Songwriter/s
 

Who is/are the best ? Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Carole King ? Don't say that over-rated pair of scousers. Personally I think it's a toss up between Dylan and Paul Simon.

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Ray Davies (The Kinks) is often overlooked. Had he had lived I think Jeff Buckley would have been up there also.

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I can tell you who the worst songwriters of all time are....the red hot chili peppers.

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Lennon and McCartney the best.

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Did you know that many Beatles songs (particularly the later stuff) were written by either John or Paul, not both. It was due to something to do with publication why the legend Lennon/McCartney appears in the credits. Of course many songs were co-written. They also wrote songs for other people by the way - Cilla Black being one.

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See below the front cover of the album THE SONGS LENNON AND McCARTNEY GAVE AWAY, RELEASED 18th APRIL 1979.

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I dont recognise any of those faces except for Cilla Black..looks like a young Jarvis Cocker or Alan Bennet though! Some names out of interest?

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They wrote for, Billy J Krammer, Tommy Quickly, The Fourmost, Mary Hopkin, Bad Finger, Peter and Gordon, P.J Proby,

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P J Proby
I Think?

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Paul Simon is definately up there with the best. It must be something to do with my musical era, because I always thought that Paul Weller was something of a talent too... :D

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Being from the same era, I concur.

Paul Weller started out as the driving force of The Jam, writing the majority of their lyrics. He was often referred to as the 'angry young man', due to his highly politicised songs, like Standards, Going Underground, Eton Rifles and 'A' Bomb in Wardour Street.
Besides these angry side-swipes at the British establishment of the time, Weller also displayed a mellower more soulful aspect to his song writing, with songs like Fly, Ghosts (a personal favourite of mine) and English Rose amongst others. Incidentally, Weller would never agree to allow the lyrics of English Rose to be published on the album sleeve notes for ‘All Mod Cons’ because he felt that to read the words alone, without the musical arrangement was lacking something.
To read more about Paul Weller’s songwriting talents from this era go to http://www.thejam.org.uk/main.html.

As an example of how astute and how acerbic Paul Weller’s pen was, here are lyrics of the title track from the album ‘All Mod Cons’; short and sweet and straight to the point. This man did not suffer fools…..

ALL MOD CONS - Paul Weller

Seen you before, I know your sort,
You think the world awaits your every breath

You'll be my friend, or so you say
You'll help me out when the time comes

And all the time we're getting rich,
You hang around to help me out

But when we're skint, Oh God Forbid!
You drop us like hot bricks

Artistic Freedom. Do what you want.
But just make sure that the money ain't gone

I'll tell you what, I got you sussed
You'll waste my time, when my time comes.

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“If a picture paints a thousand words…” went the lyric to a song.
But how many words does it take to paint a picture? Surely this is the mark of a good songwriter. The ability to create an image in the mind of the audience or listener is what sets apart a merely good songwriter from a great one. I propose to you that Paddy McAloon of Prefab Sprout is a great lyricist.
Take the song ‘Cars and Girls’, with the lines:

“Little boy, got a hot-rod,
Thinks it makes him some kind of new God….”

This for me paints a picture of every spotty little Herbet seventeen year old who ever passed their driving test and jumped behind the wheel of a Vauxhall Nova SR.

In the song ‘The King of Rock& Roll’, there is the lyric:

“All my lazy teenage boasts, are now high precision ghosts,
And they’re coming round the track to haunt me.”

This probably rings true for everyone. But would we say it so subtly?

Paddy McAloon, the master of the metaphor.

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Paul McCartney a songwriter? This is the man who hummed a tune to someone who could read music, asked him to write the music and claimed to have composed a symphony. Another of his great compositions "The Frogs Chorus" --- a classic if ever there were one.

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McCartney's 'symphony' was indeed cringeworthy...I do believe it was called Standing Stone..a bit of an ego massage I think. I dont think you can seriously call his songwriting credentials into question though.....surely?

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MaCartney is a musical illiterate who can neither read nor write music....he might have the ability to hum a few tunes or strike a few chords on his piano or guitar...but what happens then? Someone writes it down for him. Well, that talent has made him half a billion......I'm just wondering how I can make the same dosh, because the tunes I hum after visiting various local hostelries are far better than his stuff.