Are you as good a songwriter as the pros ?

  • Thread starter Thread starter grimtraveller
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SloppyJo said:
How about we look at this from another perspective:

Anybody who writes music they think is crap, please raise your hand.
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I've started a lot of really bad songs. I recognize that they are crap so I don't finish them.
 
Greg_L said:
I've started a lot of really bad songs. I recognize that they are crap so I don't finish them.
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I have a folder on my PC with about 20 started or half-finished songs. Some are ok, most are awful. I think if I find it hard to finish or get on with a song, it's either rubbish or beyond me. The stuff I've written that's (IMHO) any good kind of streamed out of me, rather than me having to force it. Sometimes, I might have to spend some time coming up with another verse that's as good as, or near enough, the first half of the song, but the good stuff generally flows.
 
I honestly think I write and perform songs as good as, if not better than, any "successful" artist/writer.

I have put out some shit too, that I thought was good when I first recorded it. But so has every song-writer that has ever existed. It's part of the process. The difference is, a "big" artist will have a manager or producer that will tell them what they need to scrap before the public gets to hear it. I have to bounce it off people. But my good songs are as awesome as anything. :)
 
jonny deep said:
I have a folder on my PC with about 20 started or half-finished songs. Some are ok, most are awful. I think if I find it hard to finish or get on with a song, it's either rubbish or beyond me. The stuff I've written that's (IMHO) any good kind of streamed out of me, rather than me having to force it. