Who is your favourite songwriter and why?

frobisher · 09-03-2007 9:45am #1

There are so many and it's a bit like being asked which sibling you love most. I guess in a way it comes down to so many personal things rather than any system for quantifying who is actually the best. For me it would be Neil Finn. He is a songwriter that even with the simplest touches gets everything in its perfect place. Songs like 4 Seasons, Better be Home Soon, Only Natural absolutely blow me away.
Who's your favourite?

Oink · 09-03-2007 12:35pm

I used to think that Fall at your feet was the perfect pop ballad. He used 4 basic chords (that have been used and abused for so long), kept to very simple riffs, and yet the result was fantastic.

Don McLean writes the most amazing stuff as well when he's not busy writing ****e songs. The words are pure poetry, the guitar playing is amazing...

Which brings us to Jim Croce who was also halfway between genius and country crap...

I need to listen to more recent stuff, but I'm currently working my way up from the 60's, and it took me ten years to reach '79.

Maccattack · 09-03-2007 12:56pm

Graham Smith. I spent many years of my life in a band with this guy who wrote/writes the most amazing, poignent honest, heartfelt and beautiful songs I have ever heard. Sadly he couldnt get off the drugs so we never went anywhere despite my very best efforts to get the band off the ground.

I havent seen him in over 12 years but to this day there isnt a single songwritter that comes close for me. A lot of his songs still float around my head and heart to this day.

As for recorded songwritters. My faves would be.

Forster/McLennan
Hirst/Moginie
Nick Cave
Bob Mould
Jagger/Richards

and a few more besides.

judas101 · 09-03-2007 3:20pm

Jeff.

That is all.

Gaspode · 09-03-2007 6:02pm

For me Neil Young, Kris Kristofferson, Don McLean would be big favourites, but I've really got into the Finn Brothers/Crowded house stuff in the past few years courtesy of one of my guitar buddies, so I agree with what you've said.
There's so many though, its nearly unfair to have a favourite, but 9 times out of 10 if I feel like singing a song it'll be a Neil Young song.

TelePaul · 09-03-2007 6:21pm

deswalsh wrote:

There's so many though, its nearly unfair to have a favourite, but 9 times out of 10 if I feel like singing a song it'll be a Neil Young song.

Neil gets my vote too, you can comen back to him again and again and again.

Other guys I like...Van Morrison, John Martyn, Nick Drake and Pearl Jam/Ed Vedder.

TelePaul · 09-03-2007 6:22pm

judas101 wrote:

Jeff.

That is all.

Buckley, Beck or Lynn?

It wasn't me! · 09-03-2007 7:15pm

judas101 wrote:

Jeff.

That is all.

Yeah, Jeff Hannemann is an excellent writer. Possibly Isahn for me, or Mikael Akerfeldt, or Paul Masvidal and Jason Gobels...

grumpytrousers · 09-03-2007 7:17pm

frobisher wrote:

There are so many and it's a bit like being asked which sibling you love most. I guess in a way it comes down to so many personal things rather than any system for quantifying who is actually the best. For me it would be Neil Finn. He is a songwriter that even with the simplest touches gets everything in its perfect place. Songs like 4 Seasons, Better be Home Soon, Only Natural absolutely blow me away.
Who's your favourite?

I'd have to agree with you; Crowded house had another song on Together Alone called 'Nails in my Feet' and it's again that classic simple chord progression, almost circular, that's beautiful...and then half way thru, it just reaches for the heavens with a new-ish melody and it's just perfect. If, as we used say at the height of 80's cold war paranoia, the 4 minute warning ever goes off, it'd be my entire crowded house collection going on random play...it'd be hard to be disappointed!!!

Killaqueen!!! · 09-03-2007 7:23pm

It's extremely hard to pick just a few but ones that have been mentioned already

- Don McLean, Neil Young...etc. are great.

Obviously, Springsteen and Lennon/McCartney, Van Morrison, Dylan etc. are all great.

I just love Dolly Parton's songwriting. Colin Hay is another one that comes to mind.

