pixeltracker

Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?

LATEST NEWS

Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?

AKarp2013 Profile Photo
AKarp2013
#1Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 12:10pm

Oscar Hammerstein II, Ira Gershwin, Cole Porter, Fred Ebb, Lorenz Hart, Stephen Sondheim and Alan Jay Lerner are to me some of the greatest lyricists of the 20th century with their smart, sophisticated yet simple, witty and all around honest words. But who are the great lyricists of today?

 

To me, Lin Manuel Miranda and Tim Minchin are two master lyricists. Even though they've only written one musical, I found Lisa Kron's lyrics to "Fun Home" and Tony Kushner's lyrics to "Caroline or Change" to be original, compelling, smart and complex. I also admire the lyric work of Jason Robert Brown and Maury Yeston.

 

Who are your favorite lyricists on Broadway today?

Updated On: 10/2/15 at 12:10 PM

adam.peterson44 Profile Photo
adam.peterson44
#2Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 12:15pm

brian yorkey!!!

Someone in a Tree2 Profile Photo
Someone in a Tree2
#3Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 12:22pm

Jason Robert Brown rises right to the top of my list. Impeccable craftsman who is a true poet with no need to show off with flights of rhyming fancy at every opportunity. BRIDGES... has for me the best lyrics of the last 10 years.

 

Michael Korie's lyrics for GREY GARDENS come in a close second. 

 

newintown Profile Photo
newintown
#4Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 12:42pm

I'm not sure any of what I would call the best new lyricists have had enough produced work to evaluate a "career" yet, but I've enjoyed the work of Michael Korie, Lisa Lambert and Greg Morrison, Bobby Lopez, Steven Lutvak, and the aforementioned Minchin and Kron.

GavestonPS Profile Photo
GavestonPS
#5Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 6:44pm

As usual, I agree with Someone in a Tree, but the best lyricist don't necessarily write for Broadway any more. Bruce Springsteen, Leonard Cohen and Don Henley come to mind. I don't know that any Broadway lyricist can touch them except for Sondheim.

Updated On: 10/2/15 at 06:44 PM

laurenmwendt Profile Photo
laurenmwendt
#6Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 6:46pm

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Lin-Manuel Miranda.

Iesha
#7Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/2/15 at 7:32pm

LMM but I do think Trey Parker, Robert Lopez, and Matt Stone are good writers.

The Josh Profile Photo
The Josh
#8Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 2:10am

Tim Minchin

Fantod Profile Photo
Fantod
#9Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 1:45pm

I'm sorry, but Brian Yorkey? The man who wrote these glorious words?

"'Cuz I'm starting to suspect that I'm stuck
Like a schmuck,
And I suck"

Real artistic talent there. 

I'd go with Steven Lutvak and Robert L. Freedman, who wrote A Gentleman's Guide, which was hillarious, though I did love Tim Minchin's Matilda lyrics.

TotallyEffed Profile Photo
TotallyEffed
#10Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 2:15pm

Minchin's lyrics for Matilda are brilliant. He should have won a Tony for "School Song" alone.

tazber Profile Photo
tazber
#11Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 2:43pm

Another vote for Tim Minchin.

 

The man is so brilliant with his dexterous wordplay he's in a league unto himself.

 

Matilda is only the tip of the iceberg of what he's capable of.

 

I never miss a chance to encourage my fellow theater lovers to investigate his pre-Matilda work. Specifically the recording of his concert with the Heritage Orchestra.

 

"Thank You God" is dizzyingly brilliant.

 

 

 

 


....but the world goes 'round
Updated On: 10/3/15 at 02:43 PM

Someone in a Tree2 Profile Photo
Someone in a Tree2
#12Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 3:08pm

I'm curious to see such wide support here for Tim Michin from posters I often agree with. Not in this case.

