Who's written the best songs?

TeleMaster

bacchanalian said:

Lots of my favourites already mentioned.
Have not seen the mighty Taylor Swift or James Taylor mentioned.

I don't know enough about rap to be able to judge but would like to hear what people think of Jay Z, NWA, Snoop Dogg etc.

Jay Z, Snoop aren't close to the likes of Kendrick, Killer Mike, MF Doom, Kool Keith, Nas. J5 etc. Eminem is good but he hasn't released anything exceptional in years although Music To MurderBy was okay. 

They write some decent pop songs but there's no way you can compare Jay Z as a rapper to someone like MF Doom. World's apart. 

Doctor Octagon's Dr. Octagonecologyst is in my opinion one of the greatest albums of all time

Tannin

prowla said:

Tannin said:

But the correct answer is still Bob Dylan. 

I would question that; Bob Dylan wrote decent prose for his time, but to call his warbling "songs" is a stretch.

His best song is Mr. Tabourine Man, which is hardly the height of the art.

Nonsense. The question is about the best SONGWRITER. Not the best SINGER. And - as any number of people from a dozen different genres have demonstrated - Dylan songs have plenty of melody. 

PS: Mr Tambourine Man is no better than OK. Many people - not least Dylan himself - have written far superior things.

mo6020

Not listed yet as far as I can tell:

PJ Harvey
Led Zep

thecolourbox

The original question was who has written the best songs, not who is the best songwriter, and not who has the most consistently good songs over a long period of time. All very different things

Tannin

No, the same things. The best songs are written by the best songwriter. That is true by definition. And obviously the best songwriter writes the best songs - if his or her songs aren't the best ones, then he or she is not the best songwriter. It's hardly rocket science.

Consistency vs isolated brilliance, yes, that is another question.

steveh

guitarjack66 said:

mooncat said:

lemmy kilmister.

Are there any other lyrics other than 'Ace of Spades?' lol.

I always thought "killed by death" had a chance of taking the nobel prize for literature from Dylan.

Kurtis

I think for rock music it's mick and Keith.

Their best is unbeatable, and they've made more than most.

I definitely don't like all the stones stuff but some of their songs are just on another level. 

NickB

Kurtis said:

I think for rock music it's mick and Keith.

Their best is unbeatable, and they've made more than most.

I definitely don't like all the stones stuff but some of their songs are just on another level. 

This with bells on. I’m going to stick my neck out and suggest that their singles from the mid to late sixties is up there with the Beatles. Under My Thumb, Paint it Black, She’s a Rainbow, Lady Jane, Mother’s Little Helper, Out of Time. Great songwriting imho. 

prowla

Tannin said:

prowla said:

Tannin said:

But the correct answer is still Bob Dylan. 

I would question that; Bob Dylan wrote decent prose for his time, but to call his warbling "songs" is a stretch.

His best song is Mr. Tabourine Man, which is hardly the height of the art.

Nonsense. The question is about the best SONGWRITER. Not the best SINGER. And - as any number of people from a dozen different genres have demonstrated - Dylan songs have plenty of melody. 

PS: Mr Tambourine Man is no better than OK. Many people - not least Dylan himself - have written far superior things.

A song isn't a song until someone sings it.

As pointed out, the interpretation of the song is what takes it from mediocre to great (eg. "Without You" Badfinger->Nilsson).

Good to see you recognise that his best song isn't that good, though.

Kurtis said:

I think for rock music it's mick and Keith.

Their best is unbeatable, and they've made more than most.

I definitely don't like all the stones stuff but some of their songs are just on another level. 

They had a leg-up from Lennon & McCartney.

MartinBush

Martin Newell

thecolourbox

thecolourbox said:

The original question was who has written the best songs, not who is the best songwriter, and not who has the most consistently good songs over a long period of time. All very different things

Tannin said:

No, the same things. The best songs are written by the best songwriter. That is true by definition. And obviously the best songwriter writes the best songs - if his or her songs aren't the best ones, then he or she is not the best songwriter. It's hardly rocket science.

Consistency vs isolated brilliance, yes, that is another question.

