name a better songwriter than him no, seriously, I'm tired of listening to him all the time, I want to diversify but somehow the other names that get thrown around (Nick Drake, Tim Buckley) don't seem to grab me as much
>>100882871Leonard Cohen Lee Hazelwood Scott walker
Jim Morrison
John MartynRoy HarperGordon Lightfoot
>>100883035>leonard cohenfpbp
>>100882871Elliott SmithNick Drake
>>100883035Perfect list. Scott 4 is fantastic.
>>100882871donovan, modest mouse? idk.
Paul mccartney
>>100883238only accurate answer so far
>>100883035i love lee hazlewood but no way is he in the same tier as bob
>>100883035>Scott walker>first song is a Jacques Brel coverhorrifyingly based
>>100882871Dylan is unironically a shit songwriter. Listen to Leonard Cohen
>>100883281Probably not desu but I think a Bob fan could probably appreciate him
me
>>100882871cohen desu
>>100882871>Serge Gainsbourg>Kris Kristoffersen>Townes van Zandt>Ferlin Husky
>>100882871I fully believe Randy Newman is the greatest songwriter of all time. "Good Old Boys" is one of the greatest albums ever written start to finish, and besides "Born Again" no album is under an 8/10. His lyrics are so smart and filled with so much characters and irony that he can go from being a Korean student with strict parents, to a rapist, to a slave merchantMore like Newman and Dylan are; Harry Nilsson, Townes Van Zandt, Van Dyke Parks, and Neil YoungAnd like >>100883076 said, Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver are super comfy and I love them. I saw Lightfoot live a couple years back and it was magical
>>100882871others already mentioned Townes and Lightfoot so apart from themDavid BermanShane MacGowanStan RogersCole Porter
Prine
This guy not was only a better singer, he actually meant what he sang, unlike Dylan who only used social/political causes, and LARPing like Woody Guthrie to further his musical career, and then turn his back on his audience once he became famous......
>>100882871Jim Croce.
Joni Mitchell Gordon Lightfoot Milton Nascimento
>>100883076>>100886435>>100887632I love seeing so much Lightfoot
Roy Harper (VERY underrated, a true songwriter's songwriter)The Tallest Man On Earth (basically swedish Dylan with better guitar work)John PineWillie NelsonColter Walt
>>100882871David Tibet (works under the name Currebt 93)Douglas P. (works under the name Death In June)Pretty much every other person I would have named has already been named ITT, so those are my only two suggestions
>>100882871David Kauffmann and Eric Caboorhttps://davidkauffmanandericcaboor.bandcamp.com/album/songs-from-suicide-bridgeGive it a listen mate!
>>100882871Lots of good suggestions in here, wanted to also mention Will Oldham/Bonnie Prince Billy/Palace/Palace Music/Palace Brothers...fucker has a lot of names
Paddy McAloon, Stuart Murdoch
>>100882871only cohen
Dan Reeder.
>>100882871Joni Mitchell/thread
>>100883035>>100883057>>100883076>>100883157>>100883238>>100883220>>100883281>>100884787>>100886341>>100886435>>100886501>>100886932>>100886991>>100887001>>100887632>>100887948>>100888046>>100888158>>100888817>>100889164>>100891423good christ no one for Tom Waits?
And take me disappearing through the smoke rings of my mindDown the foggy ruins of timeFar past the frozen leavesThe haunted frightened treesOut to the windy beachFar from the twisted reach of crazy sorrowYes, to dance beneath the diamond skyWith one hand waving freeSilhouetted by the seaCircled by the circus sandsWith all memory and fateDriven deep beneath the wavesLet me forget about today until tomorrow
>>100882871Frank Turner
>>100891724Tom Waits is my favorite artist of all time but I don't think his lyrics are Joni Mitchell level
>>100886991hate seeing posts about this guy give me a fucking break, dumb shit. Bob wasn't larping he truly did believe in what he was singing about but he wasn't an idiot cuck who gets so wrapped up in politics that it's all he sings about for 50 years. The man had bigger ambitions and wanted to sing about the human condition, society as a whole, not just make little protest skits about the dust bowl and shit. The guthrie stuff was authentic he went to the mans hospital when no one else even knew he was there. Sadly there's no one else who can hold a flame to dylans vision, the lyrics, sound, whole package. Sure leonard cohen can be an even match for him or joni mitchell maybe even neil young or townes van zandt, but its more than just the words. Dylan had it all, he had the best musicians and producers, that shit STILL holds up. It's not soft little folk music all throughout, he keeps evolving his sound. Find me something as raw as the whole basement tapes, or something kooky and self aware as Nashville Skyline, a purposefully ironic but loving take on country. No-siree don't exist.