 

I only know his work from MATILDA, and I do indeed admire "School Song", it's true, but Tim Minchin for me is mostly the poster child for a lyricist who loves to show off and hasn't the basic craftsmanship to back it up. His lyrics are so dense and so stuffed with false rhymes that I had no idea what was being said in most songs till I could study the CD over and over long after I'd left the theater. Shouldn't a basic requirement of good lyric writing be that the words are comprehensible on first (or 2nd or 3rd) listen? 

 

And Lord knows the sacredness of the true rhyme has fallen into disrepute in this age of Parker and Stone, Miranda and Something Rotten's dreaded Kirkpatrick brothers. But is this really the best Tim could do:

"But what if you haven't got a fairy to fix it?
Sometimes you have to make a little bit of mischief....

"'Cause if you're little you can do a lot, you
Mustn't let a little thing like, 'little' stop you...

"Nobody but me is gonna change my story
sometimes you have to be a little bit naughty."

 

Purist that I am, these lines are nails on a chalkboard for me.


 

 

Updated On: 10/3/15 at 03:08 PM

jv92 Profile Photo
jv92
#13Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 3:09pm

Michael Korie, Adam Guettel and Lynn Ahrens. No one else holds a candle to those magnificent craftspeople. People have brought up GG, but don't forget shows like FLOYD COLLINS, LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA, RAGTIME, and so on. 

I did admire a bunch of Jason Robert Brown's songs for BRIDGES OF MADISON COUNTY, though. The "clouds and camels and hillsides to climb" line from "One Second in a Million Miles" is pretty inspired. 

 

tazber Profile Photo
tazber
#14Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 3:25pm

Yea, Minchin strays from perfect rhymes a lot.

 

But lyrics, to me, aren't just about rhyming.

 

They're about getting into a character's head and delivering a nuanced reflection of their soul.

They're also about the way they fit with the music. The best lyricists, imo, are the ones who also write their own music. (Fred Ebb gets a pass because...Fred Ebb).

 

Minchin is not not for everyone. I get that.

But to me, his work is one of the best collection of songs I've ever heard.

 

 


....but the world goes 'round
Updated On: 10/3/15 at 03:25 PM

South Fl Marc Profile Photo
South Fl Marc
#15Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 3:42pm

I'm a big fan of Pasek and Paul. I've loved all three shows I've seen them do: "Dogfight"' "Christmas Story" and "Dear, Evan Hansen" .

gypsy101 Profile Photo
gypsy101
#16Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:09pm

I've admittedly only listened to the London and Broadway recordings of Matilda one time each (and I liked them moderately, despite all the awful British accents) but how anyone can write a lyric like "My mummy says I'm a miracle / one look at my face, and it's plain to see / ever since the day doc chopped the umbilical cord / It's been clear there's no peer for a miracle like me" and be called "brilliant" or a "master" is completely beyond me. Miracle clearly doesn't rhyme with umbilical. The lyrics to Matilda on the whole I found to be filled with awful rhyme schemes and poorly stressed syllables. But to each his own, I suppose.

 

I agree that some of the best working lyricists are Adam Guettel, Lin-Manuel Miranda and Jason Robert Brown. Oh, I also like Marc Shaiman and Scott Wittman's work from Smash and Hairspray.


"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
Updated On: 10/3/15 at 04:09 PM

gypsy101 Profile Photo
gypsy101
#16Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:09pm

Double-Post!


"Contentment, it seems, simply happens. It appears accompanied by no bravos and no tears."
Updated On: 10/3/15 at 04:09 PM

hork Profile Photo
hork
#17Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:09pm

Count me in as one who doesn't see the brilliance of Minchin. His lyrics in Matilda sound messy and simplistic to me. Sometimes it sounds like he had to hammer the lyrics into the music.

 

I love Miranda, though. I agree with what Someone in a Tree said about the sacredness of the true rhyme, but I don't think I've ever heard a more purely satisfying rhyme than:

 

"I'll have enough to knock your ass off its axis."

"You'll have a knapsack full of jack after taxes."

 

jv92 Profile Photo
jv92
#18Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:41pm

The use of the false or imperfect rhyme separates the men from the boys-- or the girls from the ladies.

