This may be a controversial opinion, but I have come to realize that the greatest songwriter the 20th century produced is Raffi. His genius lies in writing lyrics whose raw emotional appeal does not obscure their powerful, often bleak, message. And the range of issues he has addressed in his work is truly remarkable for a mainstream pop artist, from genetic modification of crops ("Bananaphone") to the devastating heartbreak of epilepsy ("Shake My Sillies Out").

Do you agree with my assessment? If not, whom would you nominate?

Paul McCartney

I hope this thread gets locked BEFORE 5 pages.

maybe it will get locked if someone claims that Axl Rose is the greatest songwriter ever.

I had a feeling there would be some feedback from my comment.

dork, your name fits.

Who the hell ifs Raffi?

Luther, that is some funny-ass shit!

LOL

where's the poll??????

I'd have to go with Steve Harris.

Oh....and wtf is Raffi?

yes

C'mon, guys! No one's heard of "Baby Baluga"?

Actually, thank the heaven and stars above you never have.

He can't approach the angelic genius of Aaliyah.

do you still feel sorry and empathy that singer AALIYAH is dead?

Who?

I'm glad somebody hasn't forgotten that guy.

http://forum.dvdtalk.com/showthread.php?t=479406

Wow, so he's a great songwriter AND he won Survivor season one? That is pretty amazing.

wow, not many of you guys were kids in the 1980's, eh?

I was an adult in the 80s.

awww, Raffi was shoved down your throat at school if you were between 7-12 at any point in the 1980's. He's a kiddie folk singer whose heyday was probably the mid 1980's. Along with Reading Rainbow. The thread is hysterical for those in their mid/late 20's and early/mid 30's who remember this crap being force-fed to us/

I'm in my mid 20's - and I have no clue who he is. My schools never did the Reading Rainbow thing.

I was born in 1980 and I'd never heard of him until I saw his cds at the store I used to work at.

I was an Eighties Kid, I guess, but I don't think I had ever heard of Raffi until the mid-Nineties or so. Sometime after Fuck The Police came out.

Apples and Bananas, Brush Your Teeth, and Banana Phone challenge even the beatles Sgt. Peppers album for some of the most original, and might I add amazing, song writing.