Best compliment ever

[jchitty]

Quote:Quote:Nomi, that is fantastic....to be recognized in that way by higher ups is a nice validation. The best compliment (or compliments) that people give me is when they tell me that I'm a really good lyricist. I dunno, people will say things to make you feel good, but I've been told my lyrics are pretty good. One of the nicest compliments I get is when people recognize what I write outside my main genre, country. I write jazz, alternative, R&B, and it's a good feeling when I get compliments on that because it stretches me to try other things.I am not a very expressive person when talking....I don't know, I can't find the words sometimes, but I can express myself through lyrics for some reason. When people like what I write, that is the ultimate compliment because I feel like I've expressed myself to the fullest and connected with people in a way that I couldn't through regular conversation. I love to put raw emotion in some of my songs...more often than not, those are the songs I don't show to anyone, but I hope to show more of those songs in the future...and with the help of a good co-writer and collaboration....well, anything is possible. To be continued...Chits,I'm with you about the lyrics being important. Something about Perfect Enough I'm proud of is the rhyme pattern of the verses. It's ABBCADDC and I carried it through 3 verses. I can't count how many hours I spent on the lyrics to get that right. After a long time and thousands of words, I was stuck on the final 3 lines on the last verse, I kept rewriting them, dozens of versions. Days passed and I couldn't get those last lines right. One morning I woke up and thought "You are their rock/and they love when you walk/through that door at the end/of the day" and just like that the song was finished. Has that ever happened to you, or you dreamed a song? It's cool!!!I can also relate to your feeling of being better with lyrics than conversation. It's a very common personality trait in songwriters. Sometimes I think it's what initially motivates us to write.NomiHi, Nomi. What a beautiful song "Perfect Enough" is. You did a fantastic job with those lyrics. Yes, I had a similar experience a month ago.....I woke up from my sleep, and I'd had a dream about my deceased sister. She passed away with liver cancer when she was only 19 back in 1982. I didn't want to talk about this on the boards....didn't want you folks to think I was bonkers, hehe, but in the dream, I'm walking down a long corridor, and my sister is by my side....I can see her clearly. She is singing this beautiful song, one I've never heard. Then I wake up and I think, "well, I got that song for a reason, I'm going to write it." I retrieved my recorder immediately and proceeded to sing the melody and what words I remembered.....if you're like me, you forget a dream quickly.So I did write it, and I finished it last week, and it turned out pretty good. I really believe she came back (at least in that dream) to give me the song....it's a really pretty love song.It's funny the way inspirations just come to us, out of the blue or through dreams.....since I believe in God and angels, I think that my sister was sent here to give me that song, but others who are non-believers might think it's just the subconcious mind working, who knows. I like that saying, "sometimes, the song writes itself."I am not a gregarious person.....I'm friendly, but shy. I do think that's a songwriting trait....I guess there are people like Jeffrey Steel in Nashville who are extroverted, and I wonder (since I write mostly country) how I'd ever do in that town (just a pipe dream of course) because I might be perceived as too reserved.....I have a rebel soul though, and I guess that comes through in my writing. Songwriters seem like emotional (not a bad thing really) very aware types.....they are observers rather than participants sometimes, but I think this makes for good songwriting. Yeah, expression in a song is much easier for me.

[jchitty]

Quote:Quote:It's funny the way inspirations just come to us, out of the blue or through dreams.....since I believe in God and angels, I think that my sister was sent here to give me that song,Yep. Paraphrasing one of my favorite, (tho least understood by humanists), scriptures: "No eye has seen, ear has heard, or mind has conceived, what God has prepared for those who love Him. Yet it is made known to us by The Spirit." I think the day I pass beyond string theory, black holes, and pedestrian physics, it will be revealed that everything (including thought and matter) is birthed from spirit. This notion reconciles my native American ancestors' Christian beliefs with their sensitivity to natures' spirit.Best compliment ever?I see Christ in you.best,bcVery nice, BC.

[jchitty]

Quote:I think there're all kinds of songwriters out there, really. But I guess it would depend on what we mean by songwriting. If we're talking about lyrics, I imagine it would almost be helpful to be shy, to work out all your feelings on paper instead of in conversation, totally focusing on that form of communication to the exclusion of the other. And it's beneficial, taking a trait that some might see as handicapping (like shyness) and turning it into a valuable commodity. If we're talking about writing music, I suppose the same could apply. But then recording it is another matter entirely. There has to be some sort of mechanism that allows the performer to be vulnerable to the song and therefore vulnerable to the audience. That's dicey if you're shy.I agree here, although I've heard that folks who are shy come alive on the stage.....it's funny for me......when I sing in front of people (my husband plays the banjo and I sing), I become extroverted for some reason. Guess it's just another way of expressing myself that I couldn't otherwise. LOL, sometimes, I even have trouble expressing myself in posts, but I can write a song. I'll also add that yes, not all songwriters are shy.....there are a lot of extroverts out there....hope I didn't generalize too much....in fact, it's probably the extroverted songwriters who make the most business contacts....they probably network better.

