Greatest Songwriter of all time

Jagger /  Richards.  I’m a HUGE Stones fan. What else can I say 🤷‍♂️

Ludwig Van Beethoven

Gorden Lightfoot who passed recently deserves a mention, even if he was just a Canadian.🏆

Lennon & McCartney

Fagan Becker

Paul Simon 

Bob Dylan

Neil Young

Jackson Browne

John Mellencamp

Carole King

 

Paul Williams

Leon Russell

Carol King

1) Tool

2) Radiohead

3) Pink Floyd

4) Tom Petty

5) Peter Gabriel

6) Nirvana

7) Royksopp

8) Agnes Obel

9) Mumford & Sons

10) Nine Inch Nail

Though I may play with the order, check out my blog if you want to see descriptions and more.

I also have a lesser known audiophile list for people looking to discover more music.

I'd have to say Antônio Carlos Jobim, George Gershwin,and Lennon and McCartney are up there

Townes Van Zandt, Patty Griffith and Tom Waits sure are good

 

 

The world is much more than your settlement ... Time - much longer than you live ...

Are you sure you know all the music in the world ???

Many people never went beyond their state at all and only know what the TV tells them ... But this does not prevent them from peremptorly compiling a list ))) 

An excellent nomination @roxy54! Difford and Tillbrooks albums as members of Squeeze are mighty fine, amongst the best of the 2nd British Invasion (1977 and into the 80’s), as are their duo albums. In 1982 I saw Squeeze live in London, and they were also a good live band.

Another excellent UK Power Pop songwriter is the late John Wicks, of The Records. I had the pleasure of playing some live shows with John after he moved to L.A. in the 90’s. A very sweet (and funny!) guy.

I haven't kept up with this thread. Has Marshall Crenshaw's name been invoked?

The team of Chris Difford and Glenn Tillbrook are surely on my list.

Paul Simon has to be on that list.

There's many great ones, but ones that belong in the "best" conversation for songwriters (which implies popular music with lyrics)

Joni Mitchell (no one else in her league that can compete solo in musicianship, lyrics and music),  Bob Dylan (not one of my faves but belongs in the conversation), Lennon/McCartney, Neil Young (not the greatest, but tied for favorite) George Gershwin.

Kris Kristoferson, Buddy Holly

oy

. . . and Suzanne Vega. . . .

If I haven't done so already, I am putting Lucinda Williams on the list.

Ian Kilmister. otherwise known as Lemmy !

Impressive lists. I agree: Leonard Cohen, no one else even close. But I’m shocked no one has mentioned Mary Chaplin Carpenter. 

@backwash  , unfortunately I am not too familiar with Lyle Lovett's work, but

You can't talk about song writes without Steve Earle or Lyle Lovitt

I am in total agreement with you as related to Steve Earle's song writing--so much so that I previously felt compelled to talk about him on this thread.

I have a great deal of respect for Jackson Browne's writing creativity, and I've always thought that Michael Timmins wrote some interesting lyrics. 

You can't talk about song writes without Steve Earle or Lyle Lovitt

Jim Croce

Joni Mitchell

Greg Brown

Roger Waters

@acefactory  ,  it was "Girl In The War" that got me paying attention to him.

\I fully agree - Josh Ritter is an outstanding wordsmith!

 

 

+1 @ immatthewj - I fully agree - Josh Ritter is an outstanding wordsmith!

I always thought John Prine did some pretty good song writing, and I like Josh Ritter's lyrics a lot. 

Jack White.

Muddy Water.

BB King.

John Lee Hooker

Ray Charles.

Johnny Lydon 

Johnny Cash

Joe Strummer

Bob Marley 

Toots Hibbert. 
Robert Fripp

Willy Nelson

 

 

Three best of all time is a pretty high bar, but I certainly appreciate the lyrics by Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen,  Steve Earle.  But that leaves so many out, such as Townes Van Zandt & so may more that if I thought about it might be in my top three.

Gene Simmons

Tiny Tim

Diane Warren

 

MIKE DROP

 

"In fact occassionally one tune would be so good he'd use on about 6 or 7 different songs....."

 

That's funny. I've heard it said that every band just writes the same 7 songs over and over. I think that might be true.

Dylan and Tom Waits.

 

I also like Andy Partridge of XTC.

Van Morrison 

Joni Mitchell
Difford and Tillbrook
Bryan Ferry
Lots of others...Let me think...

Different categories but let me second:

Leonard Cohen
Warren Zevon

Billy Joel and if no one mentioned them

Steve Winwood
Cat Stevens

Mickey Katz.

Lots and lots of great nominees already mentioned, most of my favorites. To which I will add Holland/Dozier/Holland and Boudleaux & Felice Bryant.

