# Who are the great lyricists today? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 30, 2016, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334 "2016-07-30T22:24:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![leftfield6](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leftfield6/32/18780_2.png) [@leftfield6](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leftfield6)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/21 "2016-07-31T19:24:17Z")
[Bob Schneider](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N_y_2UgYc7A) is one of my favorites currently. He also does some, as he says, “[nasty songs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z6I4gnfH_Vs)”. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim_r.mortiss/32/142_2.png) [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_R.Mortiss)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/22 "2016-07-31T19:47:11Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Elvis Costello I think of Elvis Costello as the Cole Porter of the eighties. More recently, Jason Mraz puts together some clever lyrics. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/23 "2016-07-31T21:29:56Z")
Paul Westerberg of The Replacements is still one of my favorites. “Swingin’ Party” “Here Comes a Regular” “Can’t Hardly Wait” “I’ll Be You” “Achin’ to Be” “Nobody” “Sadly Beautiful” [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/ml1WKiIGqf4/maxresdefault.jpg "The Replacements - Sadly Beautiful") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ml1WKiIGqf4) ---
**Author:** ![koeeoaddi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/koeeoaddi/32/408_2.png) [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/24 "2016-07-31T21:43:10Z")
I like James McMurtry [You’d a Thought (Leonard Cohen Must Die)](https://youtu.be/PbBITtmFN34) [Too Long in the Wasteland](https://youtu.be/-kosvsEfM-g) and Patty Griffin [Mary](https://youtu.be/XFAOJnfM6g8) [Every Little Bit](https://youtu.be/hVM1cfCNWV8) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2016, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/25 "2016-07-31T23:24:48Z")
Stephen Sondheim is still alive, and at 86, is still writing. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 8:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/26 "2016-08-01T08:40:26Z")
Are Rice and Webber still going? ---
**Author:** ![bobkitty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c67d28/32.png) [@bobkitty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobkitty)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/27 "2016-08-01T10:31:08Z")
Rice is currently working on the new Beauty and the Beast movie; Webber just finished work on the School of Rock musical. ---
**Author:** ![Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/half_man_half_wit/32/21766_2.png) [@Half\_Man\_Half\_Wit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Half_Man_Half_Wit)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 12:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/28 "2016-08-01T12:07:10Z")
John Darnielle, of the Mountain Goats fame, is I think one of the strongest lyricists at the moment. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/29 "2016-08-01T12:27:19Z")
[Mark “Stew” Stewart](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stew_(musician)), who sometimes recorded as leader of The Negro Problem, has been compared to Cole Porter. He might have peaked a few years ago, though. I’d recommend the CD _Welcome Black_, though it’s far from “current.” Then there are the dozen or so truly brilliant rap/hip-hop artists – wordsmiths like Chino XL, who also was peaking over a decade ago. We’ve had threads on these sorts of “clever rap” artists, or you could dive into the wonderful and serious tome _The Anthology of Rap_, published about five years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/30 "2016-08-01T13:22:47Z")
My top five: Bob Dylan Leonard Cohen Jim Steinman Kinky Friedman Don McLean ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [August 1, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/31 "2016-08-01T14:51:35Z")
About ten years ago, Paste Magazine published a list of the “[100 Best Living Songwriters](https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2006/06/pastes-100-best-living-songwriters-the-list.html).” Alas, a few on the list are no longer living; and not all great songwriters are great lyricists of the sort the OP is looking for; but some certainly are, so the list may give you a few new ideas. I remember that when the list originally appeared in the magazine, it appeared along with a mention of [Mark Heard](https://www.pastemagazine.com/blogs/lists/2012/08/the-12-best-mark-heard-songs.html) as an example of a great songwriter who is, sadly, no longer living. Also, for anyone interested in songwriters and songwriting, there’s a generous collection of fascinating interviews with a wide variety of songwriters [here](http://www.songfacts.com/blog/interviews/). ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/32 "2016-08-02T19:45:53Z")
Sara Bareilles. ---
**Author:** ![SaharaTea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SaharaTea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SaharaTea)\ **Post date:** [August 2, 2016, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334/33 "2016-08-02T20:17:24Z")
Ryan Adams, Lucinda Williams, Lyle Lovett, and Tom Waits are my favorite lyricists working today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-are-the-great-lyricists-today/761334.md?page=1)