# Songwriters in their 30's... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 16, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740 "2011-06-16T20:50:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/1 "2011-06-16T20:50:05Z")
Who wrote songs that were just as good as the songs they wrote when they were in their 20’s. 1. Tom Waits ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/2 "2011-06-16T20:59:17Z")
Billy Joel kept topping the charts with everything from **It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me** to **Uptown Girl** to **We Didn’t Start The Fire** after hitting thirty. ---
**Author:** ![Equipoise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/equipoise/32/151_2.png) [@Equipoise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Equipoise)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/3 "2011-06-16T21:34:04Z")
**Tom Waits** is a very good example. I’d add **Kate Bush** and **Happy Rhodes**. Some fans don’t care for Kate’s _The Sensual World_ or _The Red Shoes_, but I think they’re both fantastic (though my favorites are _The Dreaming_ and _Hounds of Love_, which she recorded in her 20’s) and they each have songs as good and some better than earlier songs (don’t get me started on why she felt she had to “improve” on them). Happy’s always been great, but her best two albums were recorded in her 30’s ([_Many Worlds Are Born Tonight_](http://www.youtube.com/user/happyrhodesalbums#g/c/95237FC5497C5450)–her masterpiece IMO, and [_Find Me_](http://www.youtube.com/user/happyrhodesalbums#g/c/31C6C78EA741A7B2)). Happy’s retired now but if she came back for a 12th album I’m sure it would be with material that would blow her fans away. Kate _was_ retired but then came back with the amazing _Aerial_. ---
**Author:** ![Rain\_Soaked](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e19adc/32.png) [@Rain\_Soaked](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rain_Soaked)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/4 "2011-06-16T21:36:08Z")
Mark Knopfler recorded the songs for the first Dire Straits album when he was 28 and released _Brothers In Arms_ when he was around 36. He’s recording a new album right now. He will be 62 in August. ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/5 "2011-06-16T21:38:31Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Billy Joel kept topping the charts with everything from **It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me** to **Uptown Girl** to **We Didn’t Start The Fire** after hitting thirty. “Chart-topping” does not necessarily equal “good.” ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/6 "2011-06-16T21:44:39Z")
irving Berlin. George Gershwin. Jerome Kern Richard Rodgers Oh… do only pop/rock songwriters count? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/7 "2011-06-16T21:53:37Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > “Chart-topping” does not necessarily equal “good.” Fair enough – but the question was whether he _“wrote songs that were just as good”_ as the ones he’d written in his twenties. Are you hating in Billy Joel in general, or specifically hating on Billy Joel in his thirties compared to Billy Joel in his twenties? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/8 "2011-06-16T22:06:37Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Fair enough – but the question was whether he _“wrote songs that were just as good”_ as the ones he’d written in his twenties. Are you hating in Billy Joel in general, or specifically hating on Billy Joel in his thirties compared to Billy Joel in his twenties? 😉 It would be disingenous at best to suggest that Billy Joel’s output in his 30’s in any way matched his output in his 20’s. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/9 "2011-06-16T22:13:29Z")
30’s? [Cindy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Walker) [Walker](http://www.southlandrecords.com/walkercindy.htm) was still writing good stuff in her 40’s, and maybe beyond (I’m having trouble finding a list of her hits, much less her songs – she wrote hundreds). ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/10 "2011-06-16T22:18:39Z")
> [@Gary\_T](#): > > 30’s? [Cindy](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cindy_Walker) [Walker](http://www.southlandrecords.com/walkercindy.htm) was still writing good stuff in her 40’s, and maybe beyond (I’m having trouble finding a list of her hits, much less her songs – she wrote hundreds). Women songwriters seem to be immune to the virus that renders one incapable of writing a good song after one’s 30th birthday. Although frankly the sample to draw is pretty small. There just haven’t been many well known women song writers (note, there’s an “m” before that “any”) Lisa Germano is one of my faves. She didn’t release and album until she was well into her 30’s and now she’s in her 50’s going strong and touring. ---
