Neither of them do. Lana wrote the majority of her first album by herself, but her second is completely co-written. As for pink, I can't think of a single song she has written by herself, but guessing by the wink, you already knew that.
Co-writing snobbery is peculiar. That term covers two extremes; people who contribute nothing substantial and people who create essentially everything, so you have to engage a bit of common sense and look at the bigger picture when judging someones songwriting ability. Not just dismiss them because there are two or more names in the credits.
I don't think this 'snobbery' is entirely out of place.
I've grown up listening to Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and many others. They are all singer-songwriters, commentators on their life and times and provide a worthy depth to their work. It's difficult to say that about most modern artists.
Calvin Harris is a talented musician and producer but most of his work is pretty shallow. Amy Winehouse and Eminem are worth a listen and a study and Taylor Swift has a great sense of humour and irony. But it is the personal involvement in their output that makes it worth listening to.
In the end it's whether you see pop stars as artists or craftspersons.
To be fair, the Beatles had four people to co-write their songs. That's not really comparable to a solo artist.
A bit misleading to suggest that The Beatles wrote as a foursome..very, very rarely was that the case. Harrison wrote almost all of his stuff on his own, as did Lennon and McCartney after '62.
Bands can be more of a creative force than a solo artist but I wouldn't say that to Dylan, Springsteen and Wonder.
Discussing the most popular stuff is fair enough I suppose. What's weird to me is how some people seem to think it's representative of the way music is made in general.
It is a fair point but there was a time when more creative artists did actually dominate the charts. The fragmentation of the listening audience amongst other things has contributed to the changes.
It is a fair point but there was a time when more creative artists did actually dominate the charts. The fragmentation of the listening audience amongst other things has contributed to the changes.
I was going to criticise you for cherry picking the best artists from the past to make your point but seeing as you do recognise how much the music landscape has changed since then I'll let you off .
I don't think this 'snobbery' is entirely out of place.
I've grown up listening to Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and many others. They are all singer-songwriters, commentators on their life and times and provide a worthy depth to their work. It's difficult to say that about most modern artists.
Calvin Harris is a talented musician and producer but most of his work is pretty shallow. Amy Winehouse and Eminem are worth a listen and a study and Taylor Swift has a great sense of humour and irony. But it is the personal involvement in their output that makes it worth listening to.
In the end it's whether you see pop stars as artists or craftspersons.
Co-writing doesn't inherently prevent a personal output, though. Obviously it makes it easier for your music to be personal if you have more involvement, but as I stated...co-writing credit =/= minimal creative input.
Calvin Harris makes party music in the '10s. He's clearly not aiming for emotional depth or beautifully crafted lyrics, rather crafting a melody that will get people singing along in unison and a beat that will make them move. He's not storytelling in a conventional singer/songwriter manner, he's setting a scene and creating a mood.
You can flip it and say Bob Dylan would be shit at making a room feel euphoric and want to dance. Different artists have different goals, neither one is better or more respectable by default.
Calvin Harris makes party music in the '10s. He's clearly not aiming for emotional depth or beautifully crafted lyrics, rather crafting a melody that will get people singing along in unison and a beat that will make them move. He's not storytelling in a conventional singer/songwriter manner, he's setting a scene and creating a mood.
You can flip it and say Bob Dylan would be shit at making a room feel euphoric and want to dance. Different artists have different goals, neither one is better or more respectable by default.
There are so many artists in the past who could get you to dance and think at the same time (Stevie Wonder, Marvin, Marley, Jackson, Roxy...) that the Calvin Harris point just doesn't stand up to analysis. There's just so little to that music.
The Bob Dylan thing is fair enough, although he has tried.
I agree about Calvin Harris. A lot of his songs recently have been quite poor. And some of his songs aren't even that good for dancing to anyway. There's much better songs out there that make you want to dance, even though they're a slower tempo. R.I.P. by Rita Ora, is also pretty meaningless to be fair, but it's 70 beats per minute, and still fantastic for dancing to. It gets you moving your hips, which Calvin's songs don't do.
