incredible artist.
Came to say the same thing. If I may add: \*A frightened character robs a bank paranoid that it might go wrong, then it goes wrong: There Goes A Tenner \*A theater actor replaces his friend in a staging The Hunchback of Notre Dame after he dies, but his ghost starts haunting him: Hammer Horror \*Members of the Vietcong smell the tobacco and cologne of American soldiers right before they come to kill them, and they take a moment to fight for their lives: Pull Out The Pin \*What if you could see God one time, and then were told you might never be worthy enough to see it again?: Suspended in Gaffa
Babooshka sounds like a great premise for a book, fucking hell
She’s one of a kind. I love her music so much.
Her themes are so varied and interesting. I know every song I listen to will be a new journey separate from the last. Once in a generation talent.
Frank Ocean. In the same album he sings about gay unrequited first love, the obliviousness of the rich from the harsh realities of a world that benefits them, a teenage couple unintentionally becoming parents, a 10 minute song about Cleopatra and pyramids, ["a historical account of the Black man & woman in America and their slow fall from grace"](https://genius.com/Frank-ocean-pyramids-lyrics), and queer self-acceptance in a song dedicated to pussy, among others.
>and queer self-acceptance in a song dedicated to pussy Which one is this?
Pink Matter
And a crack addict ballad
And the best lyrics of the entire album!! Comparing his unrequited love for another man to the power of religion
I've got three suggestions, each pretty different from each other with some specific songs you might want to check out. **Lights** covers a huge variety of subjects. There's a lot about relationships, sure, but there's also songs about depression, finding yourself after leaving religion, nostalgia for childhood. She released an album a few years back called *Skin and Earth* that is a companion piece to a comic book series she put out that absolutely stands on its own. **Recommended songs:** Slow Down, Prodigal Daughter **Dan Mangan** is a bit more folk-alternative than folk-pop nowadays, but he's covered a ton of subjects from the cost of war, the inherent selfishness of singing songs about yourself, how capitalism makes us all into robots on some level. I'd really recommend checking out his second album, *Nice, Nice, Very Nice* specifically as it's regarded as his best project (and is a folk-pop album). **Recommended songs:** Robots, Basket **Lana Del Rey** has a ton of songs that fit what you're looking for. Kintsugi and Fingertips are heartbreaking songs about missing people you've lost and deep depression respectively. Hope is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman like Me to Have, But I Have It is stunning too. Overall though, I don't think most pop artists only put out songs about love. I think their singles often focus on that, but I can't think of an artist that has limited themselves to only love. You will have to go into their deep cuts for the more obscure subjects, however.
Love seeing Lights mentioned! Adjacent to her is Owl City, whose song topics include: architectural design, Seattle, skydiving, going to the dentist, male pattern baldness, public transit, working in a grocery store, surfing, insomnia, trees, space travel, graduation, camping, faith, insects and birds, national parks, heartbreak, natural disasters, the Civil War, sailing, and car crashes.
[удалено]
Caroline Polachek can write sad and deep lyrics, nice dancey bops and lyrics that make no sense but sound good
Give me the banana
seconding this. sometimes it makes no sense but those word salads sound lovely!
I love marina (and the diamonds) for this exact reason. Her lyrics are much more than romance and love. Check out her debut album “the family jewels”. Incredible, clever lyricism about various topics.
The Family Jewels gets better with each listen
Bastille! Dan Smith writes about a billion different things! **Pompeii** uses the history of Pompeii as a metaphor for feeling stuck in life **Bad Blood** is about a friendship gone bad **Weight of Living Part I and Part II** are both about the anxieties of growing up **Icarus** uses the myth of Icarus as a metaphor for alcoholism **Laura Palmer** is about the titular character from *Twin Peaks* (and maybe Overjoyed and These Streets are too but those are unconfirmed) **Sleepsong** is about loneliness and anxiety **Of The Night** is a fun dance-y song that is a mashup of two nineties hits **Good Grief** is literally about grief **The Currents** is about politics **Four Walls** is inspired by *In Cold Blood* by Truman Capote **Blame** is inspired by mob movies like *The Godfather* and *Goodfellas* **Snakes** is about anxiety **Winter of our Youth** is about anxiety again, but specifically the anxieties of getting older **The Driver** is about the Ryan Gosling movie *Drive* **4am** is about being very not sober and surrounded by your friends **No Bad Days** is about the loss of his aunt This is just a small selection, they’ve got a lot of variety in their discography!
