In your opinion, who is or was the greatest songwriter of all?

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• Dylan was a great poet, but not that terrific a songwriter. Musically, most of his stuff sucked. He should have done what WS Gilbert did - write lyrics and find himself a John Sullivan to compose the music to fit it. On top of that, he should NEVER have performed ANYthing, his own or anyone else's. His singing voice sounded like a male Ethel Merman, and the English language does not contain obscene expletives bad enough to describe the way he attempted to play his harmonica. He'd have acheived a better sound by shoving the thing up his arse and playing it by farting. It was even worse than 1,000 accordions playing at once, or a bunch of beginners practicing bagpipes.

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  by Slartibartfast on December 22nd, 2008

• Typically when I hear the term "songwriter" it is being used in direct reference to lyrical content, and that is precisely how I meant it...but I do have to stick up for Bobby D against your claim that he wasn't a good songwriter by YOUR definition; his songs are incredibly catchy. Very good songwriting ability. He didn't have a polished voice, didn't flaunt (or didn't have) insane guitar skills, and I admit he could barely play the harmonica, but his songs are GREAT! That's why they're classics! That's why so many famous artists have recorded or covered Bob Dylan songs. That's why the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix, Garth Brooks, Johnny Cash, Eric Clapton, Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson, Eddie Vedder, Joan Baez, The Byrds, Sonny and Cher, The Hollies, Peter, Paul and Mary, Manfred Mann, The Turtles and so many others did Dylan tunes. He is probably the greatest songwriter of all time.
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  Perhaps you are not terribly familiar with his music.

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  by TheicidalManiac on December 22nd, 2008

• Dylan is a good songwriter, but I don't consider him great. He is a better writer than musician, by far!

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  by Beavis - the other white meat on February 10th, 2009

• Well, yeah, much better writer than musician, but when The Band is your backup band, you don't really NEED to be a good musician. Those guys were great.

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  by TheicidalManiac on February 10th, 2009

• Dylan is a great poet, arguably the best alive today. However, I belive his songs would have been better if he had formed a team with a composer, his music really let him down a lot. That said, he did write a lot of good stuff for other performers (he was a TERRIBLE singer and worse harmonica player).

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  by Slartibartfast on February 9th, 2011