Okay, ready to add my 2 cents:

Can't argue with McCartney, Lennon, et. al. I don't like some of their music, but you cannot argue that the Beatles will go down in history for, among all the other things, great lyrics.

And I was going to add Gilbert and Sullivan, thanks for sorting out who did the lyrics and who did the score.

A couple of other names that I do not immediately remember as being listed: Roy Orbison and Paul Simon. The sheer volume of Simon's work is amazing.

A couple of lesser lights, although no less in quality, would be Harold and Don Reid and Jimmy Fortune of the Statler Brothers. For years the SB's virtually owned the country music awards as the best group, and one of their songs was usually up for best song. Jimmy Fortune has written some of the most beautiful love songs ever recorded.

And last, and tied at number one on my list (with several others), is John Denver. To make #1 on my list the writer would have to have a large volume (no one hit wonders), have demonstrated an ability to handle different subject matters, be able to cross, at least marginally, some "genre" lines, and be able to speak to many different people on different levels. Hence, McCartney and Simon, but also Dylan, and Lightfoot. Denver is so often "dissed" because people only remember "Rocky Mountain High" or "Take Me Home Country Roads." It is fascinating to see how Denver's work changed through the years, just as his life changed and his emphasis changed. Denver could work with several different styles, although the one he prefered, and the one he was best at, was what he referred to as "Western Songs," the songs that were inspired by and came from a love for, the American west.

(P.S. Can't someone tell me why Hank Williams keeps showing up? I'm not trying to start a fight, but I would like someone to share a "why.")

Freightdawg