Who's written the best songs part 2
I think I should really have thought about this more and limited the scope of best songs so I'll reprise and rephrase and version 2 the original thread.
Who wrote the best songs based on their personal life experience and not primarily for commercial acceptance of being a toe-tapping experience?
For me, that's still Neil Young. Stuff on his oft referred to as the trilogy of doom albums. Time Fades Away, On the Beach and Tonight's the Night. Bleak and brilliant albums from a dark period of his life. He used to get pissed or stoned and go in the studio late at night and record them. You can tell in the albums that he was under the influence of something or other because of his slurred singing and that's what makes those songs brilliant albeit for all the wrong reasons. Subject matter might not make them the most melodic songs made but great songs given the context and songs that make you think beyond the music. In the main drunken sessions are unscripted masterpieces. When sober he was equally brilliant.
He's an awful singer but he gets away with it because of his general awesomeness and genius. Good enough to get a name check by Lynyrd Skynyrd. He was anti-establishment but kept his moral integrity and never wavered.
In my opinion they broke the mould when they made Neil Young. I suspect others feel the same.
Ian
Lowering my
expectations has succeeded beyond my wildest dreams.
Comments
His high pitched voice has an ethereal and haunting quality to me that only enhances his music.
i just got my turntable working (after three years absence) and Everybody Knows has been on for the last couple of days. Amazing songs, guitar and voice.
Note - I bought my Rat back in 1989 cos that’s what Neil Young was using !
Well, I hope Neil Young will remember
A Southern man don't need him around, anyhow”
Incidentally,I am a recent listener to Neil Young as I put him off listening to for years. But when taking up the guitar 4 or 5 years ago he became a name you couldn't escape and he now features on my regular listening list. I can also regularly destroy his songs when practicing guitar too! Strangely his politics are not that radical if using European Liberalism as a reference but upsetting corporate North America is regarded almost as treason. His lyrics are often no more radical than say Bruce Springsteen but I dare say not many US listeners to Springsteen get past the 'USA' parts and ignore the criticism of it's home and foreign policy in a few of the other lyrics. Southern Man is a great song when used 'of it's time' and it's often denigration when spoken about in reference to that,sometimes annoying, Sweet Home Alabama misses it's point completely.
Strongly recommend his biography, 'Shakey', for an insane level of detail
Landing On Water is probably his worst album, but otherwise I agree. I don't actually think he's had a 'good period' and a 'bad period' at any time, other than perhaps the run of the first few albums being great - his output has always been a bit variable, he's always been willing to experiment a bit, and some of his later work is as good as anything he's ever written.
"Take these three items, some WD-40, a vise grip, and a roll of duct tape. Any man worth his salt can fix almost any problem with this stuff alone." - Walt Kowalski
"Only two things are infinite - the universe, and human stupidity. And I'm not sure about the universe." - Albert Einstein
Grace Potter and Joe Satriani cover Cortez the Killer (youtube.com)
Full of old cars with bullet holes in the mirrors
He tried to do his best, but he could not…
https://youtu.be/iPoIRVSLJ2o?si=D_zWFH0EfM3gvwLi
Has anyone listened to his newer stuff?