POLL: Paul Simon or Elvis Costello

Costello is one of my favorite artists. I'm always interested in what he's doing. It's a no brainer for me. However, that's not so say that Simon isn't brilliant. It's just a matter of personal preference.

 

Simon.

 

amazing this is even close ,I Just Don't get it

 

Why compare two of the best songwriters- they are both extremely talented. Guess Simons song are a bit more wellknown though. I personally have spent more time with Costello - in a few weeks time I will attend a soloshow with him. Looken forward to it since I haven t seen him live since the early days with the Attractions

 

Agree! What classics songs has Elvis Costello wrote, can't think of one.

 

I'm not sure why you'd group these two together to vote on them. They come from very different backgrounds and present very different music. I think a more interesting comparison might be Paul Simon and Bob Dylan.

 

Agree both classic A-List song writers.Elvis Costello' B-List singing dictionairy.

 

quality and quantity are for costello's work. just an example shipbuilding and a great variety of material and type of songs. a larger Spectrum tahn simon. Costello by a thousand miles for me!

 

I agree..Costello should be crushing Simon by a huge margin.

 

When I first seen the title I thought the purpose was to elevate ECs importance quite immensely by placing it alongside an iconic master.

 

Paul Simon by light years.

 

Costello period. I largely find Simon's work to be vastly overrated.

 

your nuts!!!!

 

Really? I respect your opinion but Simon's music bores me more often than it excites me.

I can't say that for Costello...

 

For what? How many cover Costello songs versus cover Simon or even Dylan songs. Costello is good, and a really good performer, but with a couple of exceptions, is not the heavyweight songwriter of the other two.

 

Paul Simon ! far more talent in him!

 

this is a more difficult choice than i first imagined.elvis really dropped off the map for me during the late 80's.simon on the other hand in some regards is royalty.i am going to pass on this one although i think it is an astute premise.......

 

Never cared for Costello. Paul Simon for the win!!

 

Unbelievable poll.

One has produced a few masterworks and virtually no dud material for 4o odd years while the other ...

 

Play" Only Living Boy in New York " even if Elvis Costello wrote a song that good ,he could never come close to preforming it as Good ,

 

The poll asks about songwriting, which has nothing to do with whether anyone finds their voices unpleasant or whether you're bored or annoyed by their recordings.

I can't decide myself. Simon has possible claims at being a pioneer and innovator but he also hasn't been very prolific for the number of years he's been around and not all of what he's done is fantastic either. Costello is incredibly prolific and innovative in his own way but I also think there's a great deal of repetition in his huge output. Both have made some really compelling work, some of the best anyone in popular music has ever done.

 

I think I'm done with this forum

 

I love them both, But I have to give the nod to Elvis Costello.

 

Paul Simon is in a league of his own. He wrote "Bridge Over Troubled Water", "Sounds of Silence"... not only classics but evergreens. Elvis Costello is more versatile musically.