10 Best Living Songwriters

Paste Magazine recently published their list of 100 Best Living Songwriters. I agree with their No. 1 pick but am appalled to find Merle Haggard way down in the 60s behind Sting (!) and James Brown conspicuously absent from the Top 50!!!

Therefore, I hereby submit my own list of 10 Best Living Songwriters.

1. Bob Dylan
"Like a Rolling Stone," "Idiot Wind," "Jokerman," the guy is a lyrical genius also capable of composing beautiful melodies like "Lay Lady Lay" and "Just Like a Woman." Plus, he's still going strong with his new record "Modern Times" already creating a buzz prior to its Aug. 28 release.
2. Randy Newman
The foremost soundtrack composer in Hollywood ("The Natural," "Ragtime"), Newman is also pop music's greatest satirist ("Short People"), and a balladeer who can reduce grown men to tears ("Louisiana 1927").
3. James Brown
Take James Brown out of the equation and you can kiss funk, disco and Prince goodbye.
4. Chuck Berry
Take Chuck Berry out of the equation and you can kiss The Beatles and The Rolling Stones goodbye. Keith Richards stole Berry's guitar riffs and John Lennon once said another name for rock 'n' roll should simply be Chuck Berry.
5. Leonard Cohen
Pop music's only true poet, Leonard Cohen's lyrics actually look as good on paper as they sound on record — just check out the biblical imagery Cohen uses in his sexy masterpiece  "Hallelujah."
6. Bruce Springsteen
Whether articulating angst-ridden father and son relationships ("Independence Day," "Growin' Up"), the perils of Vietnam vets ("Born in the U.S.A."), the grief of a nation post 9-11 ("The Rising") or desperate teenage love ("Thunder Road"); the first son of New Jersey speaks for Americans from sea to shining sea.
7. Joni Mitchell
The confessional lyrics laced with jazzy melodies, her album "Blue"  might just be the greatest singer/songwriter effort of the 1970s.
8. Lou Reed
The ultimate New York City man, Lou Reed thrust transvestites, heroin addicts and various other extreme losers into a world previously populated only by fast cars, high school sweethearts and cartoon bullies.
9. Mick Jagger/Keith Richards
Whether mocking their own Satanist reputation in "Sympathy for the Devil,"  or pining for a lost lover in "Sway," or getting a party started with "Jumping Jack Flash," the Glimmer Twins hit the mark like no other living songwriting duo in rock 'n' roll.
10. Willie Nelson
The author of "Crazy," "Funny How Time Slips Away," and "Hello walls," Willie expresses "bitter" better than any scorned man alive.
Honorable mention: Brian Wilson, Lucinda Williams, Merle Haggard, John Prine, Tom Waits, Neil Young.

WHAT DID I MISS?