And where do all these highways goNow that we are free?Why are the armies marching stillThat were coming home to me?O lady with your legs so fineO stranger at your wheelYou are locked into your suffering And your pleasures are the seal
>>100892381exactly this. Neil Young will always be my favorite, and like what >>100891460 >>100887632 >>100886932 >>100886435and a bunch more said, there are songwriters who are undoubtedly "better" than Dylan, but because of his producers, his musicians, his fame, his message, and also just his luck of getting in the scenes at just the right time, he's gonna stick as one of the greatest of all time.
>>100882871John Lennon
so many suggestions thanks bros I'll check them out
>>100892381Well said. I agree that there are songwriters who might have "better" lyrics, but looking back, Dylan will always be the quintessential singer/songwriter, and probably the defining 20th century artist for the United States, as far as popular culture anyway.
>>100882871Truth is there isn't. Not a single other songwriter has done things that rival It's Alright Ma, Idiot Wind, Don't Think Twice, Like a Rolling Stone or any other of Dylan monumental works. People who haven't fully "gotten him" yet will name the ones they prefer, but as far as writing music that's also legit poetry no one compares.I actually love Leonard, he's one of my favorites, and I'll always like him, but overall his work is weaker than Dylan's and that's factual, plain to see, even though I think of him more fondly in many aspects. A lot of these replies are pitiful and a clear example of not being able to separate feelings from rational judgement.
>>100894787Also, Cohen comes closest, but Neil Young, Morrison, Townes etc etc were never on the same level of lyricism and it's asinine to claim that. Joni Mitchell in particular is childlike compared to Dylan, as far as complexity, quality of rhyme and overall poetry skill goes she is an absolute joke of a songwriter next to him, and that's the problem. Many of Dylan's detractors don't even have the tools to understand what makes him compelling.
>>100894787>Poetry>Best poetry>What a great poetPity he didn't become a poet really, isn't it? The Tin Pan Alley greats that Zimmerman disparaged actually wrote songs, whereas Minnesota's favourite son whined his way through second-class poetry for college kids. It's rap music for Jewish people.
You walk into the room with your pencil in your handYou see somebody naked and you say, "Who is that man?"You try so hard but you don't understandJust what you will say when you get homeBecause something is happening here but you don't know what it isDo you, Mr. Jones?You raise up your head and you ask, "Is this where it is?"And somebody points to you and says, "It's his"And you say, "What's mine?" and somebody else says, "Well, what is?"And you say, "Oh my God, am I here all alone?"But something is happening and you don't know what it isDo you, Mr. Jones?
>>100882871Paul Simon
>>100895234He actually did. There's only a separation between "music lyrics" and poetry when skill is lacking. In Dylan's case they are virtually the same. Both styles also share similar structures, patterns and demand an almost identical set of skills. Music defined primarily by lyrics is about as invalid as music defined primarily by instruments, which is not at all since only drooling retards try to set rules on what a piece of art - that they're not even obligated to consume - should be. It's always funny to see contrarians try to shit on a man because he became unbelievably popular in one of the only cases where recognition matches talent, which triggers a lot of insecurity. They either try to undermine or disprove him in some way, but never produce anything of value. Dylan was right when he called his accusers "pussies;" A bunch of men intimidated by his legacy. "While one who sings with his tongue on fire / Gargles in the rat race choir / Bent out of shape from society's pliers / Cares not to come up any higher / But rather get you down in the hole / That he's in."
I'm ready to take the Dylan-pill. Is Highway 61 a good start?
>>100895751Freewheelin' has some of his best and most classic songs, including the one that hooked me which is the original, fingerstyle rendition of Girl From North Country (and Don't Think Twice). The most accessible would probably be Blonde on Blonde imo, and for more personal lyrics Blood On The Tracks. Then BIABH and H61. His best lyrics are in the 60s, the 70s have some masterpieces, the 80s are a crock of christian shit and he kinda bounced back afterwards.