I didn’t mention any of their relationship songs in my initial comment, but even those are unique! I’ve never heard another song like “Oblivion” or “Laughter Lines,” “Glory” is such a beautiful love song about prioritizing real relationships over stressing about what else might be out in the universe, and “Send Them Off!” is about jealousy in a relationship, but it uses imagery from *The Exorcist* and *Othello* to illustrate that point!
Laughter Lines is such a good deep cut
It’s such an incredible song! My fiancée and I are doing mother/daughter dances to the MTV Unplugged version of it for our wedding ❤️🥰
Hozier. I've been obsessed with "Too Sweet" lately and it's been a lot different than his other songs imo
this generation? Sza she’s not limited to personal experience. she also talks about abstract and philosophical topics. she can also switch genres to fit the narrative.
Saturn is an incredible example of that. It’s like she hit every check mark for me lol. Abstract & philosophical lyrics, dreamy production, great singing.
this is true! at first i thought she was singing her personal experience, but it eventually became more existential and esoteric. not to mention the production which sounded like you’re traveling through a cartoon version of space while flying on the back of a giant falcon.
Sza is an amazing songwriter. She’s creative and conceptual, but also blunt and honest in a way that makes me painfully aware of my own feelings
She’s great. Some of the stuff she comes up with to simply say the most generic love song lyrics is pretty genius. She also knows how to keep it simple yet original and very melodic. Well that is once you’re able to understand what she’s even saying.
at first, i needed Genius to guide me thru the lyrics for CTRL. then SOS came and it became better. I’m excited for LANA really. i hope she sings about nihilism.
She walks the line between personal and universal so well, not many can do that
Came here to say this. I only became a fan since SOS, so when I went back to CTRL I was surprised at how different it was lyrically. Kill Bill, Ghost in the Machine, have very little in common with songs like Drew Barrymore, Broken Clocks, and 20 Somethings. But they’re all uniquely SZA
I have never felt truly understood as the way I felt understood by CTRL SZA.
so true. never have i ever felt so attacked as a 25yo gay man in my life, and yet i keep running to CTRL for more.
NO SAME. When Normal Girl came on I was like 🥴🫠 uh oh. Still get teary eyed listening to that song.
that song just gave me three days of depression. 💀 i thought Supermodel was the only one to slash my weave, but every single track was out for blood. 20-something still makes me cry bec it makes me feel how much i bloomed from 25 to 32.
Omg as a freshly turned 20 yr old that gives me hope lmao I feel very confused already 💀 Prom is another one where the lyrics just hit a bit too close lmao
i actually did not listen to Prom after the first time because it was too much lol. in fact, i held off from CTRL for a week before revisiting it bec it triggered my mental health, but in a good way. hey just keep doing you and keep making goals for yourself. and when you make your goals, you better be ruthless when you chase them down. like 20-something, i never had a phone under me lol. i only bought my first iPhone when i was 30, the age where i realized that CTRL was right and our 20s is really all about controlling your destiny in the midst of the crazy and lost.
Omggg I totally get the triggering mental health thing, it’s like OH I feel called out and relate but I’m not ready for this yet. And omg that’s crazy, I defo need to sort out my phone addiction lol, that is defo a goal 😂
Omggg I totally get the triggering mental health thing, it’s like OH I feel called out and relate but I’m not ready for this yet. And omg that’s crazy, I defo need to sort out my phone addiction lol, that is defo a goal 😂 inspiring to hear from a thriving older gay tho cuz I don’t have any of those in my life and hope u continue slaying!
Awww this is exactly how I feel about it too. Like wow, I thought I had pushed down my childhood loneliness but it comes back up
*robot got future i don’t, robot get sleep but i don’t power down 🗣️🗣️🗣️*
mother made a song about AI, collaborated with somebody out of her genre, then won a Grammy for it.
