Comparing songs to the #1s (Part 2)

[hummingbird]

Let's look at a crucial component --- the lyricsArtist/Band: Adkins TraceLyrics for Song: Ladies Love Country BoysAlbum: Dangerous ManShe grew up in the city in a little subdivision,Her daddy wore a tie, Momma never fried a chicken,Ballet, Straight A’s, Most likely to succeed They bought her a car after graduationSent her down south for some higher educationPut her on the fast track to a law degree Now she’s comin home to visit holdin the handOf a wild-eyed boy with a farmer’s tanAnd shes ridin in the middle of his pickup truckBlarin Charlie Daniels yellin, “Turn it up!”They raised her up a lady but there’s one thing they couldn’t avoidLadies love country boys(You know its true)Yeah, you know momma’s and daddy’s want better for their daughtersHope they’ll settle down with a doctor or a lawyerIn their uptown, ball gown, hand-me-down royaltyThey never understand why their princess fallsFor some camouflage britches and a southern boy drawlOr why she’s ridin in the middle of a pickup truckBlarin Hank Jr. yellin, “Turn it up!”They raised her up a lady but there’s one thing they couldn’t avoidLadies love country boys(oooh, get country with it)You can train ‘emYou can try to teach ‘em right from wrongBut it’s still gonna turn ‘em onWhen they go ridin in the middle of a pickup truckBlarin Lynyrd Skynyrd yellin, “Turn it up!”You can raise her up a lady but there’s one thing you jus can’t avoidLadies love country boysThey love us country boysOoooooh yeahIt's that country thing you knowthe lyrics are visual, conversational, tell a good story, and they're fun. They sing off the page at you - and they sing rockin' country.

[johnnydean1]

I see old Larry's over at JPFolks doing guess what?

[lbeaird]

Wow, there's been a lot of conversation here in the last couple of days! The last few days have been kinda hectic around here, but I finally have a little time to post. I enjoyed reading the posts on this subject.In some songs I've written, I've fretted too much about perfect rhymes. In "Ladies Love Country Boys", there are few perfect rhymes, but all the rhymes work great in the song. Here are the rhymes:Subdivision/chickenSucceed/degree/royaltyGraduation/education (perfect rhyme)Hand/tanTruck/upAvoid/boysDaughters/lawyerFalls/drawlWrong/onWhat do y'all think?Larry" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">http://www.beairdmusicgroup.com

[horacejesse]

Quote:My concern,is that people less experienced than us might use Larry's criteria to write to rather than first comming up with a decent lyric and melody.Such altruism is indeed touching.

[johnnydean1]

Quote:Quote:My concern,is that people less experienced than us might use Larry's criteria to write to rather than first comming up with a decent lyric and melody.Such altruism is indeed touching.Horace,it took you a long time to find the word "altruism"see if you can make it work for you and put it in a lyric. then it won't have been a complete waste of time.

[horacejesse]

JD,It already was a complete waste of time.

[nomiyah]

I did that statistical thing with some Linda Perry productions (one of the rare female producers, I admire her career.)I discovered a distinct pattern. I forgot the exact numbers but it's something like there's an intro for 15 seconds, a verse, then the chorus comes in at 45 to 50 seconds.The pattern carried over through different artists she produced, Pink (Get This Party Started), Christina Aguilera (Beautiful), James Blunt (You're Beautiful).I wouldn't start out writing a song thinking about the math, but it certainly is interesting to notice these patterns in hit songs. This is a cool thread, Larry .Nomi

[jeffe]

James blunt - You're beautiful. "My life is brilliant". and just in case you didn't hear the first time. He repeats those words in the intro. It's flowing Johnny and Horace.......Yep, here the words come......You sing the praises of angelswell you is 'em.Up there in heaven with youraltruism.I still can't find rhyme for Orange or Silver though.Funnily enough Larry. Talking about rhymes. I think that rhyme is great for dance. Another reason for buying music. Not just listening to, but dancing to.It tends to work better with more uptempo songs.

[jchitty]

Quote:James blunt - You're beautiful. "My life is brilliant". and just in case you didn't hear the first time. He repeats those words in the intro. It's flowing Johnny and Horace.......Yep, here the words come......You sing the praises of angelswell you is 'em.Up there in heaven with youraltruism.I still can't find rhyme for Orange or Silver though.Funnily enough Larry. Talking about rhymes. I think that rhyme is great for dance. Another reason for buying music. Not just listening to, but dancing to.It tends to work better with more uptempo songs.Hey, Jeffe. I got an e-mail from someone telling me that people aren't wanting songs with perfect rhymes in them anymore....that songwriters are leaning toward the imperfect rhymes because they make a song more interesting. Do you think this is true? I write a lot of songs with imperfect rhymes. Maybe this has already been discussed on this thread, I'll confess I haven't read every post in detail.

[jchitty]

Quote:I see old Larry's over at JPFolks doing guess what? Does your wife know about this fixation you have with Larry?