The best songwriters of all time (5): Smokey Robinson
“Smokey Robinson was like God to us,” Paul McCartney once said. The genius behind Motown’s biggest hits wasn’t just the most influential R&B songwriter of all time. But also a gifted singer who took the creative level of a hit song to a previously unknown level.
Robinson, the son of a truck driver and born “in a better part of the slum,” celebrated his first success in 1960 with “Shop Around” for the Miracles. Followed by “My Girl” and “Get Ready” for the Temptations. “My Guy” for Mary Wells. “Don’t Mess With Bill” for the Marvelettes. “Ain’t That Peculiar” for Marvin Gaye.
With the Miracles he was involved in an almost endless series of hits
With the Miracles he was involved in an almost endless series of hits. These include “The Tracks Of My Tears” and “I Second That Emotion”, which brought new linguistic nuances to the often described phenomenon of broken hearts. “Sweetness was only heartache’s camouflage/The love I saw in you was just a mirage,” he once rhymed in 1967.
Smokey Robinson – “I Second That Emotion”:
Even if Bob Dylan’s famous remark (“Smokey is the greatest living poet”) may never have been said that way. People took his word for it because Robinson’s songs always seemed to confirm his assessment.
“It should be a story that actually has something to say – not just a bunch of words with music.”
“If you want to write a song,” he told Rolling Stone back in 1968, “you should have a precise idea. And know exactly how he wants to tell his story in the time available to him on a single. It should also be a story that actually has something to say. And not just a bunch of words with music.”