Best living songwriters? I think not!

While fiddling around on Paste's website, I found the publication's list of 100 best living songwriters. Of course, not seeing the creative forces behind my favorite group in this inventory irritates me -- especially so because there are numerous artists on the list who haven't produced any significant work in years, if not decades (e.g., Yusuf Islam née Cat Stevens née Steve Georgiou at #49 [he does have a new album, it's true, but I question its quality, given that his fairly strict Muslim beliefs have largely precluded him from singing secular music for the better part of three decades]) and several who -- at least, to my liking -- don't have the breadth (e.g., Josh Ritter at #97 [I don't have the inclination to comb through this list extensively, but anyone younger than me has little or no business being on the list]) or depth of work to justify inclusion (e.g., Michael Jackson at #72 [yes, he's a pop icon, but, to my ears, many of his songs are interchangeable]).

Here are the top 10:

10. Prince
9. Joni Mitchell
8. Elvis Costello
7. Brian Wilson (The Beach Boys)
6. Leonard Cohen
5. Paul McCartney (The Beatles, Wings)
4. Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan
3. Bruce Springsteen
2. Neil Young (Buffalo Sprinfield, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young)
1. Bob Dylan

I must admit that I don't listen to most of these folks. I've just gotten "into" The Beatles, so I'm finally coming to like Paul and John's '60s output. (From what I've heard, however, the former should stick to popular music and leave the oratorios and the like to the professionals. The link for the latter is "courtesy of" his much-reviled widow, so haters beware!) Pet Sounds is a landmark in American music, so kudos to the reclusive Wilson (or should I say "the formerly reclusive Wilson"). There are a couple of Leonard Cohen songs I like ("Everybody Knows" [sample available here] and "Waiting for the Miracle" [first heard by me as part of the Natural Born Killers soundtrack album]) and I must give mad props to my fellow Twin Citian at #10. (The Purple One's official website "was abruptly shut down on July 3, 2006" and the MySpace link provided on his Wikipedia page doesn't work, hence the link to his club in Vegas [at which, coincidentally, Esthero is performing tomorrow night].)

Perhaps my musical tastes are not well-developed (read as "he's closed-minded"), but maybe I like it that way, so there!