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The way I see it, there are two ways to approach a music review (Okay, maybe three — but all music reviews require introductory meta-analytical explorations of what music reviews are, so perhaps that is an overarching category, or a prerequisite, rather than an approach). The first is to plunge into a deep dive of one specific piece, or album, or artist, and explore that singular subject extensively. The second is to throw together multiple sources into a music revue (ha). This review(ue) is the latter.

In this review, I will be evaluating two sets of my all-time favorite lyrics. I bounce between the ways I consume music, sometimes barely hearing lyrics and only focusing on music, other times emphasizing lyrics more than any other part of a song. Of course, the best songwriters synthesize a blend of words and music that seamlessly coalesce into one perfect expression, and neither element is fully complete without its complement. But I focus enough on words in general that lyrics are a vital part of the music I consume. Without further ado, here are a few choice lines that metaphorically stop me in my tracks every time.

The song: “551” by Dessa. The lines: “So fight the anesthesia / Spite the man that leaves ya / Might the sad disease you contracted while sitting boring and bored / Come back from the lab report / As the nervous disorder only the rich are afforded.”

I had to start with Dessa. This singer/songwriter/rapper/poet/essayist uses language in a way I’ve rarely heard anyone else even approach, and she has too many beautiful, stop-you-cold lines to do anything but lead this list. Her dual focus on compelling subject matters and expression in intelligent rhymes and meters creates lines like the ones above, which are just a representative of her discography of lyrics.

I think I love these lines so much because of their compounding. I’m fascinated by the way they continually build on themselves with repeated, lengthening phrases, starting with the short “anesthesia” / “man that leaves ya” rhyme and building into the lengthy, complex, assonant “bored” / “report” / “disorder” / “afforded” parallels. Those end rhymes, matched with the initiating rhymes between “fight,” “spite” and “might,” create a pattering and weaving rhythm that is astonishing to hear.

But there’s more than just assonance and end rhymes. The complexity of the words is such that the situation can be slightly obscured, requiring attention to see the emotional center of the song. That’s not a criticism — the intricate language beautifies a situation that is simply sad into an artful tragedy. Below the artfulness is the story of a failing relationship, the consequences that too often befall the heartbroken and the melancholic, a slight criticism of the inaccessibility of mental health care. It’s layered and nuanced and complex, and all in four short phrases.

I know from enough experimental mumblings that these are difficult lines to perform, so props to Dessa for both writing and executing them flawlessly.

The song: “Sawdust & Diamonds” by Joanna Newsom. The lines: “I wasn’t born of a whistle or milked from a thistle at twilight / No, I was all horns and thorns sprung out fully formed knock-kneed and upright / So enough of this terror / We deserve to know light / And grow evermore lighter and lighter.”

I’m convinced Joanna Newsom writes with some kind of otherworldly inspiration and druidic sorcery. I see no other explanation for these lines, which, to be clear, represent an entire ten minutes of delectable poetic writing. “Sawdust & Diamonds” is a ten-minute, self-contained masterpiece, as far as I’m concerned, but these lines in particular reach into my chest and forcefully squeeze my heart every time.

Newsom, I think, does an incredible balancing act between wordplay and poetry. She has a razor-sharp skill with internal rhyme and a knack for unusual yet arresting diction, what with the “whistle” / “thistle” and “horns” / “thorns” parallels. But she always tips the balance towards the poetic—there are enough clever, idiosyncratic arrangements to risk seeming pretentious or heavy-handed, but she deftly remains on the side of the beautiful.

There’s an interlacing, highly metrical quality to Newsom’s writing, but it still communicates a deep emotional center. I think part of this is the poetic sensibility that runs through Newsom’s work, the lack of compulsion to state anything simply and rather to lean into an intricate opacity. Functionally, that means I’m not always sure exactly what she’s trying to communicate. Emotionally, the feelings she evokes remain clear, whatever words happen to adorn them.

The latter two lines of this selection present something of a contrast to the former two. There is a simpler, more earnest, and more tender quality to the sentiment in “We deserve to know light, and grow evermore lighter and lighter.” There’s this gorgeous sense of folklore and legend throughout Newsom’s music, but I believe it to be particularly strong here.

So, there you are. Some incredible wordsmithing, songwriting women making beautiful sounds in the sonic world. Hope you enjoyed.