100 Greatest Living Songwriters

Loretta Lynn?  WTF?  It must be because of the Jack White Experience.
 
 Hey that's a good name for a band: The Jack White Experience.

[eltee]

"Yes, this was done in an effort to generate discussion/debate, and it's been fun to see that happen on a lot of different blogs. So far, I've just quieltly read. But since Stereogum is one of the few places I go to regularly, I had to chime in and give a little more context. We at Paste came up with this list by polling 50 folks--staff members, rock writers (should have thought to include you, Scott), and a handful of musicians themselves. They're all people we trust, so I'm pretty pleased with the list that we came up with, though quite a few of my favorites didn't make the list either. Here's the editorial that lead off this issue:
 
 100 Best Living Songwriters
 
 Dear Paste,
 
 Looking through the issue for which I�??m currently writing this editorial, I noticed several omissions from the 100 Best Living Songwriters list. I realize I organized this feature, gathered the voters and cast a ballot myself, but apparently that wasn�??t enough. I mean, how could you ignore Rodney Crowell? With songs like �??She�??s Crazy for Leaving,�?� Crowell was the master cartographer of those dark places of loss where once lived �??love that runs through your heart with a pleasure so close to pain.�?� Decades after his biggest hits, he�??s given us some of the best ruminations on aging ever penned.
 
 And Mike Scott? Number 30 on my list, but apparently not good enough for you. The Waterboys�?? Fisherman�??s Blues alone should have secured him a spot in the Top 100, but he also put out two solo albums filled with gems. And then there�??s Mark Knopfler, proving himself yet again with his new duets album with Emmylou Harris (p. 22). Our readers were smart enough to put them on their list (p. 96), but he�??s conspicuously absent from ours. Robert Smith, Jim James, Billy Joe Shaver, Todd Snider, David Hidalgo, Fiona Apple, Matthew Ryan, De La Soul, Taj Mahal, Ben Gibbard, Neil Finn, Jeff Mangum, The Cowboy Junkies, Rufus Wainwright, Peter Gabriel, Guy Clark, Greg Brown, Isaac Hayes�??they all got the shaft.
 
 I�??d consider canceling my subscription if I wasn�??t the editor of this damn thing, so instead, just let me say that this was an amazing experience. The hours spent arguing the merits of Leonard Cohen versus Neil Young (an arbitrary and academic exercise, no doubt, but an always entertaining one). Dueling our managing editor, Reid Davis, in computer volume as we searched out the best R.E.M. songs (and impossibly tried to narrow it down to three). The late, late nights matching 100 different writers to 100 songwriter essays and hunting for just the right lyrics. It�??s all been worth it to more fully appreciate the merits of Carole King, Chuck Berry and Jimmy Webb; to read Clyde Edgerton on John Prine, Paul Hemphill on Merle Haggard and Jack Pendarvis on Berry; and to see the parade of greats and remember the songs that have had the biggest impact on my life.
 
 I had 3,088 songs from these 100 songwriters on my iPod, and I put them all into a playlist and set it to random. One of the most striking things was how seldom I had an urge to press the skip button and how often I wanted to stop what I was doing and just listen. Much like Hollywood thrusting star-power and jaw-dropping special effects upon shallow, unbelievable scripts, the record industry has been pouring money into beautiful people with beautiful voices (or at least beautiful people with Auto-Tune) without giving them songs with any kind of lasting impact. But I�??ll take a Leonard Cohen album (despite not loving either his voice or the production on most his songs) over just about anything getting Top 40 airplay today.
 
 So I know that everyone reading Paste will have his or her own opinion of who should�??ve made the list and that this is just the first letter I�??ll receive. I certainly hope this feature sparks much debate, but I hope even more that it leads people to check out the songs from these 100 gifted songwriters, reconnecting with old standbys and discovering many new favorites along the way.
 
 Yours Truly,
 Josh Jackson (Decatur, Ga.)
 Editor-in-Chief, Paste"
 
 (I think it's legit. Source:  http://www.stereogum.com/archives/002670.html_
 
 I stand by Glen Phillips over Outkast.

[Bags]

I have 28 -- knew I'd do badly with a list like that.  Of course the list is shit because Joe Jackson is not even on it.  That, coupled with no Bob Mould, negates any value of the list at all to me.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Why is it inevitable that when a list like this comes out, people must focus on a handful of omissions of their personal favorites and thus dismiss the list completely?
 
