Photograph by Stefan Ruiz
The New York Times‘ 30 Greatest Living American Songwriters List just dropped and I’ve definitely got thoughts on it. I’ve also included the list and the artist’s five “most essential” songs (or what is thought to be by the Times) down below so you can choose for yourself.
First, addressing the pop elephant in the room: Taylor Swift. If you asked me to make a list of my greatest songwriters, Taylor Swift would be my number one. With many of her fans calling her an architect for her ability to build a bridge, her songwriting ability is absolutely her claim to fame. Her ability to take feelings that many people have and put them into words that are both catchy and gut-wrenching is something that many people aspire to achieve. The top five songs that the Times considered the most essential include two of my favorites: “Dear John” and “mirrorball”. “Dear John” perfectly encapsulates that imbalance that comes with dating someone with both more age and power with extremely hard-hitting lyrics. “mirrorball” may be simple but there is something about a lyric such as “I’ve never been a natural, all I do is try, try, try.” Many people feel imposter syndrome throughout their lives, and she writes those feelings perfectly.
Also on my list that was recognized here is artist Kendrick Lamar. Making history as the only rap artist to have ever won a Pulitzer for Music, his writing changes the rap game. And while many have been put onto his music from his diss tracks, he has been a stellar writer from the beginning. Over the past few years, his work has been gaining more critical recognition with him having the most Grammy’s of any rap artist. His writing on the album “DAMN.” alone cements him on this list for me.
There were a variety of artists on this list that gained fame during the disco-era. Nile Rodgers, Lionel Richie, and Smokey Robinson were all responsible for many hits during that time, even if the songs were not exclusively disco. I think that the songs by these writers are very timeless, being able to be used still in movie soundtracks and going viral online; the consistency with these songs keeps them playing with younger generations.
Another artist on my list continues to have strong influences on the entire female pop/indie/americana genre and that’s Lana del Rey. Starting out with power house albums like “Born to Die” and “Ultraviolence”, she shaped both a variety of other artists during that time but also the social media scene during 2010-2016 becoming the main artist for people on tumblr. and the early Instagram scene. “Born to Die” for me is an entirely skipless album. As someone who has been listening to Lana since I was in high school, her albums have only gotten better with time. The nostalgia of her albums grows by the year and she still influences new artists to this day.
My final songwriter to mention is The-dream. If you’ve heard a pop hit in recent decades, you have most likely heard something he’s written. “Single Ladies” by Beyoncé, “Baby” by Justin Bieber, and “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion are all songs he helped write. Though definitely underrated, his ability to write a pop hit that sticks in your head could be studied in an Ivy League.
All in all, so many of these artists have changed music and songwriting as a whole. Many of these artists, I wasn’t able to mention for fear of this article becoming such a tangent. So check all of these artists out and expand your musical horizons.
- Nile Rodgers:
- Good Times- Chic
- Le Freak- Chic
- I Want Your Love- Chic
- He’s the Greatest Dancer- Sister Sledge
- I’m Coming Out- Diana Ross
- Lucinda Williams:
- I Just Wanted to See You So Bad
- Hot Blood
- Metal Firecracker
- Fruits of My Labor
- Where Is My Love?
