just read his lyrics. His 21st century stuff is prophetic, especially "Wrecking Ball."

Mood.

...

You are leaving out Pete Seeger and Woody Guthrie

And the verse the pigs censored from your grade school days...

As I went walking along that highway
I saw a sign that said no trespassing
but on the other side
it didn't say nothing
that's how it was made for you and me...

https://www.song-list.net/woodyguthrie/songs

https://folkways.si.edu/woody-guthrie/ballads-of-sacco-and-vanzetti/american-folk-struggle-protest/music/album/smithsonian

etc. ad infinitum

This far along, not far really, but far enough that I cannot imagine no votes for the person who coined the phrase, "I was running like a white-assed deer" in one of their fantastic songs.

It must be just me looking out my window at 16 brown assed longhorns.

In fact, Dylan asked Hunter if he could "steal" a song written by Hunter.

I hold them both on the same level.

Great minds think alike.

My personal favorite was John Prine. He was able to trigger so many emotions, from laughter to tears, often all in a single song.

And the constantly sat on Warren Zevon.

He wrote over 800 songs with clever melodies and equally clever lyrics.

Selecting a "best" is a pretty impossible task.

Agreed on both George Gershwin and Richard Rodgers. George Gershwin died far too young.

You may not like the genre, but just read his lyrics and you'll understand.

Though I’m a classic rocker, I deeply appreciate the genre.

Technically Jim Morrison was a poet. However, he fronted a rock band that broke barriers using his poems as lyrics.



Stoned Immaculate

But, I'd have to add David Bowie to the conversation.

a long career supported and collaborated with many musicians and his influence was felt to this day

He wrote about peace, love, compassion, the environment and bringing people together. Still miss him.

to my way of thinking to be profound for these times. OK 21ST century...

His name is Jake Robertson. He has been writing and performing in a near dozen Australian bands
since 2011. His latest project is a DYI named Alien Nosejob with some diverse but brilliant albums.

Tikki

I'm a big fan.

Laura Nyro

Just one.

Dicky Betts, Jim Morrison, Tom Petty, Neil Young

Exhibit A: The Last Resort

She came from Providence
One in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang
Heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams
Like a refugee
Just as her father came across the sea
She heard about a place
People were smilin'
They spoke about the red man's way
And how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere
To the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand
Or a place to hide
Down in the crowded bars
Out for a good time
Can't wait to tell you all
What it's like up there
And they called it paradise
I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low
While the town got high
Then the chilly winds blew down
Across the desert
Through the canyons of the coast
To the Malibu
Where the pretty people play
Hungry for power
To light their neon way
Give them things to do
Some rich men came and raped the land
Nobody caught 'em
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes
And Jesus people bought 'em
And they called it paradise
The place to be
They watched the hazy sun
Sinking in the sea
You can leave it all behind
Sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did
So many years ago
They even brought a neon sign
"Jesus is coming"
Brought the white man's burden down
Brought the white man's reign
Who will provide the grand design?
What is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier
We have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs
And justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny
And in the name of God
And you can see them there
On Sunday morning
Stand up and sing about
What it's like up there
They call it paradise
I don't know why
You call someplace paradise
Kiss it goodbye


"The Last Resort" tells "the story of a nation's self-destruction and physical decay.......

Andrew Lloyd Webber was one of many.

It’s not really a “song” without the lyric.

Last edited Sat Mar 22, 2025, 04:27 PM - Edit history (2)

Chuck Berry
Johnny Cash
Elvis Costello
Ray Davies
Neil Diamond
John Fogerty
Gamble & Huff
Marvin Gaye
Buddy Holly
Michael Jackson
Mick Jagger/Keith Richards
Billy Joel
Elton John/Bernie Taupin
Curtis Mayfield
Van Morrison
Randy Newman
Dolly Parton
Lou Reed
Smokey Robinson
Joe Strummer & Mick Jones
James Taylor
Pete Townshend
Tom Waits
Brian Wilson
Stevie Wonder

Van Morrison and James Taylor for sure.

Neal Peart.

