What is "the perfect song"?

  • Thread starter Thread starter mjr
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Stairway to..... Rain song.......please,

Part of the reason I hate walking into my local guitar center.


I'm in with dintymoore's "Happy Birthday" or maybe "Three Blind Mice".


That tap your foot, grooving ,rocking, or mushy ballad etc...song that YOU think was the best ever written was from a special time (for good or bad) in YOUR life. It's alot about Your "memories" and not the song.

Memories... oh no...Barbra Streisand?....alittle Barry.... Kiss?...Bowie......

Dare I say Beatles. Norman Greenbaum? Tom Jones....

The "perfect" song? Trying to think of one here. Perfect is different than best. Perfect? What's the definition of perfect? Perfect song? Got me...?
 
Here's some songs I wish I wrote:

Yesterday
Black Dog
Blue Moon
I Only Have Eyes For You
Rhapsody in Blue (my vote for the best song ever written)

not so serious, but I love these songs:
In a Cold Sweat - the Was not Was version
I Thank You - Sam and Dave (I heard that song in Greenwich Village in 1968 and knew that it was what I wanted to play, Isaac Hayes plays Hohner D6 on it)

Almost forgot: Maybe I'm Amazed. That's one of the most magical songs I know. The sound of that song is out of this world - the drums, the guitars, everything. It's one of those moments, like "Us and Them", when it all came together like it seldom does.
 
dintymoore said:
Here's some songs I wish I wrote:

Yesterday
Black Dog
Blue Moon
I Only Have Eyes For You
Rhapsody in Blue (my vote for the best song ever written). . ..
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Rhapsody in Blue is beautiful, yes.
As much as I love modern music (heck - I love jazz, rock, fusion, reggae, pop, blah blah) - I think you have to go back to the masters for the best music ever: If there is one song I could listen to my entire life (so far so good) and still think of it as the best song ever, it would be a selection from Art of the Fugue by Bach.
 
grimtraveller said:
That seems like a contradiction to me. If 'almost no one gets it' how can that be the element that makes it sell better ? And who honestly buys songs coz of their sexual content or sexuality ? At the end of the day, one either likes a song or one doesn't. Then as you get to know it more, you might start working out what you like about it. Or not.
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Not really as much of a contradiction. When you have a young girl half naked, not so much really DANCING but bump-and-grinding in perfect imitation of a stripper... and we all know she's lip synching to her studio crafted vocals, so shes not even really singing her own song... just pretending to sing, half naked, doing her best imitation of a stripper...

...young boys just eat it up, and she sells millions of CD's... but, when we get a few years older... its not something we think of as "artistic", is it? I mean, such a song and her performance of it is not likely to become a "standard" and reperformed down thru the ages... its not "timeless"... IE, its not "high art". Its merely a base form of it... its merely overt sexuality, the perceived success of which is driven mainly by yung boys that need laid, and by young girls that crave being desired by cute boys.

here, think of the band "Tatu"... basically two 12 year old girls in their underwear that kiss on stage while lip synching. Their manager should almost be in JAIL, eh? LMAO... overt sexuality, nothing more...

"Art", be it music and lyrics... famous paintings in the middle ages... or pictures in magazines used for ad-copy... HINT at sex, thy don't bash you over the head with it...

... you dont sit there drooling with a racing heart. But your subconscious picks it up cleanly.

A whiskey Brand was lacking in sales to females as a demographic. Then they came out with a "waterfall" clock that was very pretty. Very EXPENSIVE, and they gave it away to bars to put up. If you squint your eyes when you look at the "changing" waterfall display... you clearly see a Phallus (penis). Never noticed it, but once the paperback book OUTLINED IT in a photo... it was VERY plain to see...

A national vodka brand will spend close to a million dollars for an ad-copy for posters and magazine advertisements... all that dough for merely a close up snapshot of a glass with clear fluid over three ice cubes? Not hardly... professional artists airbrushed the letters "S...E... and X" on those 3 ice cubes. It sld universally to both men and women as a demographic.

Its called subliminal advertising, and its very real. Its what SEPARATES a good photo of 3 ice cubes in a glass, from a million dollar ad campaign.

Once digital imaging became a reality, the job became easier... and sex-based subliminal advertising became ubiquitous. I was explaining this to a girl in college, and she told me I was crazy. She tossed me a magazine and asked me to SHOW her, as a challenge.

I flipped 3 pages. Found an insurance advertisement who's WHOLE CAMPAIGN was a picture of a nice house, in winter. You saw the house from the distance and up in ther air. I squinted my eaes to de-focus... and VOILA, the letters "S", "E", and "X" popped out at me. I traced them out with a pen. and she instantly SAW it. (winter snow had idly blown over the roof shingles, artistically...LMAO)

When you see formless background, like sky, leaves, grass... you copy it into MS-Paint... start picking colors and temporarily moving the color slider to bright purple. You pick several background colors, and soon you find it... breasts, penises, butts... you dont NOTICE it, but its there.

