Q – I’ve asked this of one of my musician friends. he said that every musician probably says this at one time or another. is there a song – maybe current or in the past, by another musician or group – that caused you to say to yourself “damn! i wish i wrote that one”? I’ve always wondered that of performers of your caliber. Do tell.
A – Well there are certainly a few that I wish I hadn’t written and there are many that I think are fantastic but which do something which is different to what I do, but do I wish I’d written them? not really. Most of the Time by Dylan is about as close to a song I might have written, and I think maybe I did halfway write it with Why I Love Country Music…
So how about a few of the many songs I’m in awe of?
Reason to Believe – Hardin
Idiot Wind – Dylan
Famous Blue Raincoat – Cohen
Waterloo Sunset – Davies
Sounds of Silence – Simon
Tennessee – Berman
Thunder Road – Springsteen
I Can’t Stand It – Reed
Purple Rain – Prince
Le Freak – Edwards/Rodgers
Big Bother – Bowie
Something On Your Mind – writer unknown, Karen Dalton sings it…
Which reminds me – a great song in a vacuum is like the proverbial tree in the forest, it needs a great performance to make it significant an any way. All the above have been done pretty well, I’d say.