Greatest Songwriter of all time

Jeff,
Good post I might add that 3 of the guys you mention whom I love also(Springsteen,Costello and Knopfler) are so influenced by Dylan it is incredible.:-)
I'm also not sure it's the best way to split the genre but I follow your example.....and yes it's virtually impossible to leave such greats out as Hendrix,The Dooors,Paul Simon,The Smiths,on and on the list would go.....

Best lyrics

Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen
Mark Eitzel

Best Music
Led Zeppelin
Pink Floyd
Bob Dylan

Of course the list is long but Jeff's original question was three.... no mention so far of Pete Townshend,Bob Marley,Peter Gabriel,Kate Bush,Nick Drake,Ray Davies,Don Henley,Elton John,Woody Guthrie,Robert Johnson and good grief Stevie Wonder

I'm in trouble I don't find Rufus Wainwright depressing at all.................................

Onhwy61-I cannot believe you are serious with that Dylan/tune argument but there's probably been enough Dylan discussion recently...the thread has deviated slightly we were given limited boundaries but on tunes how about Brian Wilson,Paddy McAloon (Prefab Sprout),Jimmy Webb, latter Fleetwood Mac (Nicks/C.McVie/Buckingham),Carole King etc..the list is nearly endless and on more obscure levels Nick Drake,Scott Walker,Todd Rundgren,Suzanne Vega,Rickie Lee Jones......so many......
Oh stuff it,,,Back to Dylan and tunes..Knockin'On Heaven's Door,Mr Tambourine Man,Every Grain Of Sand,Sugar Baby,Jokerman,One More Cup Of Coffee,Lay Lady Lay surely the greatest song ever written about a chicken,can't think of a single Dylan song without a tune.
In fact occassionally one tune would be so good he'd use on about 6 or 7 different songs.....