Name: Liz Hogg
Nationality: American
Occupation: Singer, songwriter
Current release: Liz Hogg's new album Goodbye World Hello Something is out via Aagoo.

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What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Music comes first in my opinion, so it’s much more important how lyrics are sung than what the words are.

Certain singers with a certain way of screaming or ooing or la-la-laing can be much more powerful than whatever lyrics are in the actual song. Reading lyrics, however great the writing is, can be lackluster just on the page, but when you hear them come alive with the singer, it makes all the difference.

All to say, I don’t put a lot of stock in the actual words. Of course they matter, and the better the writing, the better, but music comes first and they have to fit into the music I have in mind. Sometimes I’ll think of very short lyrical phrases I might want to use later. I don’t think in long sentences usually because it can be hard to fit that in for the music, and setting words to music doesn’t really fit with my musical process. So lyrics are as good to me as how they are performed; that makes them come alive or fall flat.

I’m a pretty confident writer, but I’ve never viewed lyrics quite as writing, because there are so many restrictions with how it needs to fit to music. So challenges are trying to get a point across but still, for example, rhyming or just keeping the needed rhythm/cadence. It’s something I’m getting better at.

As far as what makes lyrics good, I generally like dramatic lyrics in general or gutsy ones. But when I think of them, I always hear the performance in my head as stated, so just reading them on the page doesn’t carry the same weight.

I’ll share a list of some of my favorite lyrics though:

Sometimes lyrics read extremely corny, but when they’re performed, it totally works.

Take a lot of Jeff Buckley; I consider “Lover, You Should’ve Come Over” one of the greatest songs ever and the lyrics are very schmaltzy when read on a page, but when he sings lines like “It's never over / She is the tear that hangs inside my soul forever” it’s just perfect.



I love dramatic love songs. Gene Pitney “Cara Mia”: “Cara Mia why must we say goodbye / Each time we part my heart wants to die / Darling hear my prayer / Say you'll always care / I’ll be your love till the end of time”; How he sings “end of time” makes it great

Late to the party on this one but I just realized how great a song “Fluorescent Adolescent” by Arctic Monkey is - and it has great lyrics.



A former bandmate and me were discussing how many songs have been written about lusting after underage girls in rock n roll history, and as I was listing some off, he alerted me to one within the last 10 years, “Studmuffin96” by Alex Cameron.



Not only is it a good song, I secretly have to give him kudos for carrying on the tradition even if it’s a little sketchy. Part of the gutsy lyric category I like sometimes

Michelle Branch’s songs were something I got into recently after avoiding them when I thought it wasn’t cool to like when they came out: “Everywhere”, “All You Wanted”, “Goodbye To You”, “You Get Me” are all great, well constructed songs with solid lyrics

The Only Ones' “No Peace For The Wicked: “Why do I go through these deep emotional traumas? Why can't I be like I always wanted to be, carefree? Why can't I be happy like everybody else?”



Jane’s Addiction: “Some people should die, that’s just unconscious knowledge.”

I remember a former bandmate was so deeply offended that I considered that an amazing rock and roll lyrics but I stand by my opinion

New Order: “All The Way”: “It takes years to find the nerve / To be apart from what you've done / To find the truth inside yourself / And not depend on anyone”



New Order: “Turn My Way”: “I don't wanna be like other people are / Don't wanna own a key / Don't wanna wash my car / Don't wanna have to work like other people do / I wanted to be free / I wanted to be true.”

One of my favorite albums is Reach Out by Burt Bacharach; mostly instrumental, perfectly orchestrated renditions of ten amazing songs. And the lyrics to “What The World Needs Now Is Love” are great



Neil Young's “Peace Of Mind”: “You love her so and still you know / That you will never want to let her go / Unless you leave her first / Then you come out on top / But still there's just one thing / You haven't got / Peace of mind / Like when you treated her kind”

Neil Young's “Already One”: “I can't forget how love let me down / And when we meet it still gets in my way / I can't believe how love lasts a while / And looks like "forever" in the first place”



Neil Young's “Lookin’ For A Love”: “Looking' for a love that's right for me / I don't know how long it's gonna be / But I hope I treat her kind / And don't mess with her mind / When she starts to see the darker side of me”

My 2nd fav. Neil Young song “Barstool Blues”: “If I could hold on to just one thought / For long enough to know / Why my mind is moving so fast / And the conversation is slow / I saw you in my nightmares / But I'll see you in my dreams / And I might live a thousand years / Before I know what that means.”



Also all the lyrics to Neil Young's “Mr. Disappointment.”

I’ll just make one reference to John Frusciante here: it’s very original and poignant the way he uses expletives in “As Can Be,” opening the entire album, and “Untitled #8.”



I’ve never heard them used in that way, and it completely blew my mind when I was 13

David Bowie: “Changes”: “And these children that you spit on / As they try to change their worlds / Are immune to your consultations / They're quite aware of what they're going through”

My 2nd favorite Bowie song, “Time”:  “Breaking up is hard / But keeping dark is hateful / I had so many dreams / I had so many breakthroughs / But you, my love, were kind / But love has left you dreamless / The door to dreams was closed / Your park was real and greenless / Perhaps you're smiling now / Smiling through this darkness / But all I have to give / Is guilt for dreaming”



Arthur Lee & Love: “You Set The Scene”: “And for everyone who thinks that life is just a game // Do you like the part you're playing.”

Rod Stewart's “Young Turks”: “Because life is so brief and time is a thief when you're undecided / And like a fistful of sand, it can slip right through your hands / Young hearts be free tonight / Time is on your side / Don't let 'em put you down, don't let 'em push you around / Don't let 'em ever change your point of view



Neil Sedaka: “Bad Girl”: “I don't believe a word they're saying / What they're saying isn't true / Everybody calls her bad girl (that bad girl) / Everybody puts her down (that bad girl) / Why don't they take the time to understand? / She's looking for a love she's never found / And it's only 'cause she's lonely (that bad girl) / That's the way she got her name (that bad girl) / All she did was look for someone to love / And they put the girl to shame”

The Virgins: “Rich Girls”: “So there's a broken mirror on my bed. I'll clean it up, so what? You don't have to be such an asshole all the time.”



John Lennon: “Look At Me.”

My favorite Beach Boys song “Wouldn’t It Be Nice”: “Wouldn't it be nice if we were older? /Then we wouldn't have to wait so long / And wouldn't it be nice to live together / In the kind of world where we belong?”

Beach Boys: “Girl Don’t Tell Me”: “Hi little girl, it's me / Don't you know who I am? / I met you last summer / When I came up to stay with my gran' / Said I'm the guy who left you with tears in his eyes / You didn't answer my letters / So I figured it was just lie / Girl, don't tell me you'll write / Girl, don't tell me you'll write / Girl, don't tell me you'll write me again this time”



Beach Boys: “Forever”: “Let the love I have for you / Live in your heart / And be forever”

Beach Boys: “In The Back Of My Mind”: “I know it's so hard to find / A girl who really understands your mind / What will I do if I leave her / It will always be way in the back of my mind”; the last time they sing in the back of my mind always gives me shivers



T. Rex: “Life’s A Gas “It really doesn’t matter at all, life’s a gas.”

Lauryn Hill's “When It Hurts So Bad”: “When it hurts so bad, when it hurts so bad // Why's it feel so good?”



Lauryn Hill's “Everything Is Everything”: “It seems we lose the game / Before we even start to play / Who made these rules? / We’re so confused / Easily led astray.”