Caveat; I seem to prefer music without lyrics. The names that immediately jumped to mind, and interestingly (maybe not?) in this order:
Tom Waits
Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen
and maybe Jackson Browne
oh, John Fogerty could sure lay down a hook
Mind you, I don’t listen to much of the above. Well, maybe Waits and CCR.

John Hiatt.

Laura Nyro-maybe not the greatest, but a true original & one that helped considerably in widening the arena for women in music. I think her lyrics strike this uneasy balance between music and poetry

How about,

Pete Townsend
Paul Simon
Elton John & Bernie Taupin
Rogers and Hammerstein
John Philip Sousa
Burt Bacharach and Hal David
Sting
Lennon and McCartney
Irving Berlin
Glen Miller
Benny Goodman
Lou Reed
Paul Anka
Prince: Aka Unpronouncable Glyph guy with large head

John Lennon, Cat Stevens, Ian Anderson

1. Billy Joe
2. George Harrison
3. Ira Gershwin

How can there be more than one "greatest?" If the question is 3 greatest, or 5 greatest, then lists are OK.

The Greatest: Dylan
Runners Up: Richard Thompson, Nick Cave, Iris DeMent

king David
and Leonard Cohen, and Bialik

Smokey Robinson
Becker and Fagan
Jesse Winchester
Tom Paxton
Donovan
John Prine
Gil Scott Heron
McGarrigle Sisters
Stan Rogers

Some others for your consideration.

This is an impossible question!
Who is the most beautiful woman ever?
' depends what day you ask me.
But I will put forth a few names that I believe that by any objective evaluation can not be denied. One of the primary factors I consider essential to be on my list is the songwriters influence on other songwriters and their continuing influence on newer, younger generations of songwriters.

The Gershwin brothers - A great organic blend of lyric and music.
Hank Williams - Heart on his sleeve. Great songs to cry in your beer to. Heartache incarnate.
Bob Dylan - The Picasso of songwriters. How many "periods" has he gone through? Songs about everything in the human experience...and beyond.
Bob Marley - Voice of the voiceless.
Puccini - Soars and pulls the heart strings. Beautiful drama.
Cole Porter - Elegant, smart
Antonio Carlos Jobin - Smooth, sexy, beautiful
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On - An inner-city symphony of 1971 America. Young man back from the war. Strung-out. People,the earth abused.
The songwriter of the love song you hear on your car radio Saturday night when your crusing with your girl by your side. And that song is saying everything that is inside you.

No mention of David Bowie? He has been one of the biggest influences on rock/pop of the last 30 yrs. And XTC, the greatest underrated act of recent memory.

BUT, nothing has ever touched my soul like a Mozart aria. God sang into this man's ear as he wrote down the notes.

maybe not the greatest but deserves to be mentioned- Paul Simon

Andy Partridge/Colin Moulding (XTC)

I have looked through this thread and can't find Billy Joel's name...not even once. I find that weird. I know these things are driven as much by personal taste as anything but you'd think once? Well, now it has. I don't know if I would put him in MY top 3 but he is certainly competitive with many of the names in this thread.

anywho...

Beatles music/lyrics/infulence/melody/classics...who could claim more in our lifetime in popular music? How many top 10 hits and classic memorable tunes...too many to number.
Dylan, genius but not popular like Beatles or Elton or Elvis etc. but obviously the musical community thinks he is the beat all to end all
Springsteen -energy/emotion/the story/rock/song

That isn't enough because the creativity of musicians and their unique personalities can't be captured in a one two three...but it is fun thinking about it.

happy listening
cd

Redwood . . .
Your criteria points to Paul McCartney as much as anyone, doesn't it? Paul was definitely good, but most of his post-Beatles stuff was a bit too bubble-gumish for me.

This brings up another interesting topic. What happens to some songwriters? Do they wake up one day and discover they have lost their creativity? Right now, McCartney (the song writer with more #1 hits than any) couldn't write a good song if his life depended on it and hasn't for the last 20+ years. There are others: Elton John, Dan Fogelberg, etc, etc .

On the other side of the coin, Brian Wilson's, Christopher Cross's, last albums were, in my opinion, their best.

To be the greatest songwriter of all time, one must be able meet the highest ranking for the following criteria:
1. Write songs with words and melodies that are popular, easily recognizable, and easily sung by masses.
2. Write songs that influence other songwriters or
create a whole new trend in music.
3. Write songs that have a strong influence on society.
4. Write songs that become classics (songs that remain popular for decades or centuries).

While most of the nominations so far are popular, only a handful have met the above criteria. But the question originally proposed was who was the greatest songwriter of all time. OK, OK, let's narrow it to the past century. The clear cut winner in my opinion is George M. Cohan. What other songwriter has received the U.S. Congressional Medal Of Honor for writing songs that positively influenced so many people during both world wars and the depression?