I don't agree at all I'm afraid, there's not an inherent link as far as I'm concerned - by your basic definition there, the best songwriters would never have written a bad song (which we know not to be true) and the less than great songwriters would never have written a brilliant song (which we also know not to be true). There are loads of brilliant skilled songwriters who can craft anything from anything, can write good quality tunes and harmony that really are beautifully done and with real masterful writing and arranging - but if they don't quite get that "hit" for want of a better word (or perhaps, they don't seek the validation of commercial acceptance) by your definition they could never be considered good songwriters? 

Likewise how many brilliant songs have there been, only to never have heard from the artist ever again? 

Hence questions like "who has written the best songs" don't need to have the same answers as "who are the best songwriters" in a more general wide sense of the craft

Offset

Difford & Tilbrook

Paul Simon

Carole King

Neil Young

...all completely subjective, of course :-)

Musicwolf

How about the Hill sisters?  One octave, 5 words and the most recognised song in the English language.

Not a bad mornings work.

robgilmo

The very bestest songs ever written in my view were my daughters when she was very young, usually about poo and farts , she used to sing them during car trips and it was hard not to sing along, good times. I would trade every song i've ever heard just for one more verse of poo songs. 

guitarjack66

thecolourbox said:

thecolourbox said:

The original question was who has written the best songs, not who is the best songwriter, and not who has the most consistently good songs over a long period of time. All very different things

Tannin said:

No, the same things. The best songs are written by the best songwriter. That is true by definition. And obviously the best songwriter writes the best songs - if his or her songs aren't the best ones, then he or she is not the best songwriter. It's hardly rocket science.

Consistency vs isolated brilliance, yes, that is another question.

I don't agree at all I'm afraid, there's not an inherent link as far as I'm concerned - by your basic definition there, the best songwriters would never have written a bad song (which we know not to be true) and the less than great songwriters would never have written a brilliant song (which we also know not to be true). There are loads of brilliant skilled songwriters who can craft anything from anything, can write good quality tunes and harmony that really are beautifully done and with real masterful writing and arranging - but if they don't quite get that "hit" for want of a better word (or perhaps, they don't seek the validation of commercial acceptance) by your definition they could never be considered good songwriters? 

Likewise how many brilliant songs have there been, only to never have heard from the artist ever again? 

Hence questions like "who has written the best songs" don't need to have the same answers as "who are the best songwriters" in a more general wide sense of the craft

How would we know they were 'the best' if we didn't hear their songs due to lack of commercial acceptance? Eg, the red spotted warbler could have a bird call that was like 'An Angel dancing through your brain' but if it only lived and bred in a 5 square mile habitat in remote Patagonia then it's doubtful most of the population would ever know of it. It couldn't be considered 'the best' without that acceptance. 

thecolourbox

I dunno, the internet or something maybe.

prowla

thecolourbox said:

thecolourbox said:

The original question was who has written the best songs, not who is the best songwriter, and not who has the most consistently good songs over a long period of time. All very different things

Tannin said:

No, the same things. The best songs are written by the best songwriter. That is true by definition. And obviously the best songwriter writes the best songs - if his or her songs aren't the best ones, then he or she is not the best songwriter. It's hardly rocket science.

Consistency vs isolated brilliance, yes, that is another question.

I don't agree at all I'm afraid, there's not an inherent link as far as I'm concerned - by your basic definition there, the best songwriters would never have written a bad song (which we know not to be true) and the less than great songwriters would never have written a brilliant song (which we also know not to be true). There are loads of brilliant skilled songwriters who can craft anything from anything, can write good quality tunes and harmony that really are beautifully done and with real masterful writing and arranging - but if they don't quite get that "hit" for want of a better word (or perhaps, they don't seek the validation of commercial acceptance) by your definition they could never be considered good songwriters? 

Likewise how many brilliant songs have there been, only to never have heard from the artist ever again? 

Hence questions like "who has written the best songs" don't need to have the same answers as "who are the best songwriters" in a more general wide sense of the craft

Aye; perhaps rephrasing the question as: What are the best songs and who wrote them?

Litterick

Martin Phillipps
Scott Miller

bluecat

Another three have come to mind, Carole King, Joni Mitchell and Willie Nelson.
There are lots and lots of good song writers out there that would probably come into my top twenty , it is like a special gift, not everyone can do it.

Matt_McG

TeleMaster said:

Doctor Octagon's Dr. Octagonecologyst is in my opinion one of the greatest albums of all time

Yes, I listened to that obsessively for years. The production from Dan the Automator, and the songs that aren't actually Kool Keith (but Sir Menelik) are great, too.