[asiabackpacker]

I edited this video of a recent trip I went on, and used Iron and Wine as the background music. I played the video to my ex-girlfriend, and (in reference to Iron and Wine), she was like "Wow, I really like your new songs!"I took that as a pretty kick ass compliment..haha Seriously though, I don't think we give out compliments to each other nearly as much as we should.When I go to this song critique that I go to (don't know if they're all like this), the feedback, which while constructive can also be so harsh. Rarely do we take a minute to stop and just say Hey that was a really great song.Even at open mic nights, I often catch myself seeing someone go up that I think is really amazing. But instead of going and telling them how awesome they were, I might figure nah, they already know it, and not say anything. The truth is, they might not know how good they were. I've tried to make more of an effort to really compliment musicians that I see perform and think are great, because most people just aren't telling them. And even the little compliments make such a big difference!

[squidlips]

Quote:Quote:There has to be some sort of mechanism that allows the performer to be vulnerable to the song and therefore vulnerable to the audience. That's dicey if you're shy.Very perceptive. This exactly has been one of my biggest challenges. So often I have a very emotional song but when I record it the emotion doesn't come through. I think a good singer has to be somewhat of an actor to be able to conjure up the feelings on command.Well, it's been my experience that you're partially correct.....when we start, we tend to oversing, thinking that's where all the emotion is. Then we learn to "act" it out, training our voices to respond to a given phrase, a given storyline, becoming whoever it is we're singing about. THEN, finally (phew), the real stuff comes, when it's really you in the song and you're not acting, you're jes.........unzipped. Absolutely vulnerable.And that's why I never do any shows, any night, anymore. I mean, I will at small venues, but then the inevitable happens.....I get crowded after the set, people want to talk to me, touch me. It's weird. And scary, to me. I didn't used to have this problem but then again, I used to sing cover tunes and mostly rock. No vulnerability there. (I mean, none for me. I'm sure there're plenty who can do that).As you can see, I don't let me out much anymore.

[nomiyah]

Quote:In your specific case, I can only say how I would have felt had I moved someone like that to those words. In fact, that's a rhetorical statement: I have never received praise that high and would be over the moon no doubt.Having said all that and having read your many postings over the past year and gone through your website, it's obvious you're a talented songwriter with an great work ethos. I'm sure compliments come your way a lot Are you at the Rally this year?LiamLiam,Yes, I'm happy to say I'm going to my first Rally this year. How about you? Are you coming from Spain? I spent a year in Cataluna, Barcelona, Rosas, L'Armentera, Cadeques. I played in a "tourist bar" band and we did 8 shows a week during the busy season. I hope we get a chance to say hi in Hollywood.Nomi

[liamkelly]

Quote:Quote:In your specific case, I can only say how I would have felt had I moved someone like that to those words. In fact, that's a rhetorical statement: I have never received praise that high and would be over the moon no doubt.Having said all that and having read your many postings over the past year and gone through your website, it's obvious you're a talented songwriter with an great work ethos. I'm sure compliments come your way a lot Are you at the Rally this year?LiamLiam,Yes, I'm happy to say I'm going to my first Rally this year. How about you? Are you coming from Spain? I spent a year in Cataluna, Barcelona, Rosas, L'Armentera, Cadeques. I played in a "tourist bar" band and we did 8 shows a week during the busy season. I hope we get a chance to say hi in Hollywood.NomiMy first rally too. Hope we catch up to say hi - that'd be great We've been in Ibiza for 9 months and are really enjoying Spain! Although obviously not in Catalunya, Catalan is the first language here and they share many of those crazy, beautiful Catalonian traits. Gee, a year in a tourist band here must have been a lot of fun and a lot of work Hasta luego!

[squidlips]

Quote:Quote:Well, it's been my experience that you're partially correct.....when we start, we tend to oversing, thinking that's where all the emotion is. Then we learn to "act" it out, training our voices to respond to a given phrase, a given storyline, becoming whoever it is we're singing about. THEN, finally (phew), the real stuff comes, when it's really you in the song and you're not acting, you're jes.........unzipped. Absolutely vulnerable.I completely agree with you except by acting I didn't mean "acting out". I meant the way a good actor becomes the character, which is the same way the singer becomes the song. The real stuff, as you put it.How about sharing your tips on how to get to that place? I haven't developed those skills, it's still hit and miss. In the studio I record many tracks hoping to catch that magic. Onstage I just get out there and hope for the best. Do you have any "tricks of the trade"? How do you get unzipped?I'll PM you. This would be a really boring and long post to everyone else. No boringness allowed!

[nomiyah]

Quote:Quote:Do you have any "tricks of the trade"? How do you get unzipped?I'll PM you. This would be a really boring and long post to everyone else. No boringness allowed! Some guys on this forum wouldn't think it was boring to hear two women discussing ways to get unzipped.

[bc]

Quote: Nice imagery. Good detail there. Did you guys ever write that one about the dialup girl?Not yet, it still needs a 2nd verse. I guess we need some crawdad karma ala' squidgirl Crawdad Karma...squidgirl...hmmm???