Dylan wins Nobel Prize in Literature

Speaking of Dylan and Cash. 

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1qaym4_bob-dylan-johnny-cash-girl-from-the-north-country_music

Inna:
There are many sublime lyrics. Too many to list. But to show just one of his many writing talents--- the depth of his ability to inhabit a foreign state of mind and write from that perspective, read the lyrics of "Every Grain of Sand" (google will do), a song written by a Jewish boy who turned Christian for a while (not sure if he still is). Can you imagine any artist who can switch religions, inhabit the new one for a short time and write about it with such grace?

Some songs are written meant to be sung pretty, others weren't-
Dylan, Leonard Cohen, Janis Joplin, Springsteen, & too many blues singers to name come to mind.
If I'm wanting to hear it pretty, I listen to Baez sing Dylan or Judy Collins sing Cohen.

Mapman, you forgot Louis Armstrong. In terms of influence alone, the rest of your list would not exist without Armstrong.