As has been mentioned, the vast majority of artists outside of the top 40 write their own music. I know most of the Digital Spy crowd like chart pop music but if they just opened their ears to other styles, they will find some wonderful music available out there.
The OP saying that Amy MacDonald is the only one is so far wide of the mark to almost be laughable!
Deftones, Jimmy Eat World, Silversun Pickups, Yellowcard, Blink 182. My Chemical Romance, Fiona Apple, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Alter Bridge, Paramore, Stone Sour, The Gaslight Anthem, Rise Against....need I go on?
Marina Diamandis, lead singer of Marina & the Diamonds, wrote the whole of her first album on her own, and it was BRIT nominated! She wrote several songs on her second album on her own and co-wrote with some others.
Florence Welch, from Florence & the Machine, writes all of her songs and co-writes on others while Example also writes his own material, again he co-writes songs to but also writes songs for other bands.
Lana Del Rey writes all of her stuff to and writes for other people too!
Marina Diamandis, lead singer of Marina & the Diamonds, wrote the whole of her first album on her own, and it was BRIT nominated! She wrote several songs on her second album on her own and co-wrote with some others.
Florence Welch, from Florence & the Machine, writes all of her songs and co-writes on others while Example also writes his own material, again he co-writes songs to but also writes songs for other bands.
Lana Del Rey writes all of her stuff to and writes for other people too!
I'm afraid your wrong, Lana Del Ray has co-writers. I'm sure anybody with talent wouldn't need Lana to write a song for them either.
Jessie Ware one of my favourite new talents wrote her entire debut album and was regularly regarded as one of the best albums of last year and has had her nominated for 2 Brits.
I came into this thread thinking it was the same one. I thought there couldn't be 2 threads about someone thinking Amy McDonald is the only singer who writes her own songs... how wrong I was.
Jessie Ware one of my favourite new talents wrote her entire debut album and was regularly regarded as one of the best albums of last year and has had her nominated for 2 Brits.
Jessie Ware didn't write a single song on her album by herself.
Why do people keep naming people who use co-writers? Neither Marina Diamandis or Florence Welch wrote their albums alone. Writing a couple songs on your own is not the same as writing an album.
A-ha
AC/DcC
A.C Newman
The afghan Whigs
Alice in chains
Amanda Palmer
Animal Collective
April Smith
Arcade Fire
Audioslave
Band of horses
Beach house
Brian Wilson
Beatles
Beck
Ben caplan
Besnard lakes
Bell ah
Billy talent
Black keys
Blind melon
Blind pilot
Bob Dylan
Bouncing souls
Bright eyes
Built to spill
Brain junction
Camera obscura
Catherine wheel
Cave in
Cherry ghost
Civil wars
The clash
The cure
Dappled cities
Dandelion
Bowie
De stat
Death cab for cutie
Decemberists
Deer hunter
Delgados
Depeche mode
Dr. Dog
Dry the river
Eels
Elo
Elvis Costello
Empire of the sun
Faith no more
Fields
Filter
First aid kit
Flaming lips
Fleet foxes
Fleetwood mac
Foo fighters
The format
Frank Ferdinand
Garbage
Gaslight anthem
Girls against boys
Granddaddy
Green day
Gringo Starr
Grizzly beat
Buster
Gutter twins
Helmet
Horrible crowes
Hot hot heat
Idle wild
Incubus
Iron maiden
The jam
Janes addiction
Jay Clifford
Jellyfish
Jersey street band
Jimmy eat world
Joy division
Jump
Kasabian
Kent
The killers
The kinks
Life of agony
Live
Love drug
Manic street preachers
Mansun
Massive attack
Me
Megadeath
Metallica
Mendoz line
Mercury rev
Metric
Miserable rich
Modest mouse
Monster magnet
Monsters of folk
Muse
My morning jacket
Nada surf
The national
Neko case
New pornagraphers
Nirvana
Okkervil river
Paradise lost
Paul Simon
Pearl jam
The pierces
Pilotdrift
Pink floyd
The pixies
Pj Harvey
Powder finger
Punch brothers
Rem
Radiohead
Chili peppers
Rent zero
Rival school s
Rural alberta advantage
Satchel
Screaming trees
Shawn smith
The shins
Silversun pickups
Skin dive
Sleater Kinney
Sleepy Jackson
Smashing pumpkins
Soundgarden
Span
Stars
Stone roses
Strokes
Sunny day real estate
Talking heads
Tallest man on earth
Therapy
Titus andronicus
Tori Amos
Tragically hip
Tripping daisy
Twilight singers
Vast
The vines
We are augustines
We cut corners
Weezers
The who
Wild sweet orange
Wilt
The wild hearts
Wolf parade
The wrens
Yeah yeah yeahs
Yukon blonde
Zwan
Co- writers is not a problem per se, esp if theres an established partnership- we dont look down on Elton John cos he wrote with Bernie Taupin or Robbie Williams teaming up with Guy Chambers.
