"EVERYBODY" update

[djdale]

Maybe they were looking for the Byrds a la 'Turn, Turn, Turn'. Protest, peace, and love songs, rather than hippy high songs?My .002 cents (adjusted for inflation)Dale

[billg]

Nov 20, 2008, 2:50pm, djdale wrote:Maybe they were looking for the Byrds a la 'Turn, Turn, Turn'. Protest, peace, and love songs, rather than hippy high songs?My .002 cents (adjusted for inflation)DaleIt's really a song about a bad war & a bad economy and making the same mistakes over & over & the fact that nobody really gives a crap and pays enough attention to avoid the same pitfalls. The getting high part was really just an analogy for "everybody sticking their heads in the sand & running up debt & buying houses they can't afford & supporting an unjust war they can't afford, going blindly about their business & not worrying about the consequences etc." But to keep things in the spirit of the sixties it just seemed appropriate (and much easier!) to say "everybody just wants to get high".I don't think the lyrics are typical of a "hippy high" song. Although given the listing & the alas I think a "hippy high" song could have been appropriate. I don't think it's inconceivable that someone would connect such a song with the sixties . . . do you?If that's the issue it could have easily been mentioned in the listing. It's somebody's job to clarify that stuff . . . to make it so we understand the listings & don't have to guess.Then we just have the easy job of making a song fit

[djdale]

I don't think the lyrics are typical of a "hippy high" song. Although given the listing & the alas I think a "hippy high" song could have been appropriate. I don't think it's inconceivable that someone would connect such a song with the sixties . . . do you?Not really, however I think they might have been looking for songs connected to that time period, not necessarily those connected to NOW, with reference 'sound-like' thrown in.What I mean is you were supposed to write a new song a la those artists, as if you were writing it while living IN that time period.Does this make sense? A new song at that time.I'll shut up now Dale

[billg]

Well, I guess I didn't do a very good job BUT what I was trying to do was write a song that could have been written in the sixties (Viet Nam, civil unrest, etc.) that could also apply to today. Which lines in the song do you think pertain only to "now"? I was pretty careful not to have any pertain to anything in particular thing past or present. That's why the verses are about repeating mistakes;Oh trace the time, time sublimeBacked into another cornerFaced the worst, hit the dirtDressed in black like a Sunday mournerCan’t turn it right, or re-writeForced at last to face the piperDragged from the mud, paid in cold bloodWe are indebted to the viperThere you have it, my ONLY two verses. To me they're pretty universal in their intent and can be connected to the Viet Nam era as well as our current situation. Dale, please tell me how these lyrics are "now", or connected to any specific time period. Not trying to be a wise guy here, but I trully want to know because I spent considerable time trying to avoid that.

[djdale]

Dale, please tell me how these lyrics are "now", or connected to any specific time period.Not saying they are. We can beat ourselves with our own words until we bleed trying to vindicate our lyrics. It's an excellent effort Bill. now it's beyond explaination other than listener's 'feelings'.We throw our hooks out in the water and our bait is our craft. Somedays we get a bite, and others mosquito bites. Then, ONCE IN A WHILE, we reel in the BIG ONE! You can't fish if you don't bait the hook!Dale

[billg]

Well I thought that you implied that there was something specific that made it "now", sorry I misunderstood.This song was forwarded to a listing that was worded almost exactly the same but without the "ala Byrds" so I'm just curious (ok more than curious) why it was returned for this one. If it's because of the "high" reference then I believe someone made a pretty important omission in the listing. If that's the case and no one ever mentions it then it can happen again. Being held to a high standard should be a two way street If it's because it didn't sound close enough to the ala, well the screener just hears it differently than I do.If it's because of pitchy vocals or out of tune guitars then I need to go back & listen & try to fix things (and be happy that no one else including another screener was able to pick up on the problems before I could fix them)I would just quit submitting to the non-critique listings except for the fact that most of what falls within my genre is a non-critique situation. ( to date I have 131 submissions, 101 were non-critiques!) It's not so much an issue with the non-critique thing . . . If someone could just take 15 seconds to jot down one sentence highlighting the reason(s) for a return it would be so helpful. The opportunity to get more than just a "yes" or "no" is a big part of what sets Taxi apart from some of the similiar services but I'm rarely able to get that feature for listings that fit what I can do.

[anne]

Hi Bill - I can't offer much help on this one as everybody else covered the issue well. Your song sounds incredibly byrds-like to me as, having not grown up listening to them, "8 miles high" is the first track that comes to mind when thinking of their music, and I think Casey may have described it best regarding the lyrical content. I will be really interested to hear why it was returned - I didn't see in the listing that it is screened directly by the buyer - in which the yes/no policy makes sense to me.I guess my post isn't too helpful but I just wanted to say hi

[heinsite]

hey billy--cam up there has me LOL at the leaving out the melody...i was gunna say something stupid like "let's just not write about anything relevent, then, now or in the future." but i (as usual) like cam's just plain but profound statement better!it's just f-ing crazy man. period. there are NO excuses for this that are valid, folks can try to 'splain' it all they want....just NO DAMNED GOOD REASON. period--and hell, try leaving out the melody next time...man, i'm pissed and it aint even me (this time...)the best,warren oh, A BIG PS: MICHAEL TOLD US THAT THERE ARE CHANGES COMING DOWN THE PIKE ON THE YES/NO THING, THAT THE TAXI PROGRAMMERS ARE ALMOST READY TO PUT IN THIS RELATIVELY SIMPLE ADDITION TO THE "REPLY". SOME OF US, INCLUDING YOU, HAVE BEEN ASKING FOR THIS, JUST A GUIDELINE, AND IT APPEARS IT'S ABOUT TO HAPPEN!". wh

[billg]

hey Warren, that's great news about the additional comments coming soon to the yes/no listings! That's gonna really help me since I don't usually see a critique. Man, so I guess soon we'll be able to come into this thread & chew the fat on the "reasons" somthing didn't make the grade & what we can do about it as opposed to tossing around the "maybe it was this or thats". I'm looking forward to that!BTW- Robin emailed to let me know that she would find out for me what the screener's beef was was with my submissions for this listing when he/she gets back in town this week.Concerning the sixties and The Byrds . . . I was digging through boxes of old tapes of song original song ideas when I came across a cover tape of a band I was in doing "Turn! Turn! Turn! from waaaay back "in the day." I remember when we would record a different cover song at each soundcheck when we were compiling a promo tape for an agent. I'm surprised at how good it sounds (for what it is) and as soon as I get it from tape into the 'puter I'm gonna stick it up in "peer" for a laugh.

[billg]

Just received an email from Taxi. The screener didn't feel like the drums were authentic sounding enough for the time period.