Reviewing lyrics without music

[hummingbird]

Quote:And actually, Vikki, what's on the radio has nothing to do with the standard that unknown non-performing songwriters have to live up to. Complaining about how our songs are better than the crap on the radio accomplishes nothing. The double standard is there and we can either accept it and deal, or get nowhere. CaseyAgreed. And even performing songwriters like me also have to deal with the double standard because we are not big names.

[matto]

Quote:Quote:The No Doubt song is an excellent example of a song where looking at the lyric on it's own doesn't work...(unless you know the back story of the song...then that verse lyric becomes strangely powerful...)What is the back story of the song? I don't know it. CaseyWell Gwen wrote it about a guy breaking up with her obviously...the kicker is that the guy was the bass player in No Doubt . So everytime she was singing this song (in the early days)...the guy she was singing about was standing a few feet away playing the bass. I think you can hear that hurt and tension in the recording and that's one reason it became a hit...it just feels so "real".If you ask me it's a miracle the band survived that break-up, particularly considering it was happening right at the time that they were on the verge of braking thru...matto

[matto]

Quote:Almost anyone can recognize the value of a song like "I Loved Her First." But can the Taxi screeners recognize the brilliant idiotic when they hear it raw in their booth? Of course they can, it's pretty easy actually as these songs have a long tradition. The problem is, Taxi listings looking for "junk hits" (I like that term ...) are few and far between. Most writers in Nashville write some of these, and so do many artists, so there's no shortage of them.Most Taxi listings are looking for more "meaningful hits", "career songs" if you will that can break a new artist or take an established one to the next level. Those types of songs are always in much shorter supply and that's really where an unknown writer can make his/her mark.matto

[og]

I still love this critique of one of my songs--"Your lyrics are witty and intelligent. This is not Country." They said if I wanted to submit to Country listings, listen to Hot Country stations. I did. I can't write that--at least, not with a straight face. "Too much of a good thing is a good thing." Somebody got paid to write that.Of course, somebody pays Christo to hang bedsheets all over the place and call it art...

[horacejesse]

A lot of intersting replies. I ususally stir a pot pretty well. Well enough so that Taxi is now using one of Matt's replies to a post of mine to promote their rally. The one about schmoozing.These replies would carry more weight in my mind if it were not for the fact the songs hailing from the "brilliant idiotic," are the rule and not the exception. Fact is, those songs are not the exception at all. The fine songs are the exception. The junk hits are the rule and they Rule. That is an awful lot of songs to be the exception.In fact, folks, the dispute is easily settled. Look at the writers credits. At least as often as not these offal songs were written by outsiders not somone in the group. This fact means that nothing has actually been explained here yet. Apparently, the stock answers do not apply. At least they are not the whole story.

[matto]

I thought this thread was about the pros and cons of reviewing lyrics without music...not about "why can't my brilliant masterpieces get forwarded when the vast majority of songs on the radio are utter cow dung?!"

[edteja]

Yeah it was, but that one ran out of steam, Matto. Now we are the pros and cons of writing cow dung, and, if I do, will it get a forward?

[ernstinen]

Quote:I thought this thread was about the pros and cons of reviewing lyrics without music...not about "why can't my brilliant masterpieces get forwarded when the vast majority of songs on the radio are utter cow dung?!" HaHaHa! Hey Matt, remember Pete Luboff's approach to songwriting at the NAS workshops? He was 95% about lyrics and 5% about music. This always puzzled me, but I DID learn alot about lyric writing. --- Many people would bring in only a lyric to be reviewed.What bugged me to no end was when someone would bring in a godawful demo that had NO connection to any kind of pop music, and Pete would lead the applause and then talk ONLY about the lyric and not mention that the music was a huge, steaming pile of cow dung! Ern

[og]

As a former farmhand and semi-serious organic gardener, I have to protest the use of the term "cow dung" like it is something bad. If you are going to twist the language, at least use an accurate term, like "potted meat", or "Achy Breaky";)

[horacejesse]

I apologize for my obliquity. Nonetheless, if it is true that a perfectly wrought junk song has no or little chance of making it by Taxi screeners, that is not exactly a plus for anybody.I have tried to tap into the brilliant idiotic many times in order to create a song that would have access to the country market. I think thousands of others do too. As Taxi members it is our job to listen to the market and emulate it. But now it appears to be coming out that we may as well forget about emulating 85% of that market, because that 85% is comprised of junk hits. 85% is an arbitrary selection on my part, but the number is quite high anyway.Any perfectly wrought song ought to have a chance. The argument here is not whether I have any perfectly wrought songs that have been rejected. Personally, I work just as hard on my junk songs as I do on the others.Almost all the listings say they prefer an uptempo song. Only a small percentage of fast songs are serious. It seems like we have to defy logic and put through a fast song that is not junk or party material but serious and good. That is like trying to put a bullet through a keyhole at a thousand yards.Mind you, I am not complaining. I am trying to sort out the reality. I do not mind competing with the likes of I Loved Her First, because I believe in good songs anyway and I do my best to write them. Taxi's two #1 hits were both slow and serious. If a junk hit ever hails from Taxi, I believe that is when you could expect the membership rolls to really swell.I also believe people would like to know if they can shoot at the entire market or just some little dot of it.