Many songwriters, while excellent, do not require the "Every Single Song" treatment, as their works are fairly straightforward and easily understood. Dozens of great songwriters spring to mind from Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, pop, blues, folk, R&B, and country.
Some do not require such treatment, yet such a blog would still be enlightening and entertaining. I would read one about Springsteen's songs, or Bob Marley's, for instance. While their songs are fairly easy to grasp (once you get past, in Bruce's case, the Asbury Park album) learning to understand their references-- historical, cultural, biblical, and autobiographical (not to mention, in Bruce's case, automotive)-- would prove educational and fun... and greatly enhance the experience of listening to their songs. Certainly, they have the fame and quality necessary. I would also place Bono, Donovan, John Fogerty, Billy Joel, Carole King, Don Henley, Carly Simon, James Taylor, and Stevie Wonder in this subset of songwriters.
That said, here are some performers whose works I believe both warrant the Every Single Song treatment-- in that they are songs of depth that need some spelunking to be plumbed-- and merit it, in that they are major enough artists for many people to even want to spend time understanding their lyrics in the first place:
David Bowie
Jackson Browne
Lindsey Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac/ solo)
David Byrne (Talking Heads/ solo)
Leonard Cohen
Elvis Costello
Ray Davies (The Kinks)
Bob Dylan
Donald Fagen & Walter Becker (Steely Dan)
Peter Gabriel (Genesis/ solo)
John Lennon (The Beatles/ solo)
Freddie Mercury (Queen)
Joni Mitchell
Jim Morrison (The Doors)
Van Morrison
Randy Newman
Prince
Lou Reed (Velvet Underground/ solo)
Sting (The Police/ solo)
Michael Stipe (REM)
Joe Strummer (The Clash)
Patti Smith
Bernie Taupin (Elton John's songwriter)
Pete Townshend (The Who/ solo)
Tom Waits
Neil Young
Frank Zappa
I would add Suzanne Vega, except for the fact that I already have done an Every Single Song blog on her work.
As you can see, my personal interests and knowledge run toward singer-songwriters of a certain genre and era. Please let me know if there are other artists you feel who should be Every Single Song-ed in other genres or eras-- for instance, hip-hop or alt-rock; if I agree, I will add them to the list.
This is a great list! Lindsey Buckingham would be my first choice, followed by Pete Townshend. Love your insights on this blog!
ReplyDeleteAlicia-- Thanks so much! I have seen Buckingham perform solo, and I have several of his solo albums as well as Fleetwood Mac's, so I am glad you agree with me that he is usually unfairly overlooked when listing "great" songwriters.
ReplyDeleteAs for Townshend, he always makes such lists, and deservedly so. But I added him to THIS list because I think he makes a lot of references-- both to books and philosophy and history, but also to his own life-- in his songs, and understanding them would enhance the appreciation of his work. And someone with more familiarity with his work is better qualified to write that blog.