 I, for one, think it's a pretty damn good list, even if Rhett Miller didn't make it. I mean look at all the great songwriters who ARE on the list.

[ggw]

Originally posted by Chaz Nakatestes, Breaststroking Guy:
  I, for one, think it's a pretty damn good list, even if Rhett Miller didn't make it. I mean look at all the great songwriters who ARE on the list.

Author/Songwriter Rhett Miller
 Five Rules of Good Composition  
 
 1. Don�??t overthink your plot: �??I used to pore over every last aspect of my protagonists, but now I don�??t think about it so much,�?� cedes professorial Old 97�??s frontman Rhett Miller, who�??s simultaneously releasing a short story (�??Weakest Shade Of Blue,�?� inspired by a Pernice Brothers song) and his second solo set, The Believer, in late February. �??I had a big epiphany,�?� he says, �??wherein I realized that a short story is a lot like a song�??you go from vignette to vignette, and each vignette is like a verse, with recurring characters that are sort of like the theme or the melody.�?�
 
 2. Find inspiration in the commonplace: The �??Make up your ma-ma-mind�?� chorus in Believer�??s opening anthem �??My Valentine�?� had its genesis in the pre-verbal babble of Miller�??s two-year-old son, Max, and the gentle �??Meteor Shower�?� was a collection of observations made from the singer�??s rural Hudson Valley property. �??When I sit outside at night,�?� Miller says, �??I see shooting stars all the time�??all you�??ve gotta do is just look up and try not to blink for a minute.�?�
 
 3. There�??s tragic eloquence in societal misfits: In the Old 97�??s, Miller used to hotdog like a brainy brat. Now, he fires off brilliantly understated lines like �??She drove a blue car around Bloomington / She was a thin girl, but she had substance.�?� Whether real or imagined, his subjects, he says, �??represent that dichotomy that exists within all of us�??real beauty and some really tragic stuff, too, because I never like the cut-and-dried.�?�
 
 4. The hero doesn�??t have to save the world: While briefly attending Sarah Lawrence College, Miller constantly argued with his writing teacher over �??this feeling that in the course of a short story, the main character has to go through some life-changing event, and I just never really bought into that. People don�??t really change, but maybe they grow a little bit. And that�??s the thing I look for, that little bit of growth.�?�
 
 5. Prepare for your characters to take on a life of their own: Miller conceived �??Fireflies,�?� his duet with Rachael Yamagata, as a breakup postmortem. �??But oh my God, what Rachael did with that song!�?� he says proudly. �??I got choked up on the middle break�??when she sang �??I must�??ve had a reason for leaving,�?? I say, �??It must�??ve been me,�?? and then she comes in with, �??It must�??ve been me.�?? The girl�??s taking responsibility for the breakup�??I didn�??t expect that when I was writing the song. And she made the last verse so sexy, instead of feeling like the guy�??s getting kissed off, you feel that maybe they�??re gonna disappear together. At least for the night.�?�
 
 From: Paste Mag
 
 Who is this chick?  Is it his wife?
 
  <img src="http://www.pastemagazine.com/images/articles/2774_image_1.jpg" alt=" - " />

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

Nah, this chick is his wife:
 
  <img src="http://www.101lifestyle.com/images/celebs/erica_iahn/erica-ihan-pics-003.jpg" alt=" - " />

[ggw]

Is tinfoil big in Paris and Milan this year?
 
 

Originally posted by Chaz Nakatestes, Breaststroking Guy:
  Nah, this chick is his wife:
 
   <img src="http://www.101lifestyle.com/images/celebs/erica_iahn/erica-ihan-pics-003.jpg" alt=" - " />

[sonickteam2]

i like that Conor Oberst is higher than Michael Jackson and Pink Floyd.

Originally posted by the sonick:
  i like that Conor Oberst is higher than Michael Jackson and Pink Floyd.

I think that Pete Dougherty is even higher still.

[Bags]

Originally posted by ggw�?�:
   

[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.

[Charlie Nakatestes, Japanese Golfer]

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.

[nkotb]

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.

[Darth Ed]

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.

[Guiny]

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.