>>100895751i think The Freewheelin' is a good start imo
>>100891460+1I'll add Steely Dan too.
>>100891460she's greatnot better
German puppets burned the JewsJewish puppets did not choosePuppet vultures eat the deadPuppet corpses they are fedPuppet winds and puppet wavesPuppet sailors in their gravesPuppet flower, puppet stemPuppet time dismantles themPuppet me and puppet youPuppet GermanPuppet JewPuppet Presidents commandPuppet troops to burn the landPuppet fire, puppet flamesFeed on all the puppet namesPuppet lovers in their blissTurn away from all of thisPuppet reader shakes his headTakes his puppet wife to bedPuppet me and puppet youPuppet German, puppet JewPuppet Presidents commandPuppet troops to burn the landPuppet fire, puppet flamesFeed on all the puppet namesPuppet night comes down to playThe after act to puppet day
>>100895846>>100895852thanks anons
he was cute
do i need to smoke in order to write good lyrics bros?
>>100895911Not better. So much better.https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zeaO5UZ5OcI
>>100891724Mid Waits career is like Dylan's electric lyricism personified
>>100882871Father John Misty
>>100896101not really>>100896205kek
I asked my father,I said, "father change my name."The one I'm using now it's covered upWith fear and filth and cowardice and shame.Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me.He said, "i locked you in this body,I meant it as a kind of trial.You can use it for a weapon,Or to make some woman smile."Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me."then let me start again," i cried,"please let me start again,I want a face that's fair this time,I want a spirit that is calm."Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me,Yes and lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover, lover come back to me."i never never turned aside," he said,"i never walked away.It was you who built the temple,It was you who covered up my face."
The ghost of ’lectricity howls in the bones of her faceWhere these visions of Johanna have now taken my place
>>100895434>Dylan was right when he called his accusers "pussies;can i get a link/source/reference to that, anon?
>>100897482ultimateclassicrock.com/bob-dylan-wussies-and-pussies/
>>100897551thanks
Leonard is better by virtue of his revision. He doesn’t waste a word
>>100896485>better singer>better songwriter>better lyricist>better guitarist>beter pianistYet to see proof to the contrary.
>>100885997This but with me instead.
>>100882871Kate Bush, Joni Mitchell, Joanna Newsom, basically any good female songwriter. Men cannot write music.>hurr durr the government!Bob Dylan is massively overrated faggot.
Unironically, Rowland S. Howard
It's telling that nobody mentioned, besides Neil Young, ever wrote rock songs as compelling as Dylan's. Contrarians are desperate to claim some folkie or country guy who stayed in those lanes their entire careers as "better than Dylan" when they clearly never matched the breadth of his material.
>>100897856Here's verses from Joni's most played song on Spotify, which happens to be from her most critically acclaimed album, making this a very fair pick: >He tried hard to help me, you know, he put me at ease>And he loved me so naughty, made me weak in the knees>Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away on>I'm so hard to handle, I'm selfish and I'm sad>Now I've gone and lost the best baby that I ever had>Oh, I wish I had a river I could skate away onCommon trite, painfully mundane and literal, absolutely nothing stands out in terms of vocabulary, phrasing or rhyming. Here is Dylan's most listened:>You never turned around to see the frowns>On the jugglers and the clowns when they all did tricks for you>Never understood that it ain't no good>You shouldn't let other people get your kicks for you>You used to ride on a chrome horse with your diplomat>Who carried on his shoulder a Siamese cat>Ain't it hard when you discover that>He really wasn't where it's at>After he took from you everything he could steal?There's no comparison. Joni is literal babyshit compared to Dylan at his prime, in all technical aspects. Your dumb opinion based on contrarianism doesn't override reality.
>>100886991phil was too based for this planet
>>100899321I forgot to mention the absolutely laughable "lost the best baby" bit, which is one of the cheesiest, most downright awful lyrics I've ever seen. This was so unbelievably bad it actually got ingrained in my brain the first time I listened to it, as it kept repeating her overly pompous, pretentious delivery of one of the worst lines ever written, the great "best baby." Holy shit.
