Still trying to write songs

Started by Denis, September 18, 2014, 04:50:21 PM

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Hey Denis,

Does it get easier with time? Songwriting I mean.

It gets freaking harder. Maybe one's standards get higher. Maybe it depends on what you're willing to accept as "a song". Then again, maybe it's merely incipient senility.   :laughin:

Quote from: ducktrapper on October 17, 2014, 01:59:20 PM
It gets freaking harder. Maybe one's standards get higher. Maybe it depends on what you're willing to accept as "a song". Then again, maybe it's merely incipient senility.   :laughin:

All of the above.  Also, as I get older, I wonder things like: hasn't that idea already been done?  Am I just  re-hashing the same idea or melody?  Does it matter?  Seems the older you get and the more exposure to music from the past, the harder it is to create something "original".  Yet, that "evolution" aspect also seems to be important.  They say new music is often influenced by what the creator has been exposed to before.  Maybe the best course of action for we songwriters, regardless of age, is to just do it, put it out there, and see how it is received??
:guitar
"Badges?  We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Became a Shooting Star when I got my 1st guitar.
Back in '66, I was 13 and that was my fix.
Still shooting for stardom after all this time.
If I never make it, I'll still be fine.


:guitar

Quote from: L07 Shooting Star on October 18, 2014, 02:42:07 AM
All of the above.  Also, as I get older, I wonder things like: hasn't that idea already been done?  Am I just  re-hashing the same idea or melody?  Does it matter?  Seems the older you get and the more exposure to music from the past, the harder it is to create something "original".  Yet, that "evolution" aspect also seems to be important.  They say new music is often influenced by what the creator has been exposed to before.  Maybe the best course of action for we songwriters, regardless of age, is to just do it, put it out there, and see how it is received??
:guitar

Exactimundo senor!  :beer

"Badges?  We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Became a Shooting Star when I got my 1st guitar.
Back in '66, I was 13 and that was my fix.
Still shooting for stardom after all this time.
If I never make it, I'll still be fine.


:guitar

Quote from: ST on October 17, 2014, 01:24:17 PM
Hey Denis,

Does it get easier with time? Songwriting I mean.

I'm still such a newbie when it comes to writing words.  I love a well constructed lyric but I'm not sure I'll ever write anything I truly think of as good.  The "just do it, put it out there..." attitude, like L-7 Shooting Star wrote, is pretty much the way I operate.  It's better than keeping it to yourself because you're not sure if it's good enough. 

Dennis,

Just write what you feel when you have inspiration.  Then, it's good.  This song you have here is good.  I really like it, nice singing as well.

:beer
bluesman67
HOGTOP CHARLOTTE

www.reverbnation.com/hogtopcharlotte

Quote from: Denis on November 24, 2014, 07:09:57 AM
I'm still such a newbie when it comes to writing words.  I love a well constructed lyric but I'm not sure I'll ever write anything I truly think of as good.  The "just do it, put it out there..." attitude, like L-7 Shooting Star wrote, is pretty much the way I operate.  It's better than keeping it to yourself because you're not sure if it's good enough. 
Yes, at least to me. Like anything else, practice and experience makes it easier. Need to keep some kind of inspiration too. Either keep yourself tore down or up. I'm still waiting for the "up" inspiration.  :)   
10-1614 more than a number, it's body and soul.

So I was rummaging through a box the other day and I came across a cassette with about 20 songs and partial songs that I recorded on a cheap cassette recorder about 25 years ago. I vaguely remember going through my scribblers and putting all these to a tune and quickly getting them down. I had completely forgotten most of them and some of them really needed forgetting but I have a few things to rework and I may actually have four or five good ideas there. I'm an editor as well as a writer.
One good thing about writing a lot and recording things as you go is you can go back and mine the slag heap for ideas when you don't have anything current. My advice is to write, write, write. I have piles of cahiers filled with millions of words going back to the early 70's.  Using a rhyming dictionary, I tend to overwrite a lot and often have dozens of verses and alternate bridges that eventually get pared down to something more concise. I use my computer's word processor to write these days which makes editing easier, keeps things less messy and saves a lot of trees but now and then I go back through these things and often come upon lines or verses that are usable.

I have a couple of friends, both are good songwriters, that have told me my lyrics need to be more succinct, tell a complete, consistent story.  Lyrics need to have a theme, a flow.  I've always thought about the melody, the chords but now, I'm trying to think more about the message of the song.  It's a whole other mindset.   