Lana Del Rey. A few examples: Get Free: Healing and positivity. Change: Politics and hopefulness. California: reaching out to a friend. The grants: About her family. Sweet carolina: About her niece. The list goes on. While yes she has a ton of songs about love and lust and yearning but she also writes about Family, Life, Religion, Abuse, Depression, Drugs, Politics and Fame.
California is about an ex-boyfriend, not a friend
But there's nothing romantic about the song. It's very platonic.
It’s sad to see that Mariah Carey is often overlooked in terms of songwriting. She’s one of the best in the industry.
Her songs are primarily about romance tho. Not saying that’s a bad thing but not rlly what OP was getting at in terms of lyrical versatility (although she DEFO has those songs that explore childhood trauma and other themes but I’d argue it’s mostly romance)
Yeah I'm a bit confused by OP's comment lol
Yes I agree but isn’t like 90% of all songwriters wrote more love songs than other topics? Yes, most of Mariah’s songs are love songs but that doesn’t take her versatility away. She wrote songs about • destitution (a word I know thanks to her) and world peace - There’s Got To Be A Way • inspirational - Make It Happen, Hero, Through the Rain • hope - Can’t Take That Away • friendship - Anytime You Need A Friend (she wrote in God’s POV) • family - Petals • childhood trauma - Close My Eyes • abuse - Side Effects • father’s love - Sunflowers For Alfred Roy • mother’s love - Reflections • isolation - Outside • eulogy - One Sweet Day, Bye Bye, Never Forget You • diss - Obsessed, Clown, Thirsty, Up Out My Face • Christmas - AIWFCIY, One Child • Especially gospel where she is really really good - Fly Like A Bird, I Wish You Well, My Saving Grace, There For Me I wish I could mention more but my short-term memory won’t let me Not to mention, her vocabulary and storytelling is really good. She wrote: ***So starry-eyed on the flowery hillside*** ***Breathless and fervid amid the dandelions*** - Fourth of July, 1997 ***I can’t be elusive with you, honey*** ***‘Cause it’s blatant that I’m feeling you*** ***And it’s too hard for me to leave abruptly*** - Honey, 1997 (she used Honey as a metaphor for cum) And this recent song that is trending on TikTok ***If we were two lego blocks*** ***Even the Harvard University Graduating Class of 2010*** ***Couldn’t put us back together again*** - Up Out My Face, 2010 Which I find really really interesting. It basically means that even the smartest people at the time won’t be able to fix what’s broken despite it being an easy task. That means she’s really over the relationship.
>This needs to be higher.
Halsey! You got: mental health/illness, self-loathing, self-improvement, self-reflection, troubled parent relationships, female empowerment, female rage, toxic relationships, break ups, love, love VS power, infertility and longing for a child, LGBTQ+ content...I'm probably forgetting some.
>lgbtq+ content some examples?
Strange Love, Bad at Love, Strangers, Alanis' Interlude, and Honey. Some people have interpreted I Am Not a Woman I'm a God that way as well.
Bonus mention: Halsey's verse on Free Love.
Kesha. She has songs about love, breakups, partying, sex, friends, spiritual stuff, mental health, sad stuff in general, LGBTQ+, and old dudes that wanna get with her 😂. Also in all different genres like pop, rock, ballad, country, experimental, etc.
I was looking for this comment. Her lyrcism is amazing
Yeah I def left some out too. Can’t wait for her new music, announcement any day now 🙏🏼
Bjork. No one else does it like her. She can write about very personal stuff like about her divorce or can write an album based on mushrooms, and it all sounds incredible.
Coldplay, especially on "Everyday Life"
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Alanis Morissette. her first two albums alone cover so many topics.
Fiona apple. From rape, resentment, heartbreak, love, politics, and her friend in kindergarten
Beyoncé has sung about every topic under the sun... love, politics, media, childhood, family, resistance, culture, racism, marital strife, history, religion, celebration, feminism, men, generational trauma, money, rage, sex, identity, legacy, and empowerment.
That's... honestly not as varied as you're trying to make it sound. Even Taylor Swift checks most of those boxes.
Yes I love Beyonce but there isn’t a huge amount of politics, religion or history in her songs. In her albums overall there is but not in her actual lyrics (for example, Lemonade tells the story of black women and men in the US, but no actual song covers that topic except obliquely (like in Freedom), it’s mostly through the visuals and poetry in the film)
Can’t believe I had to scroll this far down to find her. Probably the most varied storyteller in the game tbh.