I think the issue is more when major artists have next to no writing credentials. OK, I get the Elvis argument that some people are more entertainers, but when it becomes ubiquitious & the music scene is awash with non writers, it makes you question how dedicated to the art of musicianship some music stars are.
Co- writers is not a problem per se, esp if theres an established partnership- we dont look down on Elton John cos he wrote with Bernie Taupin or Robbie Williams teaming up with Guy Chambers.
I think the issue is more when major artists have next to no writing credentials. OK, I get the Elvis argument that some people are more entertainers, but when it becomes ubiquitious & the music scene is awash with non writers, it makes you question how dedicated to the art of musicianship some music stars are.
Why do people keep naming people who use co-writers? Neither Marina Diamandis or Florence Welch wrote their albums alone. Writing a couple songs on your own is not the same as writing an album.
Actually, on her first album, Marina wrote 8/13 tracks all by herslef, that means with no-one else, and the other 5 only had one or two other writers!
Anyway, what's is wrong with co-writing a song? Florence writes most of the material anyway, as she has the first credit, and the only other writers are long term friend and collaboraor, Isabella Summers or Paul Epworth! Otherwise, she wrote the songs entirley on her own!
Comments
Neither of them do. Lana wrote the majority of her first album by herself, but her second is completely co-written. As for pink, I can't think of a single song she has written by herself, but guessing by the wink, you already knew that.
I don't think this 'snobbery' is entirely out of place.
I've grown up listening to Bob Dylan, Van Morrison, Leonard Cohen, Lou Reed, Bruce Springsteen, Joni Mitchell and many others. They are all singer-songwriters, commentators on their life and times and provide a worthy depth to their work. It's difficult to say that about most modern artists.
Calvin Harris is a talented musician and producer but most of his work is pretty shallow. Amy Winehouse and Eminem are worth a listen and a study and Taylor Swift has a great sense of humour and irony. But it is the personal involvement in their output that makes it worth listening to.
In the end it's whether you see pop stars as artists or craftspersons.
A bit misleading to suggest that The Beatles wrote as a foursome..very, very rarely was that the case. Harrison wrote almost all of his stuff on his own, as did Lennon and McCartney after '62.
Bands can be more of a creative force than a solo artist but I wouldn't say that to Dylan, Springsteen and Wonder.
It is a fair point but there was a time when more creative artists did actually dominate the charts. The fragmentation of the listening audience amongst other things has contributed to the changes.
Co-writing doesn't inherently prevent a personal output, though. Obviously it makes it easier for your music to be personal if you have more involvement, but as I stated...co-writing credit =/= minimal creative input.
Calvin Harris makes party music in the '10s. He's clearly not aiming for emotional depth or beautifully crafted lyrics, rather crafting a melody that will get people singing along in unison and a beat that will make them move. He's not storytelling in a conventional singer/songwriter manner, he's setting a scene and creating a mood.
You can flip it and say Bob Dylan would be shit at making a room feel euphoric and want to dance. Different artists have different goals, neither one is better or more respectable by default.
There are so many artists in the past who could get you to dance and think at the same time (Stevie Wonder, Marvin, Marley, Jackson, Roxy...) that the Calvin Harris point just doesn't stand up to analysis. There's just so little to that music.
