CaptainMellow
Sex God
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2006
- Posts
- 947
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 0
I have a passionate love of music, and while it may be the melody of a song that first grabs me, it's usually the lyrical content that makes me love a song the most. So I wanted to name my favorite songwriters and would love it if you would post yours (you may introduce me to artists I don't know of but could be turned onto and hopefully vice-versa). My musical tastes tend to be in modern popular music (rock, pop, folk, r&b/soul) and not in country/western, hip-hop, show tunes, or the standards of my parents & grandparents generations, but if you want to name Johnny Cash, LL Cool J, Oscar Hammerstein, or Cole Porter as among your favorite lyricists, than by all means please do.
In no particular order (and off the top of my head), my favorite songwriters.
Lennon & McCartney: It's probably unfair to lump John & Sir Paul together like this, but hey it's their own fault for making that legal agreement. I don't need to pile on to what has already been written about their musical accomplishments and importance for well over 4 decades now, but The Beatles are why I love the Rock idiom and they are the single largest influence (along with Dylan) on how pop songs are constructed to this very day. Lennon certainly sustained a more consistent high level of songcraft when The Beatles went their separate ways, but I think McCartney has been unfairly tagged as a mediocre songwriter post-breakup. "My love" & "Maybe I'm amazed" are marvelously written love songs and a song he wrote for the Everly Brothers called "On the wings of a nightingale" is an all time fave of mine.
Stevie Wonder: In the sixties SW was just some teenaged musical phenom known mostly for his disability and his catchy dance tunes, but in the seventies as Berry Gordy let loose the artistic reins on Motown artists like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & Stevie (leading to their best works) a true genius emerged. The quality of his lyrics on classic albums like "Innervisions" "Talking Book" and "Songs in the Key of Life" are among the best in the history of r&b/soul. Nobody then and probably since wrote songs about ghetto life, or of true love like Stevie did.
Stevie Nicks: The Fleetwood Mac lineup of the seventies had an embarrassment of songwriting riches. Both Lindsey Buckingham and Christie Love were excellent writers in their own right, but it was Nicks' songs that left the greatest impression on the listeners. They were haunting, passionate, and oh so pretty. If all she ever wrote was "Landslide" she would deserve to be on my list.
Kurt Cobain: Yeah, his singing was muddled to the point that many of the lyrics were unintelligable, but when you learned what the words were it put so much color on the canvas of the songs melodies. Yeah there is anger, pain and even self-pity in a lot of those songs, but there is real visceral rock and roll poetry to those words and also a great sense of (dark) humor. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" is the best revenge song ever written. And "Dumb" can still make me cry.
Fiona Apple: Her looks, antics, and haunting voice get most of the attention, but wow what a great songwriter she is. Her ballads are so beautifully yet oddly constructed that when you read them over and over they seem to almost change their meaning. "Pale September" and ""Never is a Promise" could be songs about love, or loss or both or neither, I'm never 100% sure, I just know they are great.
Art Alexakis: The lead singer and guitarist of the punk band Everclear. The single most personal songwriter on this list. Wether it's songs about growing up white in a black housing project, his mothers suicide, his heroin addiction, the flaws of his father (or his own flaws as a father), his songs are real, raw and powerful, they punch you in the gut (and the heart). He is also an astonishingly great chronicler on the lives of ordinary young people and their angst (even more than Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day imho, a very similar but more successful artist).
Pete Townshend: The Who broke so many barriers in Rock and were the ancestors of the Punk movement that would emerge in the seventies, and that was in large credit do to the extraordinary songwriting talent of Townsend. From crafting Rocks first Opera with "Tommy" to writing stories about the lives and loves of the British working class, his influence is seen and heard today in the music of Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) among others.
Bruce Springsteen: The blue collar troubadour. It was funny when some longtime fans complained about "The Boss" getting involved in the last couple of Presidential elections because he had "gone political". You realize these guys never read his lyrics, Bruce has ALWAYS been political. Did they never listen to "Nebraska"? What Pete Townsend was in terms as a writer of working class Britain, Springsteen was and still is, exactly that for America. The straggly hair, burly voice and dirty jeans obscure the soul of a remarkable poet. "Jungleland" & "Born to Run" are genius songs of urban life and love.