And its there for a reason... it sells... and it sells, and seems "artistic somehow" because it hints at sex, without being overtly sexual.

In music? Lyrics mostly, you find "sideways" references to sexual material. And I mean a clear pattern of it. Think of a good female singer, with a real good range... suddenly for the bridge, the music drops out, to soft piano or whatnot... her vocals are suddenly "close up and personal". Her formerly piercing voice, is now a "husky" almost-whisper.

Question: When do you hear a female talk like that? A deep, husky, from-the-throat loud whisper? *when your lover whispers in your ear*, thats when!

Think of the ubiquitous "ooh" 's amd "aaahhhh "'s female singers use so much?? You LIKE the sound of it, and you dont even realize why. Yuur brain realizes it though, and you pay attention. Without an overt obvious reason "why"... you just "like it", or we say it is "artistic".

As your clicking your way across the internet, and seeing advertisements... pay attention to the artwork... the BORDERS, the backgrunds... you'll SEE it, believe you me... just squint your eyes, defocus, and search...

now that I've TOLD you about that in lyrics... maybe you'll remember me saying it... and attempting to prove me wrong, try to look at famous lyrics, and you'll notice it... when you read lyrics, "defocus"... IE, read each line separately and slowly. It will jump out at you once you start noticing it.


"hinting at sex" is a huge proportion of what separates "good art" from the "mundane".

No one knows why it works, it just "does".
 
Blimey !:)
I actually agree with alot of what you've said there, but not as a hard and fast rule. We are sexual and social beings so it follows that a huge element of whatever we do will have sexual connotations, either positively or negatively. Mind you, whatever a 'perfect' song is, it's usually in retrospect that we think about it. But there's alot of sexual hinting in songs that bomb too !:D
Personally, I think alot of it is incidental. The result, I mean, if not the intention. I don't believe in the perfect song anyway !
 
Feelings, nothing more than Feelings.......

cmon, what a stupid thread
 
I think of two elements that contribute to a song being, if not perfect, then 'lasting':

One, the lyrics have a universality that not only crosses tastes but also generations.

Two, the melody is solid enough to withstand the various abuses of producers and musicians through the ages.

C.
 
Cosmic;3299786... the lyrics have a universality that not only crosses tastes but also generations...[/QUOTE said:
Cool, but for me (and Brian Wilson also), the best song is Rhapsody in Blue, and it's an instrumental...

Ephi82 said:
... cmon, what a stupid thread
Click to expand...

you can say that again

Ephi82 said:
... cmon, what a stupid thread
Click to expand...

gotcha

I don't know what the perfect song is, but I do know for sure it isn't this:
Click to expand...
 
steve.h said:
There is no perfect song. </thread>
Click to expand...

I agree, my favorite song changes every day/week/month...to me it must be a great song that has been recorded "well" (not necessarily a pristine recording...some of my fave songs are by lou barlow). its a subjective question but that's what makes it fun, too. usually i flip between 'strawberry fields forever' or 'paperback writer'
 
steve.h said:
Hahaha, yes I suppose you're right :P
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hey man, i was all about musical integrity when i had a deal on a major. it's not easy to admit i was wrong. waking up and going to work every morning makes it easier though.

if it don't make dollars it don't make sense.
 
ez_willis said:
depends on how valuable your time is.
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According to David Allan Coe, this is the perfect Country & Western song...

YOU NEVER EVEN CALLED ME BY MY NAME

Written By Steve Goodman
As Recorded By David Allan Coe

WELL, IT WAS ALL
THAT I COULD DO TO KEEP FROM CRYIN’
SOMETIMES IT SEEMED SO USELESS TO REMAIN
BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME DARLIN’, DARLIN'
YOU NEVER EVEN CALL ME BY MY NAME

YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME WAYLON JENNINGS
AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME CHARLIE PRIDE
AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME MERLE HAGGARD/ANYMORE
EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE ON MY FIGHTIN’ SIDE

CHORUS:
AND I’LL HANG AROUND AS LONG AS YOU WILL LET ME
AND I NEVER MINDED STANDIN’ IN THE RAIN
BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME DARLIN’, DARLIN’
YOU NEVER EVEN CALLED ME BY MY NAME

WELL, I’VE HEARD MY NAME
A FEW TIMES IN YOUR PHONE BOOK (Hello, Hello)
AND I’VE SEEN IT ON SIGNS WHERE I’VE PLAYED
BUT THE ONLY TIME I KNOW
I’LL HEAR "DAVID ALLAN COE"
IS WHEN JESUS HAS HIS FINAL JUDGMENT DAY

