Genius? really? John L was a very clever songwriter.
Genius = Mozart, Beethoven, Ravel, Haydn, Handel, JS Bach, Copland, Stravinsky, Tchaikovsky, Wagner, Mahler and on and on..
as far as songwriters I’d say true genius was:
Irving Berlin,George Gershwin and Rodgers and Hammerstein.
Don’t forget Roger Miller and Ray Stevens.