--David Itzkoff in New York Times book review

But there are songwriters and song writers.  The difference may be seen in the lyrics reproduced below.

Now, I'm gonna love you till the heavens stop the rain.

I'm gonna love you till the stars fall from the sky for you and I.         

Come on, come on, come on, come on

Now touch me, baby

Can't you see I’m not afraid? What was that promise that you made?

Why won't you tell me what she said?

What was that promise that you made?

Some teenage musician/songwriter for the Doors probably made a trillion dollars with this.

Here’s writing as different as it conceivably could be.

Late one night when the wind was still

Daddy brought the baby to the windowsill

To see a bit of heaven shoot across the sky

The one and only time Daddy saw it fly

It came from the east just as bright as a torch

The neighbors had a party on their porch

Daddy rocked the baby, Mother said "amen"

When Halley came to visit in nineteen ten

Mary Chapin Carpenter telling a story in song lyrics about when Halley’s Comet was visible one night in Jackson. Her song has an historical aspect though an important one only in the sense that the United States was so innocent at that time that the arrival of Halley caused some to have a front porch party (note: no air conditioning; neighbors had a closer relationship; they sat outside on porches to escape interior heat). Where has all our naiveté gone?

This Chapin girl has some fun, too. From Twist and Shout:

Saturday night and the moon is out

I’m gonna head on over to the Twist and Shout

Find a two-step partner and a Cajun beat

When it lifts me up I'm gonna find my feet

Out in the middle of a big dance floor

When I hear that fiddle I’m gonna beg for more.

She can deal in sluttishness. Here’s a outtake from Goin’ Out Tonight:

I'm going out tonight with perfume on my wrist

I need to find someone to show me what I've missed

And when I see that someone sittin' there, gonna tell your memory I don't care

If he offers something more than just a kiss

Carpenter is a writer whose medium is music. Long may she conjure.

She is a song writer who deals with people, their pleasures and problems. I’d like to be Mary C. Carpenter’s friend. She writes about my people.