Who do you believe is the greatest songwriter of all time?

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Who do you believe is the greatest songwriter of all time?

This question is strictly about the lyrics of songs and does not have in view the notes or any other aspects of the tune(s) to which a song has been sung.

Discussion

I thought we had this question before but maybe I’m mistaken. Besides the Holy Spirit, Isaac Watts for me. Cowper and then Newton would be next.

[josh p]

I thought we had this question before but maybe I’m mistaken. Besides the Holy Spirit, Isaac Watts for me. Cowper and then Newton would be next.

This question is different because it strictly concerns those who have written the lyrics to songs. The previous question was related but different: “WHO DO YOU THINK IS THE MOST IMPORTANT MUSICIAN IN HUMAN HISTORY?

[Dan Miller]

William Schwenck Gilbert had some very impressive rhymes.

I intentionally have not provided any criteria because I want to leave the question as open-ended as possible to see what answers are given without my restricting or affecting the answers in any way.