This question is not about who is the best songwriter. It isn't about your favorite composer. This is not about the songwriter you think you should like. This is about who puts words and music together in a way that you want to hear their songs over and over, or expresses them in a way that really speaks to you. They don't have to perform their own songs. I suggest that you limit it to 3 or 4 that you place above the others, and explain why if you want. Repeats are OK, because many songwriters have nearly universal appeal.

Here are my top three:

Warren Zevon - He had a sense of humor that was sufficiently warped to appeal to me - Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. Linda Ronstadt did a great cover of his Poor Poor Pitiful Me.

Leonard Cohen - His lyrics are as poetic as they are dark. I just find his imagery to be outstanding. Now, my favorite versions of many of his songs are covers - for example Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah. Coehn's readings of his songs are fascinating if not always musically appealing.

Neil Young - Another songwriter who can show his sense of humor. He can also can dish out some potent political punches. He has a voice that is, well, a good fit for his songs.

Regards,

D-Ray

I liked all your picks, d ray

I'm sure Dylan will rank up there, his songs are genius.

Bob Mould is a personal favorite, many are a little dark, but I dig that stuff.

This question is not about who is the best songwriter. It isn't about your favorite composer. This is not about the songwriter you think you should like. This is about who puts words and music together in a way that you want to hear their songs over and over, or expresses them in a way that really speaks to you. They don't have to perform their own songs. I suggest that you limit it to 3 or 4 that you place above the others, and explain why if you want. Repeats are OK, because many songwriters have nearly universal appeal.

Here are my top three:

Warren Zevon - He had a sense of humor that was sufficiently warped to appeal to me - Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner. Linda Ronstadt did a great cover of his Poor Poor Pitiful Me.

Leonard Cohen - His lyrics are as poetic as they are dark. I just find his imagery to be outstanding. Now, my favorite versions of many of his songs are covers - for example Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah. Cohen's readings of his songs are fascinating if not always musically appealing.

Neil Young - Another songwriter who can show his sense of humor. He can also can dish out some potent political punches. He has a voice that is, well, a good fit for his songs.

Regards,

D-Ray

Great idea for post, I second Cohen and Young all the way, to which I would add Gordon Lightfoot. If You Could Read My Mind, and The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald come to mind right away. I find their lyricism and haunting imagery just as potent today as when I first heard those songs.

Chuck Berry (Almost Grown is one of my favorite songs about adolescence).
Bob Dylan(Tangled Up In Blue,to me,is a lifes rememberances and regrets in a single song).
Lennon and McCartney(In My Life.Enough said)

Their songs speak to me like none other.
Jimmy

1. Mark Knopfler-He's a great storyteller, paints vivid characters and scenes in his songs. He has a great voice and insists on making quality recordings as well.

2. Pete Townshend. So many great songs came from his hand. Such attitude and emotion in his pieces. Behind Blue Eyes is good enough to make you cry.

3. Neil Peart. I find the sometimes sci-fi, sometimes philosophical lyrics interesting.

Cole Porter
George Gershwin
Harold Arlen

John Lennon & George Harrison

My fave has always been Jackson Browne. His music & lyrics really struck a chord with various events in my life.

Enjoy the music,
-Mark

Chuck Berry (Almost Grown is one of my favorite songs about adolescence).
Bob Dylan(Tangled Up In Blue,to me,is a lifes rememberances and regrets in a single song).
Lennon and McCartney(In My Life.Enough said)

Their songs speak to me like none other.
Jimmy

I guarantee that I considered each one of those. Many probably wouldn't think of Chuck Berry as a songwriter first, but to see how many of and how often his songs are covered leaves no doubt about his prowess as a songwriter. Many of his are rock standards. Lennon and McCartney, Dylan - no concern that they would be left out.

Regards,

D-Ray

In no particular order:
Greg Brown
John Prine
John Hiatt

Todd Rundgren.

I'm sure others will come to me, but that was the first name that popped into my head when I read the question.

Other posted names affect me as well...

Johnny Cash

Woody Guthrie

Bob Dylan

Tom Waits.

However, there are a lot more.

I like Bo Diddley as a songwriter: anybody with a line like "ol Bo Diddley had a farm, and on that farm he had some women" and can deliver it completely unselfconsiously, is all right by me!

I also like Jim Ford, Nick Lowe, Mose Allison, Curtis Mayfield, Joe South and about a million more.

Dylan
Hendrix
Hank Sr.
Johnny Mercer
The Gershwin Bros.

I can't believe someone already listed Cole Porter (way to go chicks). Yeah, for me it always Cole Porter, Jonathan Richman, and Robyn Hitchcock.