**Author:** ![samjones](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@samjones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samjones)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/11 "2011-06-16T22:21:03Z")
> [@Rain\_Soaked](#): > > Mark Knopfler recorded the songs for the first Dire Straits album when he was 28 and released _Brothers In Arms_ when he was around 36. He’s recording a new album right now. He will be 62 in August. Yeah - I mean, I guess… In his late 20’s he recorded a whole bunch of great songs rapid fire and then he did Love over Gold which was really more Telegraph Road + some bullshit and then he did Brothers in Arms in his mid-30’s. I grant you that. And then??? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/12 "2011-06-16T22:33:40Z")
Ray Davies – the Kinks’s **Low Budget** , written in his 30s, is among his best songwriting, and he had several other great songs in that era. Bob Seger hit his stride as a songwriter after he was 32, with “Night Moves” giving him his first major popular success. Joe Walsh Steve Winwood ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2011, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/13 "2011-06-16T22:37:17Z")
A lot of “Texas troubadors” seem to maintain their songwriting ability. I would nominate Willie Nelson, Joe Ely, Jimmie Dale Gilmore, Guy Clark, and Rodney Crowell. Another songwriter who has been writing excellent material for decades is Mose Allison. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/14 "2011-06-17T00:52:29Z")
Lyle Lovett didn’t hit his stride until he was over 30. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/15 "2011-06-17T01:33:28Z")
> [@samjones](#): > > It would be disingenous at best to suggest that Billy Joel’s output in his 30’s in any way matched his output in his 20’s. He whipped up more multiplatinum albums in his thirties than in his twenties, writing a greater number of singles that made it to #1 while earning a greater number of Grammy nominations. So how is that disingenuous? Heck, it’s probably the same reason that Broadway musical built around his songs features more post-'79 stuff than pre-'79 stuff… ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/16 "2011-06-17T03:01:33Z")
Bruce Springsteen wrote great material in his 20s, and while not all of his output has been stellar, he continued to put out relevant and innovative albums throughout his 30s, and can still write the occasional song that is a match to his earlier output. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/17 "2011-06-17T03:09:04Z")
Robbie Robertson’s output after turning 30 included Acadian Driftwood, Ophelia, Rags & Bones, and It Makes No Difference. (I don’t know his solo work.) He wrote a lot more great songs than that in the Band’s early years, but those four songs are among the best. ---
**Author:** ![rikc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c57346/32.png) [@rikc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rikc)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/18 "2011-06-17T08:40:34Z")
Rock is totally safe for dads: The Flaming Lips produced their greatest work (imo) while **Wayne Coyne** was in his mid to late 30’s. He turned 50 this year and they’re still making great music! **Britt Daniel** (of Spoon) turned 40 this year, and the past decade has seen Spoon’s greatest and most successful albums. **Beck** also hit 30 just before realsing _Sea Change_ in 2002. Though some people would probably argue that his 90’s albums were better, _Sea Change_ and onward saw Beck really find himself as a songwriter and producer, and I think his 00’s output is as strong as anything else he’s done (_Sea Change_ is an exception, as it is [imo] one of the greatest albums recorded that decade. hoo boy) ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/19 "2011-06-17T09:17:25Z")
I don’t quite get the premise of this thread. Why should it be exceptional for songwriters to write their best work after they have matured? Why, of all ages, single out the third life decade? Take two of the iconic ones, Bob Dylan and Neil Young. You could name at least one great album as well as one piece of shit for each decade of their writing/recording career. Yes, Dylan wrote and recorded “Blood On The Tracks” in his thirties, and Young “Rust Never Sleeps”, so they might qualify for this thread. But you could play that game with each decade. For me, it doesn’t make sense. Maybe \*\*samjones \*\*can come back and explain it. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2011, 9:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740/20 "2011-06-17T09:26:01Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Why, of all ages, single out the third life decade? Too late to edit: Should be, of course, the **fourth** life decade. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/songwriters-in-their-30s/585740.md?page=2)