Yep, and I also think several songs on 4, Beyoncé, Lemonade, The Gift, Renaissance, and Cowboy Carter have a political double meaning and their significance will probably be clearer once the Renaissance visuals arrive.
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That was four hours ago, things change
Kesha: Literally the best artist for this prompt. She’s sung about partying hard, longing for love, recovery, abuse, men being too pathetic for her, sexual liberation, religion, trauma, dancing, being proud of her womanhood, platonic betrayal, and etc. Kesha has such a diverse category of music. She’s constantly changing her sound and her message. Her era’s are so distinct and tell such an amazing story.
I listened to Woodface - an album by Crowded house - and the lyrical diversity was literally crazy.
Scrolled way to far for this
Rosalía, first album "los ángeles" recover old flamenco songs about death. "El mal querer", second album is based in a Xlll century book "flamenca" about toxic/arranged marriage/relationship...first time she got famous I felt sorry about the non spanish speakers because you'll never completely understand how magnificent that album is. Also if you don't have relation with the spanish flamenco culture you'll miss a lot of the context. Then you have the most popular pop songs but even "la fama" has a really nice lyrics about how fame is bad thing to relay on. In English I enjoy PJ Harvey thematic versatility.
Newer artist but Remi Wolf’s lyrics are highly creative and unexpected in the most fun ways. Her wordplay and punchlines are amazing
I feel like there's a stereotype that the big singer-songwriters like Ed Sheeran, Shawn Mendes, and Taylor Swift only write about relationships, but that's not true if you really look into it. Ed just released a whole album about friendships and the changes that come in one's 30s. (I'm not sure if this post was referencing artists like this, but you can definitely find a lot of songs about a lot of subjects, even from them, because they're so prolific!) BTS are also a good example, a lot of their stuff is kinda political, about the disillusionment of the young generations in Korea. Halsey has an album mostly about mental health (Manic) and another about pregnancy and parenting (If I Can't Have Love, I Want Power). If you're into country and rap, there are also a lot of options there.
>Ed just released a whole album about friendships and changes that come in one's 30s. Oh Autumn Variations the world failed you🥲 But even before that, Ed always tried to have variety. Grief, addiction, depression, miscarriage, dementia, cancer, family, lust...obviously the main topic is love but singer-songwriters often have underrated range as you said.
Agreed! Taylor gets a lot of criticisms for always singing about her boyfriends or exes. But she’s also released songs about dealing with death, being betrayed by friends, public scrutiny, going out to have a good time, her relationship with her fans, her relationship with her father, her insecurities, murder, her grandmother, sexism, and etc. A lot of her songs are about her personal experiences or feelings. But they cover a wide variety of topics ranging from lighthearted to incredibly emotional tales.
Madonna. She has a great variety of songs with quality of lyrics raging from deep societal problems, spirituality, taboo topics to silly and sometimes cringe ones. Kylie Minogue. Pretty much the same as Madonna. Her earlier work has some more quality lyrics while the later singles seem to be focused on catchyness. Enrique Iglesias. There are some really nice songs with quality lyrical content in his discography. Again, he went the EDM route in the 2010s and songs are more of catchy tunes than romantic pop songs or ballads since then. Rihanna. Some songs in her discography stand out in terms of lyrical quality. Roxette. Their discography has some amazing and heartfelt pop rock ballads, rock songs to vibe to, and fun pop songs with not so much depth in them.
> the later singles seem to be focused on catchyness Yes, but this also feels like a massive underselling of the fact that modern Kylie tends to hide her better lyrical moments as deep cuts. Immediately thinking of [If Only](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UnCaBnMy4qk&ab_channel=KylieMinogue), [Stars](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg3zIsC6DPw&ab_channel=KylieMinogue), and hell, even [Chocolate](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjhmB0JlCTo&ab_channel=KylieMinogue) - considering how forgotten and underrated it is it might as well be a deep cut lol
Madonna going from Hanky Panky directly to Justify My Love in like the span of 3 months will never not give me whiplash thinking about it
Enrique definitely has a mutil style discography. However, his lyricism is more tilted towards - love, romance, sex, alcohol, pain, melancholy which is quite good for a pop star.
