Talk:Songwriter
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Try calling Franz Schubert a "melodist", or Shakespeare a "lyricist". AlanE 16:40, 8 September 2008 (EDT)
- Shakespeare didn't write lyrics, and I don't think Schubert would approve of "songwriter" :) HelpJazz 17:27, 8 September 2008 (EDT)
Too right on Shakespeare. However Franz was a writer (composer) of songs - some say the greatest. I think if an interviewer had said: "Herr Schubert; as a songwriter, do you think that blah blah blah?" he would not have been too upset.
- I think this article should be confined to "popular" music. AlanE 17:46, 8 September 2008 (EDT)
Have done. Cheers. AlanE 18:48, 8 September 2008 (EDT)
There are songs in several of Shakespeare's plays.
To the point, why are almost all the named songwriters noted liberals? Are there no conservative songwriters of their caliber? Rafael 17:45, 11 April 2012 (EDT)
- Apropos the above comment - I have just added eight songwriters, all of whom added gems to the treasure that is called "The Great American Songbook". I wrote their names in the order they came to mind then realised they were/are all Jewish!. And all bar one are of middle or Eastern European heritage. These facts, I think, have as much bearing on the enjoyment of their music as their "liberalness" or otherwise. AlanE 17:18, 15 July 2012 (EDT)
"Notable" songwriters could go on for ever without some criteria for determining who is notable. CasparRH 19:39, 15 July 2012 (EDT)
- Sure, but I picked a particular sub-genre. Cole Porter and those I added this morning (Gershwin and below) were (and in Sondheim's case, is) song composers who have written songs that are generally considered to be "standards". Their testament is in their music. Take one of them: perhaps you haven't heard of Harold Arlen, but he wrote "Stormy Weather", "Blues in the Night", "Sing Hallelujah, come on get happy", and many other songs including all the songs in "The Wizard of Oz". He is not a household name now, but he was - and to anyone who loves what is usually called "The Great American Songbook" these chaps are notable and much of their music unforgettable. Even if you don't hear them sung much these days (is Sinatra heard much these days?) many of them have morphed into "jazz classics". I'd bet that somewhere in America this week, some school, college or other amateur group is rehearsing a show containing songs by one of these blokes. Cheers. AlanE 20:29, 15 July 2012 (EDT)