Name the last truly great song that was written. Are we out of new ideas?

"Believe Me"

2015

Okay, I tried Adele, Hometown Glory. That piano intro was already brutal enough and this is just more sappiness again. Courtney Barnett: at least this was not sappy and was in the style of 80s British stuff, though I found it grating. (Pedestrian at Best).The War on Drugs: couldn't stand it. reminded me a bit of a soft 80s band.Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros-home. This was more fun, more entertaining lyric interchange and music at first. The chorus I did not like. So not too bad, some good moments, but it is repetitious and overlong.Here's a band with a little more talent, even at an acoustic session at a music store with bad sound in 1991. They didn't need any production:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ked2VyOQKJM

Who Still Thinks wrote:

"Hometown Glory" by Adele is great

Courtney Barnett writes great stuff

The War on Drugs has some great tunes as well

So do Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

mavis staples

as long as we have her we are blessed

The National.

Can't name a specific song, but there's a lot of good ones. They are understated but make great music.

alt-j

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCCXq9QB-dQ

[reminds you of posting on letsrun]

last decade wrote:

you walked into this one wrote:

"Tribute" Tenacious D

"Ordinary People" John Legend

"Everlong" Foo Fighters

"The Scientist" Coldplay

"Pools" Glass Animals

"Hold Back the River" James Bay

Just off the top of my head. Mostly within the last decade.

2001, 2004, 1997, 2002 ...

The last two are in the past couple of years but this shows yet again how much music since the late 00s has taken a nosedive.

For more music of that period I'll submit most of the songs from the Silversun Pickups album "Carnavas."

Oh boy, time flies. Didn't realize some of those were so old. But I guess they are still pretty recent for the purposes of this thread.

I love Silversun Pickups but purposely left them off. I consider them very good, but not quite great. Analogous to Stone Temple Pilots but more original.

To go more recent, the Chili Peppers are still producing good stuff :)

I also love Ruth B's "Lost Boy," though she seems to be a one-hit wonder.

"Stolen Dance" by Milky Chance

"Chandelier" by Sia (and several others)

The trouble with the OP's question is that it's hard to judge "great" without the lens of time. I don't think I'll be listening to Ruth B in 20 years, but I'm pretty sure "The Adventures of Rain Dance Maggie" will be on my playlists forever. But Silversun Pickups? Modest Mouse? Bebe Rexha? Adele? Too hard to tell without about a million more listens.

The timeless classics of the award winning, critically acclaimed W.A. Yankovic were the last great ones in my mind:

Smells like Nirvana

Like a surgeon

King of Suede

See you again - Charlie Puth

DiscoGary wrote:

Night Fever - Bee Gees

Stayin Alive - Bee Gees

Jive Talkin - Bee Gees

LOL! I had no idea your handle was literal. Nice list, well done.

hmmmmm.... wrote:

krispy kremlin_._._ wrote:

Anything by Adele.

Are they great songs, or is she just a great singer? I have no doubt about the latter but I don't know if her songwriting is on par with, say, Dylan.

Dylan is so overrated it was Hendrix that made him look like a genius.

Mope Dealer wrote:

hmmmmm.... wrote:

Are they great songs, or is she just a great singer? I have no doubt about the latter but I don't know if her songwriting is on par with, say, Dylan.

Dylan is so overrated it was Hendrix that made him look like a genius.

Overrated by who?

Sugar by SOAD

Harry Chapin

Cat's in the Cradle

whydoesntdaddyloveme wrote:

Harry Chapin

Cat's in the Cradle

He sux.

"making Whoopee"

Ella Fitzgerald.

You people don't get out.

Meghan Trainor.. at least

Lots of great writers out there.

Cyndi Lauper = genius

Eric's Tears In Heaven.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSbqm7ZK_9s

Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae) by Silento.

spotterofidiot wrote:

spotterofdumbdumb wrote:

Hi dumb dumb! The thread is not whose songwriting is on par with Dylan(almost nobody), it's about great songs.

A song is more than just the words; it's how they are then embedded in the music, which instruments are used, and how the artist(singer and musicians) deliver the entire "package".

Dylan certainly had the wordsmithing part -- one of the best. But, his voice was awful. In fact, we probably have the extremes here - Adele being a 9/10 voice and Dylan being a .5/1(I might be being too kind here). But, his "bad" singing voice is part of what made his songs distinctive and memorable.

Hi idiot! A great song is not the same as a great performance. Thanks for sharing and go crawl back to your hole now.

Hi again dumb dumb!

Here's a little quick 2 min education for you, courtesy of Mr. Frank Zappa(one of the songwriting giants):

The whole interview is worth a watch but more apropos of your specific confusion here, focus on his story about playing with John Lennon minutes 10 through 12.

Hope this helps!