https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2026/magazine/greatest-american-songwriters-alive.html

Chris Willman wrote the definitive piece on this in “Variety”: 

“Where in the Actual Hell Is Randy Newman? And Other Questions Raised by the New York Times’ Greatest Living American Songwriters List”

https://variety.com/2026/music/columns/new-york-times-greatest-songwriters-list-missing-randy-newman-1236733511/

Now I’ve known Chris for a long time. He takes his music seriously and is especially knowledgeable about country for a guy who started out in rock. I’d describe his personality as mild. But not this piece, he’s positively OUTRAGED!

About six weeks ago my shrink asked me about a piece I wrote that resonated with my audience, that he himself had read. He asked me what made it different. I thought about it for a while and then I said it was WARM!

Hmm…

Ever since then I’ve been trying to replicate that tone.

No, let me put it differently. I’m known for being angry, outraged. And why am I so pissed-off?

Well, some would say I’m frustrated with my position in the game. That I wish I had more status or more money or more power…

Others would just say it’s my raw personality.

I’d add in my father… He was always cutting through the B.S., he would not accept anything at face value. And the only person who can go from zero to one hundred as fast is my older sister.

And…

I was talking to a musician the other day, he couldn’t say anything negative about anybody, for fear he’d lose out on a future job.

Then there are those who repeat misinformation, or need to believe they’re always right, unable to admit they might be wrong. This makes it hard to learn, but their main goal is to fit into their designated group, and to do that you cannot rock the boat. That is not me, I’m more of a lone wolf, once again at this late date I can see I’m the son of my father.

So a few days back I saw the “30 Greatest Living American Songwriters” article in the “New York Times” app. I wasn’t expecting much, then again, it is the “New York Times.” The same “Times” that is bending over backwards to be pro-Palestinian, even though its majordomo is Jewish. And the anti-tech spin, the denigration of social media, the playing to its educated, upper middle class audience drives me wild. It’s self-reinforcing delusion.

And when it comes to music…

I know some of these writers, one especially, is a self-satisfied overeducated hip-hop fan. Funny how it’s the white men who are all in on hip-hop, busy analyzing it and boosting it in a way that those in the culture, those who make it, do not. Are they drawn to the edgy danger, that is so far from their roots, that they would never truly get close to? I don’t know, but I expected to see a number of hip-hop writers. Then again, when I think of songwriters… Lyrics are important, but if you’re sampling or someone else is creating the beats are you truly a songwriter? I mean you’re a lyricists…but I don’t want to get too deep into the weeds here.

But this is the “New York Times.”

Now a year ago, the paper published a list of the “100 Best Movies of the 21st Century”: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/movies/best-movies-21st-century.html

Notice what they did here, they did not say the 100 best movies of ALL TIME, but just those of the past 25 years. And how many of those can compete with “Citizen Kane” and “Gone With the Wind,” never mind “The Godfather.” Close to none, I’d say.

So, if the “Times” had done a similar article about the best 21st century songwriters, I would have expected a lot of the entries on this list, a lot of less than greats. Because I won’t say that we haven’t had that spirit here since 1969, but I will say maybe since 1999.

But NO! They had to include the whole kit and kaboodle, the only caveat being that the songwriter still be alive.

So I peruse the list for the one and only, probably America’s greatest living songwriter, Paul Simon, and he is there, thank god. But I will say that the list of his five essential songs is almost laughable. Is there anybody, I dear say ANYBODY, who thinks “Bernadette” and “The Sacred Harp” are amongst Paul’s greatest? Ever hear of “Mrs. Robinson”? How about “America” or even “Sound of Silence”? Never mind “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” Simon wrote those Simon & Garfunkel songs. And I could name a bunch of solo songs better than those two, if not the whole five!

Which begs two questions… Are the people making this list truly familiar with Simon’s work? And, are they just trying to appear hip, in classic rock scribe fashion, showing that the reader’s taste sucks and their obscure choices are better?