Jim Steinman: Were JM's songs theatrical? Sure. Over the top? Yeah. Dramatic? You bet. But they were also ambitious and so much fun. One of rock & rolls greatest storytellers and he could turn a phrase like nobodies business. "Two out of three ain't bad" is still my favorite karaoke song to perform.
Carole King: How can she not be here? From her teen years, to writing songs with her husband in her twenties, to finally emerging from behind the scenes as a singer in her own right with "Tapestry", CK has a gift for putting beautiful words to paper that is without peer. "So far away" still moves me after all these years.
Dolly Parton: I said I wouldn't name a Country/Western artist, but she seems to transcend that artform doesn't she? To me, what Stevie Wonder was as a chronicler of the black, urban experience, and Springsteen was with the blue collar, white, working class experience, Parton is that for the rural Southern experience. She is a marvelous tunesmith, her songs are simple but never simplistic, and they carry a real emotional wallop when paid attention too. "Jolene" is like a real life desperate letter you'd find crumpled in the street, with the tear stains still visible.
Prince: Don't let all that baggage fool you, behind the clothes, hair, facial scrawls, screams and overall weirdness is a truly brilliant songwriter. he aint just making great dance music (even thought he does that just fine) he is writing complex (yes, complex) songs about life, death, love, loss, god, sex, mysticism (sometimes in the same song) and many other themes that other songwriters would never even think to tackle. "7" is the second best revenge song ever written. And "Darling Nikki" is the best song ever about female seduction (and orgasm).
I could go on and on really; Bernie Taupin, Bob Seegar, John Mellencamp, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), John Hiatt, Boy George (yeah, really...that Boy George!), Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Joe Strummer (The Clash), Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Chrissy Hynde (The Pretenders), Leonard Cohen, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Billy Joel, Hal David, Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Bob Marley, David Bowie, Billy Corgan, Morrissey, Paul Westerberg (The Replacments) Sam Cooke, Bob Mould, and so many others I will kick myself for forgetting.
In no particular order (and off the top of my head), my favorite songwriters.
Lennon & McCartney: It's probably unfair to lump John & Sir Paul together like this, but hey it's their own fault for making that legal agreement. I don't need to pile on to what has already been written about their musical accomplishments and importance for well over 4 decades now, but The Beatles are why I love the Rock idiom and they are the single largest influence (along with Dylan) on how pop songs are constructed to this very day. Lennon certainly sustained a more consistent high level of songcraft when The Beatles went their separate ways, but I think McCartney has been unfairly tagged as a mediocre songwriter post-breakup. "My love" & "Maybe I'm amazed" are marvelously written love songs and a song he wrote for the Everly Brothers called "On the wings of a nightingale" is an all time fave of mine.
Stevie Wonder: In the sixties SW was just some teenaged musical phenom known mostly for his disability and his catchy dance tunes, but in the seventies as Berry Gordy let loose the artistic reins on Motown artists like Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson & Stevie (leading to their best works) a true genius emerged. The quality of his lyrics on classic albums like "Innervisions" "Talking Book" and "Songs in the Key of Life" are among the best in the history of r&b/soul. Nobody then and probably since wrote songs about ghetto life, or of true love like Stevie did.
Stevie Nicks: The Fleetwood Mac lineup of the seventies had an embarrassment of songwriting riches. Both Lindsey Buckingham and Christie Love were excellent writers in their own right, but it was Nicks' songs that left the greatest impression on the listeners. They were haunting, passionate, and oh so pretty. If all she ever wrote was "Landslide" she would deserve to be on my list.
Kurt Cobain: Yeah, his singing was muddled to the point that many of the lyrics were unintelligable, but when you learned what the words were it put so much color on the canvas of the songs melodies. Yeah there is anger, pain and even self-pity in a lot of those songs, but there is real visceral rock and roll poetry to those words and also a great sense of (dark) humor. "Frances Farmer Will Have Her Revenge On Seattle" is the best revenge song ever written. And "Dumb" can still make me cry.
