The Age Old Question: A Podcast for Music Fans · Rich Price and Clint Bierman

What Is The Greatest Song About Songs?

December 23, 2023·1 hr 2 min·5 clips

Rich Price and Clint Beerman open by taking on a listener-suggested question about the greatest song about songwriting. The episode goes meta fast, using that prompt to look at songs that reflect on the craft and process of writing songs. Leonard Cohen's 'Hallelujah' comes first, with the Jeff Buckley version as the reference point, as they dig into what the lyric is doing. The focus stays on the song's meaning and the way it keeps opening up new layers. Bob Dylan's 'All the Tired Horses' follows. The hosts spend time on its repetition, the mantra-like delivery, and the strange pull of the line about being too tired to get any writing done. They read it as a song shaped by pressure from people who wanted something from Dylan and wanted him to fit a mold. Bruce Springsteen enters the discussion with 'Dancing in the Dark.' The story moves through the Born in the U.S.A. era, John Landau's push for a single, and Springsteen's frustrated response that he had already written plenty. From there, the episode turns the song into an example of writing about not being able to write. The hosts keep the conversation moving with quick reactions and a warm, conversational pace. Each example gives them a different angle on self-reference. One song feels devotional, one feels stripped down to a loop, and one turns frustration into a hit. By the end, the question feels less like a puzzle with one answer and more like a good excuse for a continuing argument.

As heard by us

A breezy, conversational debate about songs that turn songwriting back on itself.

This episode circles around a familiar but fun question: what is the greatest song about songwriting? A listener suggestion from Peter Nilsson gives the discussion its starting point, and the hosts move through Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah, Bob Dylan's All the Tired Horses, and…

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A listener prompt kicks off a friendly back-and-forth about songs that write about songwriting.

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