A personal favourite would be Freddie Mercury!

judas101 · 09-03-2007 10:46pm

TelePaul wrote:

Buckley, Beck or Lynn?

Buckley of course.

It wasn't me! · 09-03-2007 10:47pm

see, that's why you have to specify, and why I took the piss out of you.

OPENROAD · 10-03-2007 12:12am

Gary Barlow.

TelePaul · 10-03-2007 5:05am

judas101 wrote:

Buckley of course.

That's interesting...he didn't write much of anything really. He had one album to his name and didn't write my favourite song on it. Mojo Pin is excellent though.

It wasn't me! · 10-03-2007 12:26pm

I dunno, Sketches For My Sweetheart, The Drunk is pretty damn good.

judas101 · 10-03-2007 1:39pm

TelePaul wrote:

That's interesting...he didn't write much of anything really. He had one album to his name and didn't write my favourite song on it. Mojo Pin is excellent though.

Sketches is amazing.

Theres a few others brilliant songs that werent on that either like "forget her".

TelePaul · 10-03-2007 2:29pm

judas101 wrote:

Sketches is amazing.

Theres a few others brilliant songs that werent on that either like "forget her".

Forget her is on the legacy re-issue of Grace right? I don't know about Sketches, for me it'll never be a Jeff Buckley album because of largely unfinished it was. Chris Cornell did a great job in its overseeing, but for me, Jeffs legacy as a songwriter is still somewhat up in the air. He's undoubtedly one of the greatets musicians of all time though; live at sin é (the newer version) is an incredible showcase of his ability.

ogy · 10-03-2007 9:46pm

aside from the usual list of genii (dylan, young etc) i think elvis costello is quite wonderful

It wasn't me! · 10-03-2007 9:47pm

TelePaul wrote:

Forget her is on the legacy re-issue of Grace right?

It is indeed.

Gaspode · 13-03-2007 9:26pm

ogy wrote:

aside from the usual list of genii (dylan, young etc) i think elvis costello is quite wonderful

Of course! - I agree. See, once you start picking favourites you start missing on on some! Elvis costello is a phenomonal song-writer, good enough that even as a teenager mad on heavy metal in the eighties I enjoyed his stuff. (didnt tell me hairy mates though!)

and on people I've missed, what about Tom Waits? another fine songwriter, though I prefer other people singing his stuff.

Rigsby · 16-03-2007 12:12am

One of my favourites is Al Stewart. He tends to keep clear of the usual baby-I- miss-your-love kind of lyrics and tells a story through his songs. Plus the music itself is always top notch and memorable.

axer · 16-03-2007 1:45pm

Its gotta be Springsteen to me. I think the visions of hope he creates with the majority of his songs are amazing.

oleras · 16-03-2007 11:36pm

Dylan, Paul simon, Springsteen, shane mcgowen

axer · 17-03-2007 5:56am

oleras wrote:

Dylan, Paul simon, Springsteen, shane mcgowen

forgot about shane mcgowen. one of the most amazing song writers (totally under-rated) out there.

frobisher · 17-03-2007 11:32am

Shane McGowan is a good one all right. Imagine sitting at a piano and when you stood up from it you'd written Fairytale of New York. I think I'd cry.

Savman · 17-03-2007 2:33pm

Sting

red_ice · 18-03-2007 6:16pm

Josh Homme! Queens of the stone age!

tj-music.com · 19-03-2007 2:05am

Being 40 now, I guess it is not unusual that "the favourite" songwriter(s) havs/have changed.

In my own case I really can´t say. There were times when I was looking behind the noise and thought (and still think) that KISS´ Paul Stanley is a very underrated songwriter but so is Vince Clarke (Erasure). If you listen to their 2006 acoustic album "Union Street" it is obvious that the electronic around the song sometimes disguises the song and downgrades it.

Always great was and is Barry Gibb. Not all songs were showcased well but he wrote for so many people and so many songs are simply beautiful and well arranged and thought out.

Prince would be another example of a genius who is not easy to get.