- Stevie Wonder
- Girl Blue
- Jesus Children of America
- Heaven Is 10 Zillion Light Years Away
- They Won’t Go When I Go
- That Girl
- Jay-Z
- Dead Presidents II
- Where I’m From
- U Don’t Know
- 99 Problems
- Public Service Announcement (Interlude)
- Paul Simon
- American Tune
- Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War
- Graceland
- Bernadette
- The Sacred Harp
- Taylor Swift
- Our Song
- Fifteen
- Love Story
- Dear John
- Mirrorball
- Brian and Eddie Holland
- (Love Is Like a) Heat Wave- Martha and the Vandellas
- Baby I Need Your Loving- the Four Tops
- You’re A Wonderful One- Marvin Gaye
- My World Is Empty Without You- the Supremes
- 7 Rooms of Gloom- the Four Tops
- Missy Elliot
- Get Ur Freak On
- Work It
- Gossip Folks
- Bomb Intro/Pass That Dutch
- On & On
- Lionel Richie
- Easy- the Commodores
- Three Times a Lady- the Commodores
- Endless Love- Lionel Richie and Diana Ross
- Lady- Kenny Rogers
- Hello- Lionel Richie
- Dolly Parton
- Jolene
- I Will Always Love You
- Coat of Many Colors
- 9 to 5
- My Tennessee Mountain Home
- Young Thug
- Stoner
- Best Friend
- Picacho- Young Thug, featuring Maceo
- Danny Glover
- Wyclef Jean
- Diane Warren
- I Don’t Wanna Live Without Your Love- Chicago
- When I See You Smile- Bad English
- Just Like Jesse James- Cher
- Nothing’s Gonna Stop Us Now- Starship
- If You Asked Me To- Patti LaBelle
- Josh Osborne, Brandy Clark, and Shane McAnally
- Merry Go ‘Round- Kacey Musgraves
- Follow Your Arrow- Kacey Musgraves
- Liberty- Sam Hunt
- Maybe Love- Brandy Clark and Shane McAnally
- Drinkin’ Problem- Midland
- Fiona Apple
- Sleep to Dream
- The Way Things Are
- Every Single Night
- Tymps (The Sick in the Head Song)
- Heavy Balloon
- Babyface
- Whip Appeal
- Superwoman- Karyn White
- I’m Your Baby Tonight- Whitney Houston
- My, My, My- Johnny Gill
- Not Gon’ Cry- Mary J. Blige
- Stephin Merritt
- Strange Powers- the Magnetic Fields
- It’s Only Time- the Magnetic Fields
- 01: “Have You Seen It in the Snow?”- the Magnetic Fields
- You You You You You- the 6ths
- The Book of Love- Olivia Rodrigo
- Romeo Santos
- Obsesión- Aventura, featuring Judy Santos
- Un Beso- Aventura
- Ella y Yo- Aventura featuring Don Omar
- Propuesta Indecente
- Odio- Romeo Santos, featuring Drake
- Carole King
- One Fine Day- the Chiffons
- Up on the Roof- the Drifters
- Way Over Yonder
- So Far Away
- (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman- Aretha Franklin
- Outkast
- Da Art of Storytellin’ (Pt. 1)
- Rosa Parks
- SpottieOttieDopaliscious
- B.O.B.
- Int’l Players Anthem (I Choose You)- UGK, featuring Outkast
- Mariah Carey
- We Belong Together
- #Beautiful- Mariah Carey, featuring Miguel
- Fantasy- Mariah Carey (Remix featuring O.D.B.)
- Touch My Body
- Whenever You Call
- Willie Nelson
- Medley: Funny How Time Slips Away/Crazy/Night Life
- Me and Paul
- On the Road Again
- Who’ll Buy My Memories
- We Don’t Run
- Kendrick Lamar
- Rigamortus
- Swimming Pools (Drank)
- Hood Politics
- Count Me Out
- Euphoria
- Valerie Simpson
- Ain’t No Mountain High Enough- Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell
- Solid- Ashford & Simpson
- I’m Every Woman- Chaka Khan
- Is It Still Good To Ya- Ashford & Simpson
- California Soul- Marlena Shaw
- Bob Dylan
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Isis
- Every Grain of Sand
- Nettie Moore
- Lana Del Rey
- Video Games
- Cruel World
- The Greatest
- Hope Is a Dangerous Thing for a Woman Like Me to Have – but I Have It
- A&W
- The-Dream
- 1+1- Beyoncé
- Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)- Beyoncé
- Umbrella- Rihanna, featuring Jay-Z
- Ride- Ciara, featuring Ludacris
- My Love- The-Dream, featuring Mariah Carey
- Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis
- Nasty- Janet Jackson
- All for You- Janet Jackson
- Saturday Love- Cherrelle and Alexander O’Neal
- Can You Stand the Rain- New Edition
- On Bended Knee- Boy II Men
- Bad Bunny
- Soy Peor
- MIA- Bad Bunny, featuring Drake
- Yo Perreo Sola
- Callaita- Bad Bunny, featuring Tainy
- Nuevayol
- Bruce Springsteen
- Rosalita (Come Out Tonight)
- Born to Run
- Nebraska
- Born in the U.S.A.
- American Skin (41 Shots)
- Smokey Robinson
- My Girl- the Temptations
- The Tracks of My Tears- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
- The Tears of a Clown- Smokey Robinson & the Miracles
- Happy (Love Theme From ‘Lady Sings the Blues’
- Being With You
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