Favourite Musicans/songwriters.

[DrugProwlingWolf]

Gonna have to go with, in no order, these fine people:

Shane MacGowan,
Joe Strummer,
Tom Waits,
Warren Zevon,
Nick Cave.

[PureIrishPunk]

shane-o
josh homme
strummer
jack white
matt pike

[old barney greyheron]

Can I have six? ta very mucha...
1...Shane Macgowan...simply godlike.
2...Roger Waters...wrote some searing lyrics.
3...Lou Reed...you can smell his words.
4...John Lennon...great rock 'n' roll voice.
5...Seasick Steve...I love the bloke.
6...Steve Mclelland...(bfch)...me soul brother and a talented guy.

oh...and Neil Young please...

[girlfromcountyhell]

Shane MacGowan is (naturally) my favorite. No one else comes close to him in terms of lyrical GENIUS. The rest of the Pogues are good as well. I don't remember who wrote the song "Smell of Petrol" from WFH, but I love those lyrics as well.

Who else...Joe Strummer is great, as is U2 (although I tend to like their music for the music rather than the lyrics, if that makes sense). Another GREAT band to check out is Arcade Fire; I think they're the best band to come out in a very long time. Check them out if you haven't already!

[ExFishManAustralis]

This is neither a definitive nor complete list of my favourites... just a brain-dump of current influences....

Wally Page - Writes some of the most beautiful songs I have ever heard, many of them brought to wider attention by Christy Moore and Declan 'Dr. Vibes' Sinnot.
Woody Guthrie - self-explanatory
Shane MacGowan - ditto
Proinsias Ó Maonaigh (Franky Mooney) - Father of Altan's lead singer, writer of some heart-wrenching Donegal songs, including the almost anthemic 'Gleanntain Glas Gaoth Dobhair (Green Glens of Gweedore).
Ewan McColl - Kirsty's pa, prolific writer of songs with real lyric content and a massively seminal folk-music character. And a right bloshie too.

[territa]

Favourite Songwriters, without who's mighty work my life would be much, much less rich.

Guy Clark
...

Yes! excellent! how do you know about him? I'm still introducing my neighbors to his music...

[phro37]

Jagger/Richards (for "Sway" and "Dead Flowers", if nothing else)
......
Though I wouldn't put them on the list as greatest, Mike Ness/Arcade Fire/Radiohead are certainly worthy of mention.

Townes van Zandt does an AMAZING cover of "Dead Flowers." it comes out at the end of The Big Lebowski.

and i was actually thinking of mike ness. i enjoy the simplicity of a lot of social d's lyrics (haven't heard his other stuff, though). very simple rhyming schemes but the words are deep and can be felt by many a soul. something johnny cash was brilliant at.

if you've never heard of richard buckner check out his song "ariel ramirez."
atmosphere (underground hip hop; actually, there's a lot of talent in this genre)
david king (flogging molly)
janis joplin anyone?
brad nowell (sublime)
jim james (my morning jacket)
chris carrabba (dashboard confessional)

a couple of "younger" bands in there but that shouldn't be a reason to dismiss

[devmeister91]

Shane O'Mac - not sure why I would be here if he wasn't

Johnny Cash
Tom Waits - not sure whether I prefer the jazzy boho stuff or the Brechtian junkyard stuff!
Einsturzende Neubauten (not easy on the ears, but still...)
Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds
the Velvet Underground
Tricky - much better than Portishead and possibly Massive Attack, but not as highly rated

And also, and I'm surprised nobody here has mentioned him for songwriters: Townes Van Zandt - a favourite of Steve Earle - who has been mentioned here. I recommend Live at the Old Quarter for all TVZ newbies.

[BelfastsLittlesHobo]

Shane MacGowan
Bob Marley
Tupac Shakur
Bob Dylan
Bruce Springsteen
John Lennon

Not my definitive list but there you go.............

[cagliostro]

In no particular order:
The Pogues which I'm lumping into one entity (sorry guys, I will not choose)
Tom Waits (which seems standard here, strangely enough)
John Linnell of They Might Be Giants (he writes lyrics like nobody else, as well as great pop hooks, and just keeps getting better and better)
Scott Miller of Game Theory/Loud Family (I prefer and highly recommend Loud Family)
E of the Eels
Kirsty MacColl
Kate Bush
Robyn Hitchcock (a person I have followed for years, but lost interest due to too much overproduction on his albums, until his more recent albums that are scaled back quite a bit. It seems the rawer he is, the more I like him)
The Residents
Jill Sobule (SOOOOOOO much more than the original "I Kissed A Girl" singer)

Sorry, I had to go with 10.

[Jimmy Jazz]

so many to choose from:

Shane
Joe Strummer
Difford/Tillbrook (squeeze)
John Doe (X)
Billy Bragg
Jay Reatard
Paul Westerberg
Frank Black

[Clash Cadillac]

Greatest Song Writers Of All Time

[in_the_morning]

Shane MacGowan

Townes Van Zandt

Johnny Cash

George Jones

Tony Duggins

[Villajohn]

Richard Thompson.

[Villajohn]

Ron Hynes,Ron Sexsmith, Ron Davies, Ron Kavana,Ronnie Lane, Ronnie Wood,Mick RONson.I don't need this pressure Ron!