The peddler now speaks to the countess who's pretending to care for himSayin', "Name me someone that's not a parasite and I'll go out and say a prayer for him"But like Louise always says"Ya can't look at much, can ya man?"As she, herself, prepares for himAnd Madonna, she still has not showedWe see this empty cage now corrodeWhere her cape of the stage once had flowedThe fiddler, he now steps to the roadHe writes ev'rything's been returned which was owedOn the back of the fish truck that loadsWhile my conscience explodesThe harmonicas play the skeleton keys and the rainAnd these visions of Johanna are now all that remain
Lou Reed was hell of a song writer. Bowie.
Jeffry Lee Pierce. Unironically.
>>100886991NOOOOOOOOOOOW IM JUST A TYPICAL AMERICAN BOY FROM A TYPICAL AMERICAN TOWNI BELIEVE IN GOD AND SENATOR DODD AND KEEPING OLD CASTRO DOWN
>>100899400>Bowienot the best songwriter quicksand was kino th
>>100899605How about this. Patti Smith is the best song writer maybe ever.
>>100882871David Bowie
>>100899730>drops the ball https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=941PHEJHCwU&list=LL5G0mibrZodeF3Mmzgbqpxg&index=67&ab_channel=NobelPrize
>>100886991>>100899348>>100899565based ochs posters
>>100882871Brian Wilson
And Jesus was a sailorWhen he walked upon the waterAnd he spent a long time watchingFrom his lonely wooden towerAnd when he knew for certainOnly drowning men could see himHe said "All men will be sailors thenUntil the sea shall free them"But he himself was brokenLong before the sky would openForsaken, almost humanHe sank beneath your wisdom like a stoneAnd you want to travel with himAnd you want to travel blindAnd you think maybe you'll trust himFor he's touched your perfect body with his mindNow Suzanne takes your handAnd she leads you to the riverShe is wearing rags and feathersFrom Salvation Army countersAnd the sun pours down like honeyOn Our Lady of the HarbourAnd she shows you where to lookAmong the garbage and the flowersThere are heroes in the seaweedThere are children in the morningThey are leaning out for loveAnd they will lean that way foreverWhile Suzanne holds the mirror
>>100882871Jason MolinaElliott SmithMark KozelekBlind Willie McTellTommy JohnsonSkip SpenceJeff TweedyTownes Van ZandtNeil YoungJohn PrinePaul WesterbergPaul SimonLou ReedLowell GeorgeTom Verlaine>>100883076John Martyn also brilliant, very underrated on /mu>>100899415A fucking genius but probably not mellow enough for OP (except for 'Mother of Earth')
>>100882871John PrineTom WaitsSam Bean
jackson c frank
>>100901443paul simon gets weirdly little respect, but i get it. didn't trade on his persona. very little hillbilly in his singing style. just a fantastic composer and lyricist. born a pudgy jew and will die that way too.
>>100882871>I always loved you>Love dumpling>Your shit's like chocolate cake>And your ass smells like a rose
Daniel Johnston he is a fucking genius
>>100882871Nick CaveTom WaitsLeonard CohenJoni MitchellNeil YoungLisa GermanoDavid ThomasNicoBruce SpringsteenTori AmosVan MorrisonRickie Lee JonesAnnette PeacockTownes Van ZandtLaura NyroPatti SmithTerry GarthwaitePaul SimonLou ReedLoreena McKennittWarren ZevonMary Margaret O'HaraMark KozelekRichard ThompsonLiz PhairPolly HarveyRandy NewmanSinead O'ConnorGram ParsonsNatalie MerchantJackson BrowneNick DrakeBuddy HollyGordon LightfootTom RappDonovanStan RidgwayMagnetic FieldsJohn HiattKate BushMichael KrassnerSmogDavid PeelBjorkAlanis MorissetteDavid BowieJoan ArmatradingDavid AcklesPhoebe SnowTara Jane O'NeilNanci GriffithAni DiFrancoLida HusikJohn MartynRobbie RobertsonEdith FrostEmmylou HarrisNeil DiamondLauryn HillElvis CostelloJeff BuckleyMelissa EtheridgeSuzanne VegaCat PowerBruce CockburnCarole KingMaria McKeeJames TaylorCarly SimonBilly Joel
>>100882871What does the fox say?
>>100902247>born a pudgy jew and will die that way too.kek
>>100883238if you like granny shit
>>100899321Lol so you had to take Dyland best song and Joni's half joking jingle bells song. Go find anything off Hejira or Hissing or For The Roses or indeed BlueDylan can't even do love songs because no one can hear a whiny jew
