Why can't good songwriters continue to write good songs through their 40's and on?
It seems like once every good songwriter reaches about their mid 40's and on that they simply can't write a good song anymore. The examples are seemingly endless and it's a true rarity to find an odd exception to this rule.
So what is the deal? Do these guys get old and just stop caring about music? All of the older people I know in my life still love music so that can't be it. Is it just that these guys get pushed too hard and they burn out? |
you're talking about singer/songwriters and not songwriters.
time to start checking those song credits. |
there is sometimes a comeback of talent at 60 years of age
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Touche, yes, singer songwriters. I suppose theres a bunch of old ass guys writing hits for pop artists and shit
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Robert Plant has never really lost it.
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Great thread, Fuzzyroes. My answer is going to have to be The Smashing Pumpkins
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Neil Young is the obvious exception that comes to mind. he puts out bad stuff as well, but every few albums he still manages to hit it out of the park
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iirc leonard cohen was in his late fifties when i'm your man came out and early sixties when the future came out
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He's talking about Rivers Cuomo
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michael gira
but fuzzy is scared of swans |
tom waits
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I can't think of any gen xers yet tho
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oh jesus are they 40
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other than swans which isn't really relevant to this discussion because that's mostly about sound and not lyrics, i can't really think of anyone old making anything good after like idk 2000 or something
but i don't care about old people because punk rock forever |
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one of the few astute things b0lly ever said was pointing out (in the 90s) that rock is really a young man's game, and older people for whatever reason are bad at making rock music generally. Singer songwriters, I can think of a fair number who put out good stuff later in their careers. Blues guys don't even get warmed up until they get old according to several iconic bluesmen. |
well one, I'm thinking of something Buddy Guy said
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the past few years had these albums - so you can't even argue only the prime examples like Leonard Cohen, Neil Young or Bob Dylan "made one good album back then when they got old." Let England Shake - PJ Harvey age 42 Vulnicura - Björk age 49 50 Words for Snow - Kate Bush age 53 Push the Sky Away - Nick Cave age 56 Bad As me - Tom Waits age 61 |
there might be some correlation with singer songwriters coming from uncomfortable backgrounds, getting rich and comfortable, and numbing their still present feelings with endless therapy, consumerism, short lived relationships...and have an audience willing to listen to whatever drivel they produce, so stop really pulling out all the stops to get an audience
maybe that's just crogan |
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but overall I think his songwriting took a dip after Admiral Fell Promises. I will say though that I think he could still put out shit that sounds like earlier SKM and it would be just as good, but he is bored and for himself needs to keep doing something different, and I respect that. I don't respect him getting all crazy and having public spats with people in recent years, or calling that journalist a bitch on stage and asking why she wants to fuck him so bad or whatever. Admittedly, she did harass him and his friends on their home phones and then after the incident she profited off it by writing an article for the Atlantic about what a misogynistic awful pig he is... but yeah, it's still not cool Mark. |
It is often true though....i guess it depends what kind of music. But say...when your success was based on teenage angst for example, that fuel doesn't last. You have to find a different fuel. Once you're rich and successful, it gets harder i'm sure. Just the will to prove yourself when you're young for one, that's a powerful creative force and once you've proved yourself....
Musically i just think you're bound to run out of creativity, going around in circles, doing the same stuff you did except not as good, but as a parody of yourself. There's artists who try to get out of their comfort zone and try new stuff and these artists often manage to thrive, those that don't like i said just become a bad copy of their younger selves. |
yep. I'm not really familiar enough with other mediums of art I guess to say for sure, but it seems that musical artists suffer this decline way worse than people who write books or make films or whatever
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What about the The Grateful Dead, maan
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holy shit tom waits is only 61 I thought he was 161
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he is, he was around 61 when he did the Bad As Me album (which is good in my book.)
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