I can't listen to streaming audio or video here so I can only offer advice based on generalities. But succinctness is always a good trait. The other things are less important if the song is good.

Quote from: Denis on December 13, 2014, 08:04:07 AM
I have a couple of friends, both are good songwriters, that have told me my lyrics need to be more succinct, tell a complete, consistent story.  Lyrics need to have a theme, a flow.  I've always thought about the melody, the chords but now, I'm trying to think more about the message of the song.  It's a whole other mindset.   

Paint as big a picture as possible with as few words as possible??  A simple consistent message/theme makes sense.  Great songs have a hook line that reflects this message.  Think of all the great songs we love.  "I owe my soul to the company store", has a lot of meaning in only 8 words.  Or "A good good woman likes to drink with the boys".  How about "A drunkards dream if I ever did see one"?  Just riffing out ideas.  I'm stuck in the same song-writing woes as most of us.  Don't give up Denis.
"Badges?  We don't need no stinkin' badges."

Became a Shooting Star when I got my 1st guitar.
Back in '66, I was 13 and that was my fix.
Still shooting for stardom after all this time.
If I never make it, I'll still be fine.


:guitar

While rummaging and finding that cassette, I also found the last royalty cheque that I received from SOCAN. It's dated Feb. 15, 1991 and it's for $1.06. I never cashed it. I think I'll frame it to show off my songwriting prowess.  :laughin:

Here's a few of mine. Just demo quality but what the heck.

http://www.reverbnation.com/thomaslee4

Good stuff! But be careful. A couple of them reveal a gentler Duck..   :) I like Upside Down Town a lot.
10-1614 more than a number, it's body and soul.

Quote from: flatlander on December 20, 2014, 09:20:12 PM
Good stuff! But be careful. A couple of them reveal a gentler Duck..   :) I like Upside Down Town a lot.


Thanks Flatlander although I don't know why that would be in doubt. I seem to get along pretty well with children and dogs. 

  :blush:  :beer 


So I was rummaging through a box the other day and I came across a cassette with about 20 songs and partial songs that I recorded on a cheap cassette recorder about 25 years ago. I vaguely remember going through my scribblers and putting all these to a tune and quickly getting them down. I had completely forgotten most of them and some of them really needed forgetting but I have a few things to rework and I may actually have four or five good ideas there. I'm an editor as well as a writer.

Amazing, I've done the same thing. I have a whole shoebox of cassettes that I've browsed thru that I recorded in the late 80's. What's amazing was what I was able to do with multitracking between 2 cassette decks, ping-ponging between the two. Some tracks have 4 overdubs on them and while they lost a bit of quality, they're still amazing to me. Thankfully, I have Amadeus audio software that came in handy to fix the tracks up as far as pitch correction and eq.

Doing open mics has gotten me to write songs with lyrics as opposed to fingerstyle instrumentals.  With my new trigger-finger affliction I need to do more strumming songs instead of fingerstyle and so need to get my singing voice some practice.

I'm very much in the subconscious camp of writing. Just write, spitball a lot of ideas and alternate lines in the margins and review every couple of days to see what bubbles up. I like to use a song to "paint a picture" more or less, of a situation others can relate to. I'm influenced a lot by the Beatles and Neil Young, so I allude to ideas rather than being bluntly literal. I've found that structure is really important and somehow my songs evolve with segments that I can lead into each other and repeat.

FWIW: Here's my virgin open mic set with a song I wrote, "Back In the Day"  https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10202730934686895&pnref=story  Apologies if I'm hi-jacking the thread, comments welcome. . .  :guitar
Larrivee OO-05 • Larrivee OOV-03 SS • Larrivee OO-44  • Taylor 322ce • Strat • Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/jpmist

Quote from: Denis on September 18, 2014, 04:50:21 PM
Here's another attempt at songwriting

http://youtu.be/9hT7wT9zp18

Very nice! I'm hearing a bit of Jackson Browne in your music, which isn't bad!
Larrivee OO-05 • Larrivee OOV-03 SS • Larrivee OO-44  • Taylor 322ce • Strat • Soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/jpmist

Quote from: jpmist on December 21, 2014, 01:20:05 PM
Very nice! I'm hearing a bit of Jackson Browne in your music, which isn't bad!

I wish I could listen to it but Youtube just sputters and pops and starts and stops. Frustrating. 

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