Safest bet: Paul Simon - always predictable, always great. Although voice wise he is just not Art Garfunkel.

Anyway, it is so difficult.

Oriel · 19-03-2007 11:40am

Jim Steinman.

Pat D. Almighty · 20-03-2007 1:59am

Rivers Cuomo

Dark Artist · 22-03-2007 11:11pm

Amy Lee from Evanescence and Tuomas Holopanainen from the band Nightwish. I consider them geniuses - there's a certain kind of musical purity and originality that I find in their songs.

cerebis · 22-03-2007 11:53pm

well it boils down to two.

Can't quite pick between -

Foster or Allen

? tis tough....

Nah, enough jokes....I've always liked Paul McCartney as a songwriter...some great tunes..Even his solo stuff (not so much wings)..I also think Mr. Noel Gallagher has wrote some classics...I also think that guy from the frames is a decent songwriter too - Glen H.

peanutroad · 23-03-2007 1:37am

Hank Williams. His songs were both poetic and beautifully crafted.

Pat D. Almighty · 23-03-2007 2:24pm

cerebis wrote:

well it boils down to two.

Can't quite pick between -

Foster or Allen ? tis tough....

Nah, enough jokes....I've always liked Paul McCartney as a songwriter...some great tunes..Even his solo stuff (not so much wings)..I also think Mr. Noel Gallagher has wrote some classics...I also think that guy from the frames is a decent songwriter too - Glen H.

Paul McCartney should have never given up LSD. His songs have been downhill ever snince. When he was on LSD, he wrote Helter Skelter. When he went straight...he wrote Mull Of Kyntire....says it all really

mada999 · 24-03-2007 12:16am

depends what you like really...he writes songs with such melody..
Helter Skelter was raw and clangy, but decent none the less..

frobisher · 24-03-2007 1:05am

Hhmm, I'm not so sure about the LSD thing. I mean when you're on it it's near impossible to write! I reckon that McCartney is a bit of a natural soft melodic type writer and as moved from the counter culrue of his 60's youth he moved into that more. Although I'm no Beatles scholar!!

SolMate · 25-03-2007 3:27pm

Paul Simon, Joni Mitchell and the late and almost forgotten Clifford T Ward (Home Thoughts from Abroad...what a beautiful feat of songwriting...the whole album, not just the title track)

Gerry

rcaz · 26-03-2007 12:13pm

Wayne Coyne. He writes about life, love, death, space, animals, science-fiction, just lets his imagination go, I think, but he writes it all with meaning. If I'm sad, I stick on some Lips, it really helps me. I also like the way he sings his songs. He's a horrible singer, so everything sounds so sincere, like it's coming from anyone, not a groomed vocalist.

Of course I love Dylan and Springsteen and the usual suspects, but they don't seem to have the same effect on me as Coyne.

arghh · 30-03-2007 3:19pm

Ray Davies, Paul Simon, Hank Williams and Mick and Keith

squire89 · 31-03-2007 12:35pm

Favourite lyricist = Morrissey

Favourite guitarist/songwriter = Johnny Marr

What good luck it was they happened to write songs together

Steve_o · 25-04-2007 4:05pm

I'd have to say Bob Dylan, the man is a lyrical genius....All his songs have meaning and are not just pointless words with a tune!! Everyone can relate to at least 1 of his songs, he covers so many issues with them, he's brilliant!!

Second favourite is Tom Waits!

potty pete · 25-04-2007 4:06pm

Steve_o wrote:

I'd have to say Bob Dylan, the man is a lyrical genius....All his songs have meaning and are not just pointless words with a tune!! Everyone can relate to at least 1 of his songs, he covers so many issues with them, he's brilliant!!

Second favourite is Tom Waits!

I could go with both of those two. Difficult to say obviously. Besides the forementioned heavyweights and others like Leonard Cohen, Tori Amos and Ryan Adams, an Irish boy, Emmett Tinley is a wonderful songwriter.

potty pete · 25-04-2007 4:07pm

Oink wrote:

I used to think that Fall at your feet was the perfect pop ballad. He used 4 basic chords (that have been used and abused for so long), kept to very simple riffs, and yet the result was fantastic.