Add them. There is no ONE best songwriter.

Wolf

if you haven't listened to his latest -- it's good!

I have listened to it hundreds of time.

If I'm awake Mark Knopfler or Dire Straits are playing on my TV.

Magical, musical, genius.

He writes the lyrics, he writes the music, he composes the music, he sings, and plays lead guitar.

I am in awe of his sublime talents.

“Me and Bobby McGee,” “Help Me Make It Through The Night” and “Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down,”
And many more

Joni Mitchell is the most original and unique.

Carole King music is the most beautiful.

Freddie Mercury had the most amazing voice.

Well, they are all good, but for me its Joni and Paul.

I am still hoping McCartney and Dylan get together and make some music.

appreciate the perfectness of this list. I would have so much trouble picking between Dylan, Paul Simon, John Lennon. Bruce Springsteen--I went through a period where his work was so important to me that honestly I think it might hinder my ability to appraise him objectively. Joni Mitchell has written some masterpieces.

A few names I might put on the list if I were making it:

Elvis Costello
Billy Corgan
Kurt Cobain (with some equivocations)
Roger Waters/David Gilmour

Just gazing at the OP's list fills me with appreciation, though.

Sting is way up there for me. Fragile is still one of those songs that crushes me every time.

And as a real outside the box nomination I would add Lyn Manuel Miranda. I realize that musicals are a parallel art form but almost all of the great musicals are written by partners with a lyricist and composer. For Miranda to pull both duties (and perform) on one of the most beloved and complex musical pieces deserves recognition.

But Bob Dylan is probably the best songwriter of the 20th century just for penning All Along the Watchtower.

Harold Arlen
Irving Berlin
Leonard Bernstein
Miles Davis
Duke Ellington
Benny Goodman
Oscar Hammerstein
Jerome Kern
Henry Mancini
Glenn Miller
Stephen Sondheim
John Williams

Versatile, Unique, Creative, Accomplished Producer…..

'Acapella' is still one of my favorite albums.

Now I’m into Healing and Nearly Human

A haunting existential tune embedded in my soul.

Also Erroll Garner, jazz pianist and composer for "Play Misty for Me".

Cole Porter
Leonard Bernstein
Wow, did they ever pen boatloads of fabulous music!
And… George Gershwin, if only for Rhapsody in Blue, probably my favorite song ever.

You seem to be focused on the latter half of the 20th Century. Sooooo many great songwriter from Tin Pan Alley and Broadway, not to mention guys like Burt Bacharach/Hal David. Nobody beats Cole Porter. How about Felice and Boudleaux Bryant, Becker and Fagen, James Taylor, Holland-Dozier-Holland, Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman, Willie Nelson, Garcia /Hunter, Jerome Kern, Duke Ellington/Billy Strayhorn, Irving Berlin, Rodgers/Hammerstein, Stephen Sondheim, Hank Williams, Robert Johnson. Just to name a few.

Pardon me for going on about this, but best of’s kinda rub me the wrong way sometimes.

1)Willie Nelson
2)Hank Williams, Sr.
3)Willie Dixon
4)Woody Guthrie
5)Bob Wills

And I'm a huge fan. Some of his stuff is incredibly philosophical.

Both great musicians in my book!

Today I’d say Cole Porter or Bernie Taupin.

Ask me again tomorrow and it’ll be somebody else.

...everybody else.

I did a lot of early folk blues everything from Furry Lewis to Josh White, and some reworked covers from Bonnie Raitt and others.

As a guitarist, Joni Mitchell was the most intricate, those wonderful offbeat open tunings, expanded my horizons a lot.

Her songs were largely about personal relationships, unhappy relationships, and at that time in my life, before I met and fell in love with my wife, it fit.

I also did a version of "Ode to Billy Joe" of which I was very proud, but it was in a way inspired by Joni Mitchell because I played it in a minor open tuning.

I did some offbeat Jimi Hendrix too, again in open tunings, Up from the Skies and The Wind Cries Mary.

It's sort of a shame I think - I regret I gave up playing about five or ten years ago.