Fiona Apple: Her looks, antics, and haunting voice get most of the attention, but wow what a great songwriter she is. Her ballads are so beautifully yet oddly constructed that when you read them over and over they seem to almost change their meaning. "Pale September" and ""Never is a Promise" could be songs about love, or loss or both or neither, I'm never 100% sure, I just know they are great.
Art Alexakis: The lead singer and guitarist of the punk band Everclear. The single most personal songwriter on this list. Wether it's songs about growing up white in a black housing project, his mothers suicide, his heroin addiction, the flaws of his father (or his own flaws as a father), his songs are real, raw and powerful, they punch you in the gut (and the heart). He is also an astonishingly great chronicler on the lives of ordinary young people and their angst (even more than Billy Joe Armstrong of Green Day imho, a very similar but more successful artist).
Pete Townshend: The Who broke so many barriers in Rock and were the ancestors of the Punk movement that would emerge in the seventies, and that was in large credit do to the extraordinary songwriting talent of Townsend. From crafting Rocks first Opera with "Tommy" to writing stories about the lives and loves of the British working class, his influence is seen and heard today in the music of Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) and Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) among others.
Bruce Springsteen: The blue collar troubadour. It was funny when some longtime fans complained about "The Boss" getting involved in the last couple of Presidential elections because he had "gone political". You realize these guys never read his lyrics, Bruce has ALWAYS been political. Did they never listen to "Nebraska"? What Pete Townsend was in terms as a writer of working class Britain, Springsteen was and still is, exactly that for America. The straggly hair, burly voice and dirty jeans obscure the soul of a remarkable poet. "Jungleland" & "Born to Run" are genius songs of urban life and love.
Jim Steinman: Were JM's songs theatrical? Sure. Over the top? Yeah. Dramatic? You bet. But they were also ambitious and so much fun. One of rock & rolls greatest storytellers and he could turn a phrase like nobodies business. "Two out of three ain't bad" is still my favorite karaoke song to perform.
Carole King: How can she not be here? From her teen years, to writing songs with her husband in her twenties, to finally emerging from behind the scenes as a singer in her own right with "Tapestry", CK has a gift for putting beautiful words to paper that is without peer. "So far away" still moves me after all these years.
Dolly Parton: I said I wouldn't name a Country/Western artist, but she seems to transcend that artform doesn't she? To me, what Stevie Wonder was as a chronicler of the black, urban experience, and Springsteen was with the blue collar, white, working class experience, Parton is that for the rural Southern experience. She is a marvelous tunesmith, her songs are simple but never simplistic, and they carry a real emotional wallop when paid attention too. "Jolene" is like a real life desperate letter you'd find crumpled in the street, with the tear stains still visible.
Prince: Don't let all that baggage fool you, behind the clothes, hair, facial scrawls, screams and overall weirdness is a truly brilliant songwriter. he aint just making great dance music (even thought he does that just fine) he is writing complex (yes, complex) songs about life, death, love, loss, god, sex, mysticism (sometimes in the same song) and many other themes that other songwriters would never even think to tackle. "7" is the second best revenge song ever written. And "Darling Nikki" is the best song ever about female seduction (and orgasm).
I could go on and on really; Bernie Taupin, Bob Seegar, John Mellencamp, Ben Gibbard (Death Cab for Cutie), John Hiatt, Boy George (yeah, really...that Boy George!), Peter Gabriel, Joni Mitchell, Joe Strummer (The Clash), Roger Waters (Pink Floyd), Chrissy Hynde (The Pretenders), Leonard Cohen, Michael Stipe (R.E.M.), Billy Joel, Hal David, Thom Yorke (Radiohead), Bob Marley, David Bowie, Billy Corgan, Morrissey, Paul Westerberg (The Replacments) Sam Cooke, Bob Mould, and so many others I will kick myself for forgetting.