Don McLean writes the most amazing stuff as well when he's not busy writing ****e songs. The words are pure poetry, the guitar playing is amazing...

Which brings us to Jim Croce who was also halfway between genius and country crap...

I need to listen to more recent stuff, but I'm currently working my way up from the 60's, and it took me ten years to reach '79.

Fall at your feet - what a song.

potty pete · 25-04-2007 4:13pm

frobisher wrote:

Hhmm, I'm not so sure about the LSD thing. I mean when you're on it it's near impossible to write! I reckon that McCartney is a bit of a natural soft melodic type writer and as moved from the counter culrue of his 60's youth he moved into that more. Although I'm no Beatles scholar!!

Of course it is. That talk repulses me from Almighty. Any songwriter, well, decent songwriter, will say that being out of you head doesn't increase your ability to be creative. Complete rubbish. The sooner this is realised the better. This also came from another talented songwriter in Peter Doherty. He professes that he writes his best most creative stuff with a clear mind(okay, a clear mind is a bit of a stretch for him, but y'know what I mean) A complete myth.

sham69 · 25-04-2007 4:14pm

I quite like some of Chris Cornells songwriting.
Nick Drake without question.
Colin Hay ( from men at work) has some great solo stuff.
Too many to mention..

Steve_o · 26-04-2007 9:46am

sham69 wrote:

I quite like some of Chris Cornells songwriting.
Nick Drake without question.
Colin Hay ( from men at work) has some great solo stuff.
Too many to mention..

Colin Hay did a fair few songs for the scrubs soundtrack, the Song "I Don't think i'll ever get over you" is a class tune!!

Joshua Radin is also a very good songwriter!

Tar.Aldarion · 26-04-2007 9:54am

Bob Dylan.

RAIN · 27-04-2007 11:44am

Besides Dylan for me its Jeff Mangum from Neutral Milk Hotel his lyrics are unbelievable and themes he uses in his songs are WOW bioligy,religion,science,ww2.Brilliant.
The guy from the hold steady is my fav at the mo
i also love james mercer from the shins brilliant.

studio.jk · 14-05-2007 3:30pm

David Bowie (in his earlier guises - some genius song construction - played around so nicely with melody, chord structure, timing etc - great stuff - and a lot of good lyrics, though a touch of obvious pretension didn't help sometimes.) think, 5 years, Quicksand, The Bewlay Brothers, Ziggy Stardust, Station to Station.....classics.

Prince - sort of very quickly forgotten about - but what a prolific songwriter with an incredible ear for arrangement (words not good a lot of the time - still for pure musical invention - amazing)

My current favourite songwriter - Thom Yorke - Reason simply genius.

(I know the people above are all performers and not 'Songwriters' in the Burt Bacharach sense...but alot of writers who write for other people are very commercial - People liek Rick Nowells etc (actually saying that, Rick Nowells has produced some excellent tracks for a shedload of musicians.)

Anyone think the Gibbs are worth mentioning in this thread.

Someone mentioned Dolly Parton earlier - good call there.

Kate Bush, Kurt Cobain, The boys in U2 can't be ruled out!!

(Bloody hell, I just think everyone who writes songs is great!!!)

/Andy\ · 14-05-2007 3:39pm

Ryan Adams is probably my favourite of all time, I especially love that he's so goddamn prolific, and no matter what critics say, the quality of is output is uniformly high. Pete Yorn has to be up there as well musicforthemorningafter is IMO one of the best pop records of the last ten years.

lordgoat · 21-05-2007 4:40pm

The fact that Elliott Smith has not been mentioned in 3 pages is a disgrace. No one can come close to him. Notalbe mentions were. Joni Mitchell (Blue is the most sincere album i think i've heard) Dylan, Jeff Magnum, Nick Drake and of course Tom Waits.

Who is your favourite songwriter and why?

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