Song Writers

The SMH posted on their website an article about song-writers. The article begins,
"the Dylans and Lennons of our age are out there, but they'll never be household names.

It sounded easy enough really: tell us who today are the great songwriters of the age, titles once held by the likes of Bob Dylan, Brian Wilson, Joni Mitchell, John Lennon and Paul McCartney. However, working out how to work that out is more than half the battle."

So, let me pose the question, is there a Lennon, McCartney, or Dylan out in the wide world of music today, or is the song writing "formulaic, emotionally empty songs."

I think the next paragraph in his article really sums it all up:

To my mind, the distance between Warren and Martin and their songs takes them out of the realm of great songs and places them in the category of great pieces of craft and skill. They are the workaday architects of music - they can tailor a song to your needs but they can never give you something that comes from their heart and enters yours. In other words, they are artisans not artists.

I guess for me... I think, and time will tell of their influence, I think of Michael Stipe (REM), Bono and the Edge (U2), and Thom Yorke (Radiohead). The article also in terms of influence mentions Kurt Corbain of Nirvana.

Okay, over to you all. Who are the "artists" of song writing today. Does anyone have the craft of Lennon / McCartney, the protest voice of Dylan, who amongst the throng of musicians has the craft to enter our soul and hit the very core of our being?

Listening: Hallelujah - Leonard Cohen.