In no particular order, Gord Downie of the Tragically Hip is very underrated, as is the band, except in Canada.
Bruce Cockburn, another Canadian. "If I Had a Rocket Launcher" and "Call it Democracy" come to mind immediately.
Neil Young, another from the North. I also agree with Neil Peart, who has written several good books also. I see a theme here. :yes:
No, I am not Canadian. :D

Karla Bonoff.......why do you think Linda Rondstat's early LPs were so good?
John Hiatt..........has he ever written a bad song?
Elvis Costello......his earlier work was soooo powerful!!
Kristy McCall......Great English songstress that died waaaay too young
Patti Griffin........Haunting melodies, with a voice to match


Steve

I can't believe someone already listed Cole Porter (way to go chicks). Yeah, for me it always Cole Porter, Jonathan Richman, and Robyn Hitchcock.

good choices, add Hoagie Carmichael, all these guys seem to be quantity writers, like a bazillion great songs over the years.

First and foremost, Dylan.

Some not yet mentioned:
Buddy Holly
Jagger/Richards
Joe Jackson
Mick Jones/Joe Strummer
David Byrne
Lowell George
Morrison/Manzarek/Krieger/Densmore

Gino Vannelli

Let's not forget the hitmakers from Motown:
Holland-Dozier-Holland
Smokey Robinson

They penned some all-time classics.

Bob Dylan(Tangled Up In Blue,to me,is a lifes rememberances and regrets in a single song).

I love the line in the song where he sings about her bending down to tie up the lace of his shoe, and then he breaks into the chorus... tangled up in blue.

Maybe it's just my own little thing, but the fact that he's talking about shoe laces and getting tangled up.... just a clever little piece of writing that points to Dylan's overall level of genius. Whether he did that intentionally.... you don't find too many writers who incorporate the language that way into their songs, sort of a deeper layer to echo the overt message.

Well, in my head it works that way. It makes for a much less superficial musical experience.

Still, my favorites include:

Pete Townshend - no one covered/covers teenage angst the way he did in Quadrophenia.

David Byrne - while lots of his songs, especially with the Talking Heads, feature nonsensical lyrics ("I Zimbra" anyone?), many of them capture, again, this is my own personal opinion, but isn't that what the question is all about? - the internal emotional and mental state, especially in twisted places. His solo album Feelings is a tour de force in awesome song writing. So is the T. Heads last studio album, Naked.

While it's not a single songwriter, I find the songs coming out of Los Lobos, irrespective of who gets the songwriting credits, really speak to me.

My favorite women song writers include:

Suzanne Vega
Lucinda Williams
Sue Foley
Michelle Shocked

Elvis Costello......his earlier work was soooo powerful!!

Man, how did I forget Elvis??? Great point. Aside from his first album, my favorite Elvis work is King of America. He has some great lyrics in it... "She said that she was working for the ABC News/It was as much of the alphabet as she would ever use"

Just a great slam in my book. Clever.

But "Watching the Detectives" has to be one of the best... "She pulls their eyes out with a face like a magnet"

Great call.

Dylan
Hendrix
Hank Sr.
Johnny Mercer
The Gershwin Bros.

I think a lot of people, present company excepted of course, don't get what a great lyricist Hendrix was. Good call.

Smokey Robinson



:thmbsp:

i think Dylan once called him "Americas greatest poet" or something similar.

Okay, one last comment and then I'll shut up. I know my posts have all discussed lyrics, and I know that the request to mention songwriters.... I guess, at least for me, all these artists do have great lyrics, but it's the composition of lyrics, music, and performance that really pull it together.

And maybe even a happy coincidence of the song and the moment lining up.

1. Mark Knopfler-He's a great storyteller, paints vivid characters and scenes in his songs. He has a great voice and insists on making quality recordings as well. .

While I whole heartedly agree Knopfler is superb, IMO, there was but one great story teller that has never been surpased.......Harry Chapin. Besides his World hunger outreach was second to none.

I still miss Harry to this day !

I think a lot of people, present company excepted of course, don't get what a great lyricist Hendrix was. Good call.

He is my favorite song writer. Just listen to the words on, if 6 were 9. Or Axis bold as love. You did ask who are my favorite song writers.

Brian Wilson
Ray Davies
Al Stewart
Bob Seger

Al Stewart!!! Heck yeah...the greatest "historical" songwriter ever. That "Life Between The Wars" cd is a masterwerk!