 

But not in Lin-Manuel Miranda's case. He knows what he's doing, and when he's writing a traditional theatre song, he knows how to craft it. If it's a theatre rap song, he knows how to craft it, too. 

ChiTheaterFan
#19Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:41pm

I just am in total awe of Miranda.  The way he worked all the historical facts into the lyrics is incredible.  And on top it off, the lyrics advance the character development at the same time.  (Wait for It being the quintessential example to me).  Setting aside the content, some of my favorites in terms of pure sound of the words are:

 

"I've been reading Common Sense by Thomas Paine

So men say that I'm intense or I'm insane.

You want a revolution? I want a revelation

So listen to my declaration"

 

"So I'm the oldest and the wittiest and the gossip in New York City is insidious..."

 

"would you like to join us, or stay mellow, doing whatever the hell it is you do in Monticello?"

 

"Somebody gimme some dirt on this vacuous mass so we can at last unmask him."

 

"If Washington isn't gon' listen to disciplined dissidents, this is the difference: This kid is out!"

 

 

 

 

jv92 Profile Photo
jv92
#20Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:44pm

The amount of storytelling that is accomplished in the whole set of HAMILTON lyrics is remarkable. They make me weep. The whole score is just dazzling. 

 

icecreambenjamin Profile Photo
icecreambenjamin
#21Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 4:49pm

I like the messy almost chaotic sound of Minchin's lyrics.  They're witty and they really do fit Roald Dahl's style.  I can't call him a great lyricist yet since he's only written one musical.  I like how some of his lyrics are meant to rhyme while in an accent (Cinderella/cellar) which sometimes causes them to have a bit of a wonky sound to us Americans. 

darquegk Profile Photo
darquegk
#22Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 5:01pm

The "Miracle" lyrics don't rhyme in American or London English, but in the somewhat mush-mouthed UK Underworld accent that the show seems to adopt as its central dialect, it does. Look at the lyrics for Miss Honey- hers are measured, full of better rhymes and more standardized rhythms, as she is the most level-headed and "sane" of all the characters. The Wormwoods have asinine lyrics full of almost rhymes, completely absent rhymes or off-putting rhythms. Trunchbull's stuff is full of claustrophobic internal rhyme and rhythm, circling round itself looking for closure. 

Minchin can ramble a bit, and lyricism isn't always the point of his lyrics, but to me and to many it's part of his appeal. If you listen to his solo work, it quickly becomes apparent that Beat poetry is his primary non-theatrical influence, and some of the Beat influence is still visible in his Matilda lyrics, though it seems notably diminished in his songs for Groundhog Day released so far.

devonian.t Profile Photo
devonian.t
#23Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 5:15pm

Tim Minchin's lyrics work best in his cabaret where he can stop, wait for an audience to get the joke, then move on.

It's a bad sign when you have to read the cd booklet to understand what is being sung.

It's not a Broadway career, but I really liked Stew's lyrics in 'Passing Strange'.

Sally Durant Plummer Profile Photo
Sally Durant Plummer
#24Who Are The Finest Lyricists on Broadway Today?
Posted: 10/3/15 at 5:16pm

Korie, Guettel, and LaChiusa are all brilliant. 

 

And, yes, to me "perfect rhymes" are nessesary for good musica theatre lyrics. Yes, characters can have different styles, but the rhymes must be there, not slant or almost. I cringe at forced rhymes - even in as great a show as Hamilton.

 

Michael John alone writes some brilliant lyrics - the Quintet in Berdnarda Alba and the finale of Queen of the Mist are breathtaking.

 

And Guettel has "Divindig Day" - one of the most perfect blends of character, lyrics, and music in contemporary theatre.

 

And who can forget "Around the World", "Another Winter in a Summer Town", and "Tuesdays, Thursdays"? Musical theatre at its height.


"Sticks and stones, sister. Here, have a Valium." - Patti LuPone, a Memoir