The Bob Dylan thing is fair enough, although he has tried.
Amy is that you?
The OP saying that Amy MacDonald is the only one is so far wide of the mark to almost be laughable!
Florence Welch, from Florence & the Machine, writes all of her songs and co-writes on others while Example also writes his own material, again he co-writes songs to but also writes songs for other bands.
Lana Del Rey writes all of her stuff to and writes for other people too!
I'm afraid your wrong, Lana Del Ray has co-writers. I'm sure anybody with talent wouldn't need Lana to write a song for them either.
I came into this thread thinking it was the same one. I thought there couldn't be 2 threads about someone thinking Amy McDonald is the only singer who writes her own songs... how wrong I was.
Love her
Jessie Ware didn't write a single song on her album by herself.
There are countless modern day bands and artists who write their own material. You need to listen to XFM!
AC/DcC
A.C Newman
The afghan Whigs
Alice in chains
Amanda Palmer
Animal Collective
April Smith
Arcade Fire
Audioslave
Band of horses
Beach house
Brian Wilson
Beatles
Beck
Ben caplan
Besnard lakes
Bell ah
Billy talent
Black keys
Blind melon
Blind pilot
Bob Dylan
Bouncing souls
Bright eyes
Built to spill
Brain junction
Camera obscura
Catherine wheel
Cave in
Cherry ghost
Civil wars
The clash
The cure
Dappled cities
Dandelion
Bowie
De stat
Death cab for cutie
Decemberists
Deer hunter
Delgados
Depeche mode
Dr. Dog
Dry the river
Eels
Elo
Elvis Costello
Empire of the sun
Faith no more
Fields
Filter
First aid kit
Flaming lips
Fleet foxes
Fleetwood mac
Foo fighters
The format
Frank Ferdinand
Garbage
Gaslight anthem
Girls against boys
Granddaddy
Green day
Gringo Starr
Grizzly beat
Buster
Gutter twins
Helmet
Horrible crowes
Hot hot heat
Idle wild
Incubus
Iron maiden
The jam
Janes addiction
Jay Clifford
Jellyfish
Jersey street band
Jimmy eat world
Joy division
Jump
Kasabian
Kent
The killers
The kinks
Life of agony
Live
Love drug
Manic street preachers
Mansun
Massive attack
Me
Megadeath
Metallica
Mendoz line
Mercury rev
Metric
Miserable rich
Modest mouse
Monster magnet
Monsters of folk
Muse
My morning jacket
Nada surf
The national
Neko case
New pornagraphers
Nirvana
Okkervil river
Paradise lost
Paul Simon
Pearl jam
The pierces
Pilotdrift
Pink floyd
The pixies
Pj Harvey
Powder finger
Punch brothers
Rem
Radiohead
Chili peppers
Rent zero
Rival school s
Rural alberta advantage
Satchel
Screaming trees
Shawn smith
The shins
Silversun pickups
Skin dive
Sleater Kinney
Sleepy Jackson
Smashing pumpkins
Soundgarden
Span
Stars
Stone roses
Strokes
Sunny day real estate
Talking heads
Tallest man on earth
Therapy
Titus andronicus
Tori Amos
Tragically hip
Tripping daisy
Twilight singers
Vast
The vines
We are augustines
We cut corners
Weezers
The who
Wild sweet orange
Wilt
The wild hearts
Wolf parade
The wrens
Yeah yeah yeahs
Yukon blonde
Zwan
I think the issue is more when major artists have next to no writing credentials. OK, I get the Elvis argument that some people are more entertainers, but when it becomes ubiquitious & the music scene is awash with non writers, it makes you question how dedicated to the art of musicianship some music stars are.
Actually, on her first album, Marina wrote 8/13 tracks all by herslef, that means with no-one else, and the other 5 only had one or two other writers!
Anyway, what's is wrong with co-writing a song? Florence writes most of the material anyway, as she has the first credit, and the only other writers are long term friend and collaboraor, Isabella Summers or Paul Epworth! Otherwise, she wrote the songs entirley on her own!