100 Greatest Living Songwriters

ehh, these lists are always lacking some obvious ones (s. merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, etc.). i'm just amazed at how much it's skewered to the present, and acts with a few good tunes at most (driveby truckers, jack white, beck, tweedy, ryan adams, etc.?!?!? -PLEASE!!!!) rank higher than several artists with 50-100 great tunes.

baffling, silly, and at times sacriligious, but achieving its goal of spirited discussion.

Actually, the bands you list all have more than a few good tunes. Except Jack White, of course.

Originally posted by jeffnar:
ehh, these lists are always lacking some obvious ones (s. merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, etc.). i'm just amazed at how much it's skewered to the present, and acts with a few good tunes at most (driveby truckers, jack white, beck, tweedy, ryan adams, etc.?!?!? -PLEASE!!!!) rank higher than several artists with 50-100 great tunes.

baffling, silly, and at times sacriligious, but achieving its goal of spirited discussion.

Do you think that skewering might have something to do with the list being the greatest LIVING songwriters???

Originally posted by jeffnar:
ehh, these lists are always lacking some obvious ones (s. merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, etc.). i'm just amazed at how much it's skewered to the present, and acts with a few good tunes at most (driveby truckers, jack white, beck, tweedy, ryan adams, etc.?!?!? -PLEASE!!!!) rank higher than several artists with 50-100 great tunes.

baffling, silly, and at times sacriligious, but achieving its goal of spirited discussion.

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
You should have just stopped after the first sentence. Then I would have respected your response.

I apologize, Rob. I should have refrained from publicly commenting on the possible implications that your low opinion of R.E.M.'s songwriting may have on your attention span and/or intelligence. It was unfair and unjust. I try to avoid flaming people, but R.E.M. is my "most favoritest" band and I overreacted. That's no excuse, however. I will try harder in the future.

Actually, you can write what you want, no biggie, if those were the words that first came to your head after reading what I wrote, then so be it, no big deal. We move on. And for the record, I love REM, they were one of the first cd's I burned a greatest hits for when I first figured out how to do it many years ago. I am just left in wonder sometimes of what they are trying to say, and I know I'm not the only one to have brought this up before.

They got something against bob marley and the wailers? or maybe i'm just not seeing it in the top 20. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.

Originally posted by organizedconfusion:
They got something against bob marley and the wailers? or maybe i'm just not seeing it in the top 20. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.

i don't think bob marley is among the living.

Do you think that omission might have something to do with the list being the greatest LIVING songwriters???

Originally posted by organizedconfusion:
They got something against bob marley and the wailers? or maybe i'm just not seeing it in the top 20. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.

Originally posted by organizedconfusion:
They got something against bob marley and the wailers? or maybe i'm just not seeing it in the top 20. My eyes must be playing tricks on me.

It's "living" songwriters. The Wailers tunes were mainly written by Marley or Tosh - both deceased.

No Bach?

Originally posted by nkotb:
No Bach?

Johann or 'baz?

Originally posted by nkotb:
No Bach?

Sebestian from Skidrow?

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
And for the record, I love REM,

me too!!

in fact, i get cranky if i dont have enough of it! ;)

Originally posted by Chaz Nakatestes, Breaststroking Guy:
Actually, the bands you list all have more than a few good tunes. Except Jack White, of course.

Originally posted by jeffnar:
ehh, these lists are always lacking some obvious ones (s. merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, etc.). i'm just amazed at how much it's skewered to the present, and acts with a few good tunes at most (driveby truckers, jack white, beck, tweedy, ryan adams, etc.?!?!? -PLEASE!!!!) rank higher than several artists with 50-100 great tunes.

fair enough, let's spot them all 20 GREAT songs, and give tweedy and beck a few more…stephen merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, and other notable omissions would still outrank them and replace them.

as has been said, these lists are always great discussion generators. and a list like this without at least a few '90's/00's songwriters would certainly be lame and lacking. but quality and quantity surely count, so let's at least put those guys where they belong, much further down at the end of the list. tweedy at 24? beck at 36? ryan adams at 43? c'mon, that's just plain laughable looking at the 50 folks behind them and the omissions.

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
But I guess rap isn't considered song writing.

It most certainly is not….or music for that matter.

It is a form of performance art though, so I think of it as "reverse racist ranting" or more seriously "Urban Poetry"

Have you read Paste? They're an Americana-leaning American magazine whose focus is on CURRENT music. Need I say more?

I'm sure NME's corresponding list would be much more Brit-centric, Magnet's would be more indie-centric, and Rolling Stone's version would focus much more on the past.

Originally posted by jeffnar:

Originally posted by Chaz Nakatestes, Breaststroking Guy:
Actually, the bands you list all have more than a few good tunes. Except Jack White, of course.

Originally posted by jeffnar:
ehh, these lists are always lacking some obvious ones (s. merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, etc.). i'm just amazed at how much it's skewered to the present, and acts with a few good tunes at most (driveby truckers, jack white, beck, tweedy, ryan adams, etc.?!?!? -PLEASE!!!!) rank higher than several artists with 50-100 great tunes.

fair enough, let's spot them all 20 GREAT songs, and give tweedy and beck a few more…stephen merrit, the cure, the rest of the beatles, mould, and other notable omissions would still outrank them and replace them.

as has been said, these lists are always great discussion generators. and a list like this without at least a few '90's/00's songwriters would certainly be lame and lacking. but quality and quantity surely count, so let's at least put those guys where they belong, much further down at the end of the list. tweedy at 24? beck at 36? ryan adams at 43? c'mon, that's just plain laughable looking at the 50 folks behind them and the omissions.

Originally posted by Roadbike Mankie:

Originally posted by Rob_Gee:
But I guess rap isn't considered song writing.

It most certainly is not….or music for that matter.

not a big suprise here, but you're (self-admittedly) completely ignorant on this topic, right? … try not speaking of what you don't know

Originally posted by Chaz Nakatestes, Breaststroking Guy:
Rolling Stone's version would focus much more on the past.

has anyone else noticed that nary an issue goes by without rolling stone mentioning eric clapton someway or somehow (usually in the "random notes" section)

Horrible.

Nick Cave should be a bit higher than 90. Definitely a better songwriter than Iron & Wine.

I think Tori Amos and Belle and Sebastian should've been on that list.

Originally posted by Chaz Nakatestes, Breaststroking Guy:
Have you read Paste? They're an Americana-leaning American magazine whose focus is on CURRENT music. Need I say more?

thanx, didn't know that. yes, that explains tweedy's and adam's uberstatus with these guys.