Garcia, Hunter

John Martyn, Richard Thompson, Bob Dylan,

1) Neil Young
2) Tom Petty
3) Elvis Costello
4) Beck

There have been some amazing songwriters mentioned here. One thing I was interested in, and I assume that others here might be interested in, is what songwriters made it to the top of your personal list. I'm sure that we all like several songwriters, but I would be interested in what three or four stand out for you. What about those particular songwriters appeals particularly to you?

I know that having seen others mentioned, I might have to move Tom Waits into my top three, but I'm not sure who I would boot to put him there. He writes songs about the gritty side of life, but approaches that part of life and those characters affectionately. He also writes with passion. I've written before about using the term "authentic" to describe music I like. Tom Waits certainly meets that description. His songs describe life with all of its warts.

Regards,

D-Ray

I'm sure it won't surprise anyone who knows me, but Buffett tops my list. He writes music that speaks to the part of my soul that only gets out of the hammock to go sailing.

Another favorite of mine is Paul Simon. For whatever reason, his music reaches me. "St. Judy's Comet" could have been written about my son.

Ray

Paul Westerberg

Growing up in the 60s, I've always been partial to the great Brill Bldg.teams. My favorites are Goffin/King, Mann/Weil, and Barry/Greenwich.

Not my favorites, but John/Taupin have also done some good work.

And in the pop/showtune genre, the songs of Richard Rodgers, with either Lorenz hart, or Oscar Hammerstein, are of astonishing quality.

Ray Wylie Hubbard
Richard Thompson
Kevin Russell (Gourds)
Jimmy Smith (Gourds)
Cat Stevens

1. Lennon/Mc Cartney
2. David Bowie, especially his early stuff
3. Dylan
4. Otis Redding

I'll second the Rundgren vote, and still going strong.
Also John Doe/Exene
and Richard Thompson

I'll second the Rundgren vote, and still going strong.


Thanks. I was beginning to feel a little lonely!

Andy Partridge

Gotta go with Mark Knopfler, Bernie Taupin and Elton John, and for rude crude but funny as hell, Frank Zappa. "I ain't gonna squash it and ya don't need to wash it." Crew Slut - Joe's Garage. It doesn't get much better than that.

Angus/Malcolm Young & Bon Scott.

Dylan
Waits
Hiatt

Gordon Lightfoot

An excellent songsmith. That's not a word but I like it.

There have been some amazing songwriters mentioned here. One thing I was interested in, and I assume that others here might be interested in, is what songwriters made it to the top of your personal list. I'm sure that we all like several songwriters, but I would be interested in what three or four stand out for you. What about those particular songwriters appeals particularly to you?

I know that having seen others mentioned, I might have to move Tom Waits into my top three, but I'm not sure who I would boot to put him there. He writes songs about the gritty side of life, but approaches that part of life and those characters affectionately. He also writes with passion. I've written before about using the term "authentic" to describe music I like. Tom Waits certainly meets that description. His songs describe life with all of its warts.

Regards,

D-Ray

The top of the personal list, well that's a whole different story:

1) Bob Dylan
2) Lennon & McCartney
3) Jagger & Richards
4) Paul Simon

Willie Dixon

James Taylor

Pete Townshend

+1 on Willie Dixon. How could I have forgotten?

My top three change from month to month as I change what I'm listening to or discover someone new. This month 3 of my favorites would be...

Mary Gauthier

Wilco

Neko Case

Gordon Lightfoot
Harry Nilson
Neil Young
Ian Anderson
Justin Hayward

There have been some amazing songwriters mentioned here. One thing I was interested in, and I assume that others here might be interested in, is what songwriters made it to the top of your personal list. I'm sure that we all like several songwriters, but I would be interested in what three or four stand out for you. What about those particular songwriters appeals particularly to you?

I know that having seen others mentioned, I might have to move Tom Waits into my top three, but I'm not sure who I would boot to put him there. He writes songs about the gritty side of life, but approaches that part of life and those characters affectionately. He also writes with passion. I've written before about using the term "authentic" to describe music I like. Tom Waits certainly meets that description. His songs describe life with all of its warts.

Regards,

D-Ray

D-Ray.... I'm surprised you don't have FZ as one of your picks. You could take anything off of Apostrophe or Joe's Garage (okay, those are my faves). And then there was the whole thing about FZ winning a Grammy for the best Jazz composition for (was it Rat Tomago off Sheik Yerbouti?) an improvisational piece that was, technically, never composed.

Still, FZ was another one of those guys who was just freakin' great.

+1 on Willie Dixon. How could I have forgotten?

He gave us a lot!:yes:

Wanted to add Lead Belly.
Midnight Special, Gallis Pole, Black Betty, House Of The Rising Sun ….

all mentioned, and
Chrissie Hynde
Lloyd Cole
Joan Armatrading
Bryan Ferry