REPEAT CHORUS

RECITATION:
WELL, A FRIEND OF MINE NAMED STEVE GOODMAN WROTE THAT SONG
AND HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE PERFECT COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG
I WROTE HIM BACK A LETTER AND I TOLD HIM IT WAS NOT THE PERFECT COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG BECAUSE HE HADN’T SAID ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT MAMA,
OR TRAINS,
OR TRUCKS,
OR PRISON,
OR GETTING’ DRUNK
WELL HE SAT DOWN AND WROTE ANOTHER VERSE TO THE SONG
AND HE SENT IT TO ME,
AND AFTER READING IT,
I REALIZED THAT MY FRIEND HAD WRITTEN THE PERFECT
COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG
AND I FELT OBLIGED TO INCLUDE IT ON THIS ALBUM
THE LAST VERSE GOES LIKE THIS HERE:

WELL, I WAS DRUNK THE DAY MY MOM GOT OUT OF PRISON
AND I WENT TO PICK HER UP IN THE RAIN
BUT BEFORE I COULD GET TO THE STATION IN MY PICKUP TRUCK
SHE GOT RUNNED OVER BY A DAMNED OLD TRAIN

CHORUS:
AND I’LL HANG AROUND AS LONG AS YOU WILL LET ME
AND I NEVER MINDED STANDIN’ IN THE RAIN
NO, A’ YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME DARLIN’, DARLIN’
YOU NEVER EVEN CALL ME
WELL I WONDER WHY YOU DON’T CALL ME
WHY DON’T YOU EVER CALL ME BY MY NAME
 
mjr said:
According to David Allan Coe, this is the perfect Country & Western song...

YOU NEVER EVEN CALLED ME BY MY NAME

Written By Steve Goodman
As Recorded By David Allan Coe

WELL, IT WAS ALL
THAT I COULD DO TO KEEP FROM CRYIN’
SOMETIMES IT SEEMED SO USELESS TO REMAIN
BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME DARLIN’, DARLIN'
YOU NEVER EVEN CALL ME BY MY NAME

YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME WAYLON JENNINGS
AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME CHARLIE PRIDE
AND YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME MERLE HAGGARD/ANYMORE
EVEN THOUGH YOU’RE ON MY FIGHTIN’ SIDE

CHORUS:
AND I’LL HANG AROUND AS LONG AS YOU WILL LET ME
AND I NEVER MINDED STANDIN’ IN THE RAIN
BUT YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME DARLIN’, DARLIN’
YOU NEVER EVEN CALLED ME BY MY NAME

WELL, I’VE HEARD MY NAME
A FEW TIMES IN YOUR PHONE BOOK (Hello, Hello)
AND I’VE SEEN IT ON SIGNS WHERE I’VE PLAYED
BUT THE ONLY TIME I KNOW
I’LL HEAR "DAVID ALLAN COE"
IS WHEN JESUS HAS HIS FINAL JUDGMENT DAY

REPEAT CHORUS

RECITATION:
WELL, A FRIEND OF MINE NAMED STEVE GOODMAN WROTE THAT SONG
AND HE TOLD ME IT WAS THE PERFECT COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG
I WROTE HIM BACK A LETTER AND I TOLD HIM IT WAS NOT THE PERFECT COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG BECAUSE HE HADN’T SAID ANYTHING AT ALL ABOUT MAMA,
OR TRAINS,
OR TRUCKS,
OR PRISON,
OR GETTING’ DRUNK
WELL HE SAT DOWN AND WROTE ANOTHER VERSE TO THE SONG
AND HE SENT IT TO ME,
AND AFTER READING IT,
I REALIZED THAT MY FRIEND HAD WRITTEN THE PERFECT
COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG
AND I FELT OBLIGED TO INCLUDE IT ON THIS ALBUM
THE LAST VERSE GOES LIKE THIS HERE:

WELL, I WAS DRUNK THE DAY MY MOM GOT OUT OF PRISON
AND I WENT TO PICK HER UP IN THE RAIN
BUT BEFORE I COULD GET TO THE STATION IN MY PICKUP TRUCK
SHE GOT RUNNED OVER BY A DAMNED OLD TRAIN

CHORUS:
AND I’LL HANG AROUND AS LONG AS YOU WILL LET ME
AND I NEVER MINDED STANDIN’ IN THE RAIN
NO, A’ YOU DON’T HAVE TO CALL ME DARLIN’, DARLIN’
YOU NEVER EVEN CALL ME
WELL I WONDER WHY YOU DON’T CALL ME
WHY DON’T YOU EVER CALL ME BY MY NAME
Click to expand...


Steve Goodman got pissed off about Coe cutting this song the way he did. Coe changed the song up a bit from Goodmans version and Goodman said that the "perfect country song" story that Coe put in the middle was pure bullshit. He resented Coe for screwing up his song and using his name in the talking part for a long time. He was vocal about it on many occasions. Then the Coe version started getting huge and Kriss Kristoferson told Goodman that he should quite complaining and be thanful that Coe changed up his song, made it a huge hit, and placed the name "Steve Goodman" in continueus radio rotation.
Steve Goodman had a change of heart and eventually embraced the Coe version to the point of even putting the "bullshit perfect country song story" in his own performances of the song.

Just thought y'all might find this kind of interesting...not trying to hijack the thread.
 
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