Bert, Sorry mate but am surrounded by them, in my area we have got Song Writers Clubs, Song Writers Courses, Song Writers Sessions etc etc, and from a Intrumentalists perspective,(which is what I am), it seems they border on being a mutual admiration society. I am continually asked what do I think of this song or that song etc, and what I say and what I really think are usually two different things. Of course there are good singer songwriers, my personal favorite is Paul Simon, and he uses a lot more than three chords. Most amateur self penned songs could be improved substantialy by adding in a few colour tones like augmented, diminshed, b and sus9's, flat 5's,etc etc. Too much emphasis on words not enough on music.