And, in Willman’s article, you’ll see that they solicited the opinions of performers. But that’s a completely different ball of wax. Critics are their own special category, and if you’re deferring to the people who make the music, you’ve got no self-respect. And it’s not like there’s a mathematical formula that created the final list… No, it was adjusted by the writers/critics. About as transparent as the legendary Grammy nominations decided by secret committees.

But who the f*ck cares.

I don’t.

But Willman’s piece… I mean if this guy can be outraged…

Is this clickbait?

No, the “Times’ doesn’t specialize in this. The “Times” believes it’s the definitive statement, but in this case it absolutely is not.

And then you’ve got the “Washington Post.” I want to cancel my subscription, but I don’t want to cut off a news source that fills me in here and there. But the editorials have done a 180, it’s now a right wing viewpoint. Bezos and the rest of these billionaires, like Sergey Brin, even Tim Cook, just want to kiss Trump’s ass.

And the “Wall Street Journal”‘s editorial/opinion pages have always skewed right, there’s very little there with a contrary opinion. But at least it doesn’t affect the reporting. And then there was this piece in the “Journal,” the antithesis of the left wing Jonathan Haidt/anti-social media mind-set of the “Times” and its readers:

“The Timeless Fear of Corrupting the Youth – From Socrates to social media, society has always worried about protecting the young. But the latest ruling about Meta and YouTube overlooks the upsides of free speech.”

https://www.wsj.com/politics/social-media-freedom-speech-meta-youtube-ruling-32aaee3b

I hate when the left runs on emotions instead of facts.

Just like I hate it when the left is driven by the most extreme viewpoints of those in the party. That’s right, they’re anti-Israel. But as a Jew, one must ask, how much of this is based on raw antisemitism? They killed 30,000 dissidents in Iran, hung people, and there are crickets on campus. But when the Jews, god forbid, that powerful state the size of New Jersey, kills anybody? It’s a shonda!

Sure, Netanyahu is no picnic, but a Jew can’t even say anything out loud in support of Israel, you know to keep it to yourself. In a world that “is run by Jews.” Really?

So, there’s no there there, no center of authority.

And let’s not even address Fox News, never mind Trump himself.

It’s a veritable circus in D.C. Melania criticizing Kimmel for a joke and… Did she ever read any of Trump’s posts, reveling in the death of his enemies?

So what’s a poor boy to do?

Definitely not play in a rock and roll band. These are no longer outsiders, thinking for themselves, unafraid to stand up to groupthink. No, they’re part of the group! They’re sellouts, brands, in it for the money. At least Frank Zappa joked about this.

So we live in a world of constant outrage. With everybody defending their position, whether right or wrong.

I mean Chris Willman’s pissed that Randy Newman was excluded from this list. I’ll throw a spanner in the works, how about Don Henley? He and his compatriots own the biggest selling album of all time. But Don is not warm and fuzzy and critics, even the Dude, hate the Eagles, but come on…

I could list plenty more, but I won’t.

I mean this is not the 1800s, all these record stills exist, are easily playable on streaming services, so just because they’re old they should be overlooked, so the “Times” can look hip?

Everybody’s worried about their image, the perception… Truth takes a back seat.

You can complain all day, but it doesn’t seem to make a difference. Trump does what he wants, testing limits all the time, and the Democrats keep saying their hands are tied. Ain’t that laughable.

I guess John Lennon had it right back in 1970:

“I just believe in me, Yoko and me, and that’s reality”

Because:

“The dream is over”

We used to depend upon culture to inform the public, move the discussion forward, but certainly in music that power has been abdicated.

Hell, I’m quoting a song from “John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band,” not quite a commercial stiff, but far from a raging success. That was George Harrison’s “All Things Must Pass.” Or Stephen Stills’s solo debut. And where in the hell is he on this list? “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” is better than anything most of the people on it have ever written.

But he’s old, and we know the youth must be lionized. And money eclipses everything.

Although it didn’t used to.

Get it right, and it’s for the ages.

Play the game, play to the audience, and it’s a momentary success.

Then again, no one is playing the long game anymore. Because everybody is questioning whether the game will even continue.

Or to paraphrase George Carlin, another seer from the past, SAVE YOURSELF!

Good luck with that.