who is your favorite songwriter?

who speaks directly to your heart or seems to say what you feel but couldn't say so well yourself?

Both in words and guitar riffs

Good stuff, all round.

John Lennon's pretty good, too.

I like Kris Kristofferson's early stuff, too.

Dylan! Proper combo of lyrics and Music!:thumbsup:

truly remarkable couple of years

For the Good Times
Lovin' Her Was Easier
Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down
Help Me Make It Through the Night
Me and Bobby McGee

and more

all in a couple of years. Damn.

do you still buy his records or go to his shows?

However,
I really didn't appreciate his music until I was up in college.

He hasn't been to town where I could go see him, but I probably would.

see him if you ever get the chance.

I've been a fan since the Apple album and I've appreciated all his various phases, but October Road totally knocked me out.

interesting vector through those three.

n/t

Bill Callahan (smog)

But if you forced me at gunpoint I'd probably tell you Will Oldham

but thanks for owning up

After him, I guess I would go with Brian Wilson at his peak.

And if there hadn't been Woody, there might not have been Dylan, so I guess I need to modify my earlier comment.

Ramblin' Jack--without his cowboy hat. Not that he was much of a songwriter, but Woody was in bad shape by the time Bob made it to Greenwitch Village. Jack showed him the ropes.

Dar Williams

I like their insight to how (some) women see the world

but since I'm a guy, I should pick a guy, so I'll add Steve Earle

no doubt.

Emmylou Harris, Neil Diamond.

Tom T Hall
Don Schlitz
Roger Miller


James Taylor
Randy Newman
Tom Waits


I could go on all night.

and that's pretty much it, as far as lyrical genius goes. Can't think of any others as consistently brilliant as those four.

the world needs more of Tom Waits, and those other guys, too

n/t

"Just the Way You Look Tonight"

Originally made famous by: Fred Astaire
Written by: Jerome Kern (J. David K.)
From the Film: Swing Time 1936 (M)

Lyrics:
Some day, when I'm awfully low
When the world is cold
I will feel a glow just thinking of you
And the way you look tonight

Yes, you're lovely, with your smile so warm
And your cheeks so soft
There is nothing for me but to love you
And the way you look tonight

With each word your tenderness grows
Tearin' my fear apart
And that laugh..wrinkles your nose
Touches my foolish heart

Lovely ... Never, never change
Keep that breathless charm
Won't you please arrange it ? 'cause I love you
Just the way you look tonight

They were hiding behind hay bales,
They were planting in the full moon
They had given all they had for something new
But the light of day was on them,
They could see the thrashers coming
And the water shone like diamonds in the dew.
And I was just getting up, hit the road before it's light
Trying to catch an hour on the sun
When I saw those thrashers rolling by,
Looking more than two lanes wide
I was feelin' like my day had just begun.
Where the eagle glides ascending
There's an ancient river bending
Down the timeless gorge of changes
Where sleeplessness awaits
I searched out my companions,
Who were lost in crystal canyons
When the aimless blade of science
Slashed the pearly gates.
It was then I knew I'd had enough,
Burned my credit card for fuel
Headed out to where the pavement turns to sand
With a one-way ticket to the land of truth
And my suitcase in my hand
How I lost my friends I still don't understand.
They had the best selection,
They were poisoned with protection
There was nothing that they needed,
Nothing left to find
They were lost in rock formations
Or became park bench mutations
On the sidewalks and in the stations
They were waiting, waiting.
So I got bored and left them there,
They were just deadweight to me
Better down the road without that load
Brings back the time when I was eight or nine
I was watchin' my mama's T.V.,
It was that great Grand Canyon rescue episode.
Where the vulture glides descending
On an asphalt highway bending
Thru libraries and museums, galaxies and stars
Down the windy halls of friendship
To the rose clipped by the bullwhip
The motel of lost companions
Waits with heated pool and bar.
But me I'm not stopping there,
Got my own row left to hoe
Just another line in the field of time
When the thrashers comes, I'll be stuck in the sun
Like the dinosaurs in shrines
But I'll know the time has come
To give what's mine.

"Thrasher", greatest song ever.

Close seconds, Tom Waits, Nick Cave

I wish I lived in Joni Mitchell's world, or maybe Cole Porter's, but apparently I live in Thompson's.

Also a guy you probably never heard of named Peter Blegvad.

A Man Alone is my theme song.

see sig line
on Edit: where is my sig line??

Should be: Come and stand beside us, we can find a better way.
Rhymes & Reasons - John Denver

(sick riddle alert)

Joni Mitchell
Nick Drake
Van Morrison
Lucinda Williams

"Townes Van Zandt is the greatest fucking songwriter on earth and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say it to his face." --Steve Earle

Back in 1966 or 1967, a friend took me to Sand Mountain Coffee House to see Jerry Jeff Walker. He wasn't there but a very young Townes was. He sang a new song--his first "serious" one--called "Waitin' Round to Die."

Also: Bob Dylan, Neil Young, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen, Steve Earle, Richard Thompson, Gordon Lightfoot, John Hiatt, etc. (I could go on.)

Less known: Walter Hyatt (from Uncle Walt's Band). Check out Lyle Lovett's Step Inside This House for his tribute to the (mostly) Texan songwriters who inspired him. Walter's songs are featured, along with Townes's & many others who never achieved fame. However, all of them (or their survivors) benefited from the royalties.

Oh, and the guys in the Red Clay Ramblers, the best band I never heard.

a friend of mine worked with him

I think you're the only one to mention John Hiatt.

The Yard Went On Forever
MacArthur Park
By The Time I Get to Phoenix
etc.

His book, Tunesmith, is extraordinary.

Arthur Lee
FZ
Roky Erickson
Bob Marley/Peter Tosh

hes right on.

...based upon what they've done in the past decade?

Franklin Bruno and Karl Hendricks.

Although Jon Langford and Ray Davies and a lot of others are in the mix.

Need I say more?

Shawn Colvin, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell

amazing and versatile songwriter