and do you think she is a good song writer?

Although not technically from the UK (even though he has lived here for the last 5-6 years) or a chart artist, I'm going to say the comedian Tim Minchin. Comedy is just a small part of his act, the songs he sings are the real stars of his live shows. Yes, they are mostly comedy songs but the majority of them are so amazingly and cleverly written, and his more serious songs can be things of beauty and make you tear up a bit. 'You Grew On Me' is a piano ballad that compares falling in love to slowly dying from a terminal illness, yet he makes it seem like the most natural comparison in the world. It really does tug at your heartstrings

His voice is decent enough for a singing comedian, but his lyrics and piano playing are the real stars of his songs. In fact I'd go so far as to say he's one of the best songwriters of the last 10 years.

Check out You Grew On Me: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=frNpdG4F9mw

Also, another example of his songwriting, the amazing Not Perfect:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exwn6fuF9y0

In that case you could add Victoria Wood her comedy songs are amazing the ballad of barry and freida a prime example and better than most songwriters out there.

And for that person who mentioned Ester Dean she is American.

Amy Macdonald by some distance. .

Some of the people mentioned like Paloma Faith you cannot judge as they only co-write.

Ed Sheeran

Ester Dean is a shocking songwriter lol

'Na Na Na Na Na Na Na'

V V Brown

I must agree that Amy Macdonald is extremely underrated.

Agree with this, anyone that co-writes you cant judge as you just dont know what impact they had on a song.
I think only those who totally write on thier own or only dabble in co-writting are contenders for this thread.

Yes we can judge. She could of wrote 99% of every single song of hers. She wrote the majority of '30 minute Love Affair' and to me - that is one of the greatest songs lyrically, of all time.



I dont get why everyone thinks Amy Macdonald is under-rated....she is absolutely terrible i think. Her tone of voice is horrible, and her song writing skills are basic.

KT Tunstall

If someone is such a good songwriter then they would more often than not write most of their material without the need of any help.

I'm not sure what songs you listen to with regards to Amy Macdonald but her songwriting is far from basic. The melodies she composes are infectious, she has the ability to conjure up so much emotion in her writing and she doesn't write about cliche love themes and instead uses interesting subject matters for her lyrics such as alzheimer's disease, Chilean mining disaster or football rivalry etc, this she has proven over 3 albums now.

For the record we are not talking about voices but it's all down to personal taste. I hate Paloma's whiney. faux american vocals.

As you say - its all down to person opinion. And i think Amy MacDonald is absolutely shit.

Amy isn't that successful for a reason - she just isn't that good.

Paloma and Marina & The Diamonds are under-rated vocally and lyrically, but they do have success because people do believe in their music, their vocal ability etc.

But to me - Amy MacDonald is nothing new, she is a bore. The tone in her voice is hard to stomach. And i have listened to her songs, and its nothing new. (i know im going of topic here, because this person is not british) but Lana Del Rey writes great songs, the melodies are perfect, and she makes it truly magnificent to listen to. So compare Lana Del Rey and Paloma, then Lana Del Rey and Amy MacDonald and you will see how basic Amy's writing skills are - in fact, i would say Taylor swift has more writing ability than Amy - and thats saying something.

Amy Macdonald may not be your taste but she is far from shit. And i'm not sure what lack of success it is you talk about? her album has risen back up to no4 this week. And she has already started righting for other artists and we will be hearing those songs over the next few years i would imagine.

I like Lana Del Rey alot but she isn't anything more than a visualist and a co-writer. Can't comment on Marina person as not heard of them.

And to Taylor Swift, sorry that;s just being stupid. I respect her for writing on her own previously but her topic matters are incredibly basic and resolve mostly around teen love and break ups.

Eliza Doolittle

I agree with Amy Studt & Nerina Pallot! Love both.

Jon Allen.

Martin L Gore (Depeche Mode)

difford/tilbrook

WhyHelloWorld -Amy isn't that successful for a reason - she just isn't that good.

Yes - that'll be why she's sold more than 4 times the combined sales of Paloma Faith and Marina and the Diamonds. In fact with 4 and a half million sales it is probably more than 5 times.
I also agree with Nerina Pallot

Nerina Pallot doesn't seem to get either critical recognition or sales, which is a shame, as she's a fantastic singer and has written some exceptional songs.

Insult both taylor and Amy in one go
Taylor and Amy are two of the top female songwriters on the planet.
And how can you say amy is shit, be thankful that we have an artist as talented as her from the UK, we dont have a lot to shout about musically here in the UK especially females so amy is a breath of fresh air and one of the best from our shores.

Love Amy as i do and whilst i agree she should get more recognition she is far from one of the best she suffers the same issue as Taylor namely same subject different tune (i know alot of artist suffer with that only so much you can write about) but it has become apparent on LIABL she needs to move on a bit and a song about her love for the Rangers (i think im not up on sport ) sealed it for me. So whilst ignored and relegated on this island of ours i think she will never compete with the truly gifted out there.

And apart from the majority of the UK top 40 we have so much to shout about in our music be proud stop shooting it down

And another mention for the mass underrated Laura Marling.

Geri.

She's never written about her love of Rangers. And what is the same subject she keeps writing about? Because I don't think that's the case either . Every song on LIABL is about something completely different.

Amy Macdonald, Taylor Swift and Laura Marling have a real
Lack of AirPlay in the UK and that's the problem if everyone was on an equal playing field it would just come down to personal choice rather than a few getting top airplay constantly so that subconsciously you've heard it so often you just think you like them.