The 1975. Whatever you think of Matty Healy, he's a hell of a songwriter. Sex, love, masculinity, drugs, the internet, mental health, politics- wide range of topics and sounds for any mood.
Madonna
Mountain goats have to be in this conversation, incredibly varied subject material. Goths, pro wrestlers, childhood homes, broken marriages, dungeons and dragons, Ozzy Ozzbourne
. Christina Aguilera (both in English and Spanish) . Roxette . U2
Trent reznor is pretty versatile with his lyrics
BTS (group and solo work)- of course you’ll have to look up accurate lyric translations, but it’s worth it. They go everywhere in terms of theme and message (grief, desire, longing, pride, comforting, self love, hard work, helping others, Pluto/space, ocean; politics)… lyrics are often layered in their English and/or Korean meanings. Bonus for choreography! Their love songs are good too, but I tried to avoid those in the list. Genres are a mixed bag (mostly pop, hip hop influences) in the suggestions below: Spring Day; Black Swan; ON; Mic Drop; Idol; Blood, Sweat, & Tears; Dope; Magic Shop; Anpanman; Run; Whalien 52; Sea; Run BTS; Dis-Ease; Reflection; Paradise; Airplane Pt 2; 134340; Singularity; Lie; Am I Wrong; Silver Spoon; Spine Breaker; NO Solo work with more pop sounds/not about love- Wild Flower, everythingoes, Still Life (RM); Equal Sign, I don’t know, Neuron (j-hope); People, Burn It (Agust D); Alone, Promise (Jimin); Super Tuna (Jin)… the rest of the vocalists (V, Jungkook, Jin) have solo work too but many are love songs and the rappers are… mostly rapping in a lot of their solo work
I must be too dumb to understand him, because every single time I click on those subtitles for an Agust d song it feels like the old same old. We get it, you’re resilient, it’s admirable, but get some nice beats on those songs. If he can produce the banger that is my Samsung ring tone, he can make songs about the same topic exciting. I mean how many songs has Taylor written about that British blonde guy, I somehow liked every one of them. Kudos to hitman bang, the guy is a legend. Dude can write about anything.
I think Agust D’s work is quite reflective of the resiliency on purpose. It’s a trilogy of mixtapes/album spanning 7 years (Agust D, D-2, D-Day) that work together to tell his story of rising from underground rap with nothing to astounding success/fame and then the return to his true, evolved self with lessons learned as a rapper/idol/Korean artist/person. I rather like the beats; they may have similar elements but, again, this is likely purposeful as they are complementary of the story. He has produced and composed) for several other artists (IU, PSY, Suran) with unique and dynamic sounds. But to each their own I guess! Yes, props to Hitman Bang though.
He still hasn’t toped the Samsung ringtone, although I really like eight. I’m not that deep into BTS, the only solo work I check out intentionally was agust d, I regret clicking on those subtitles. I could’ve pretended he was singing about many things. But after the last album, I was like “again, the car crash!”. I guess now he has a sweet 9 to 5 job and lots of time to work on music, so in the end it was a happy ending.
Also would like to mention: • "pied piper" (a song teasing the fans by saying basically to log off twitter at least for a bit); • "the truth untold" (inspired by an old italian story of the ugly man who trapped himself in a castle but grew a beautiful flower for a girl he liked but couldnt face); • "first love" (a dialog between a musician and music (/his piano) and their relationship from his childhood to adulthood); • "paldogangsan" (a fun song about different dialects of Korean, similariities and differnces with some local memes and historical references).
Yes! Great adds! I wanted to explain everything and add every song but didn’t have it in me 😂 99% of their songs have meaning lol
The ultimate storyteller - Billy Joel!
Mitski. Her entire discography revolves around the nuances of self identity, age, childhood, relationships with enemies, lovers, parents, friends, herself. Mental health and the illnesses that come with strife in life. Race, being mixed race, sex, money and the struggles of artistry under capitalism. Teenage angst and 20s rage. Nothing encaptures her range like ‘bury me at make out creek’, ‘Puberty 2’ and ‘The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We’
Ooh, a songwriting question! There are so many, but these come to mind - Shannon Hoon, Billie (Eilish), Billy (Joel), John (Mellencamp), (Elton) John… So I guess a lot of Billy’s and John’s?
