The songwriters Paul Simon thinks are better than Bob Dylan: “It’s about whose songs last”
As a solo artist and as part of the folk duo Simon & Garfunkel, Paul Simon has made a name for himself as one of the all-time greats in songwriting. From the melodic mid-life crisis of ‘You Can Call Me Al’ to the folk-rock genius of ‘Mrs. Robinson’, written for The Graduate, Simon has penned some of the most innovative and well-loved songs of all time.
Simon began songwriting with his school friend, Art Garfunkel, in his early teens. Just a couple of years later, the duo were charting under the moniker of Tom & Jerry, and the rest is history. The two went on to become one of the most celebrated songwriting duos of all time, despite their eventual descent into feuding and fighting.
With six US number ones, two inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and 16 Grammy Awards to his name, it’s safe to say that Simon knows a thing or two about songwriting. Consequently, he had strong opinions on his peers in this area, as he once divulged to Mojo in a 2011 interview.
Simon shared his opinion on the greatest songwriters of all time, in which he placed Paul McCartney above Bob Dylan, in his estimation. He shared: “I’d put Gershwin, Berlin and Hank Williams. I’d probably put Paul McCartney in there, too. Then I’d have Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart.”
Simon continued to detail the songwriters who he believed ranked below the likes of McCartney and Williams, stating, “Then, in the second tier, Lennon is there, Dylan is there, Bob Marley and Stephen Sondheim are there, and maybe I’m there, too. It’s about whose songs last.”
There’s no doubt that McCartney’s songwriting has outlasted almost all of his peers. From the beauty of ‘Blackbird’ in 1968 to the epic ‘Let It Be’, the bassist and vocalist penned a vast number of beloved Beatles classics. It’s interesting that Simon would place him above his fellow Beatle, John Lennon, given that the two formed one of the most cherished and successful songwriting duos of all time.
Simon also places McCartney above Dylan, who only reaches his second tier of great songwriters. This estimation is astonishing, primarily because many would place McCartney and Dylan in the same category as some of the greatest songwriters of all time. But it’s also somewhat surprising that Simon would include Dylan on the list at all.
Famously, Dylan and Simon weren’t the best of friends. At a show in Manhattan in 1964, Dylan sat at the bar with critic Robert Shelton and laughed during their set, sparking their rivalry. Simon later told Rolling Stone, “I usually come in second (to Dylan), and I don’t like coming in second”. he told Rolling Stone, “In the beginning, when we were first signed to Columbia, I really admired Dylan’s work. ‘The Sound of Silence’ wouldn’t have been written if it weren’t for Dylan. But I left that feeling around The Graduate and ‘Mrs Robinson’. They weren’t folky anymore.”
Despite Simon’s more technically proficient vocals, he believed that his voice put him in second place to Dylan’s first. “One of my deficiencies is my voice sounds sincere,” Simon added. “I’ve tried to sound ironic. I don’t. I can’t. Dylan, everything he sings has two meanings. He’s telling you the truth and making fun of you at the same time. I sound sincere every time.”
Despite their earlier tiffs, Simon put their feud aside by naming Dylan alongside himself in the second tier of great songwriters. Though, his ranking of McCartney above Dylan might be one last dig at his folk contemporary. Nonetheless, Simon, McCartney, and Dylan can all be considered songwriting greats, each penning their own collection of songs that have lasted.
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