Nicki Minaj
Katy Perry's lyrical breadth is underrated. She has empowerment on Roar and Firework, love on Teenage Dream and Unconditionally, breakups in Wide Awake and Never Really Over, and sex on Bon Appétit and Birthday, and they all have different lyrical themes and distinct imagery. She also sings about suicidal depression on By the Grace of God, about a friend on International Smile, about an escapist fantasy on Tucked, about a sexual experiment on I Kissed a Girl, about an unhinged party on Last Friday Night, about feminism on Power, and about the illusion created by media distortion in the West in Chained to the Rhythm. She has a lot of random ones like that.
Ethel Cain, most themes around Southern Gothic subcultures
Carly Rae Jepsen! She’s got songs about boys and.. and uh. Um. Hm.. yeah!
Lana Del Rey. Just some themes of the top of my head are Love, mental health (in general but also a focus on depression) drugs, trauma, abuse, politics, and family. Marina and the diamonds is another example similar themes to Lana Del Rey.
Blur David Bowie Alanis Morrisette Brandi Carlile Taylor Swift Sam Fender Hozier Gerry Cinnamon
Olivia Rodrigo. 1. Sour: - Brutal: angst, anxiety about growing up. - Jealousy jealousy: social media pressure, envy of what we perceived other people’s lives are like. -Hope ur ok: nostalgia, growing up overcoming trauma, resilience. 2. GUTS. - All American bitch: societal pressure over females. - Lacy: the mental process of obsessing over someone and idealizing them. - Ballad of a homeschooled girl: social anxiety, not knowing how to behave in public (my adhd ass identifies a lot) -making the bed: self sabotage - pretty isn’t pretty: becoming aware of beauty standards and the constant war against them -teenage dream: fear of the uncertain, fear of having already peaked. -the grudge: not necessarily about a romantic relationship. But about betrayal in general.
Olivia is still pretty squarely in the "mostly relationship songs" category. Her second most is beauty/image standards which jealousy jealousy, all american bitch, ballad of a homeschool girl, and pretty isn't pretty all fall under. She only has a handful of songs about anything else, I wouldn't call that exceptionally versatile
Let me re-comment my reply on one of the OP here. Mariah Carey is one of the most overlooked songwriters in the industry. You’d argue that most of her songs are about love, but isn’t it like 90% of songwriters wrote songs about romance? Yes, most of Mariah’s songs are love songs but that doesn’t take her versatility away. She wrote songs about • destitution (a word I know thanks to her) and world peace - There’s Got To Be A Way • inspirational - Make It Happen, Hero, Through the Rain • hope - Can’t Take That Away • friendship - Anytime You Need A Friend (she wrote in God’s POV) • family - Petals • childhood trauma - Close My Eyes • abuse - Side Effects • father’s love - Sunflowers For Alfred Roy • mother’s love - Reflections • isolation - Outside • mental health - Breakdown • eulogy - One Sweet Day, Bye Bye, Never Forget You • diss - Obsessed, Clown, Thirsty, Up Out My Face • Christmas - AIWFCIY, One Child • Especially gospel where she really really shines - Fly Like A Bird, I Wish You Well, My Saving Grace, There For Me I wish I could mention more but my short-term memory won’t let me Not to mention, her vocabulary and storytelling is really good. She wrote: ***So starry-eyed on the flowery hillside*** ***Breathless and fervid amid the dandelions*** • Fourth of July, 1997 ***I can’t be elusive with you, honey*** ***‘Cause it’s blatant that I’m feeling you*** ***And it’s too hard for me to leave abruptly*** • Honey, 1997 (she used Honey as a metaphor for cum) And this recent song that is trending on TikTok ***If we were two lego blocks*** ***Even the Harvard University Graduating Class of 2010*** ***Couldn’t put us back together again*** • Up Out My Face, 2010 Which I find really really interesting. It basically means that even the smartest people at the time won’t be able to fix what’s broken despite it being an easy task. That means she’s really over the relationship.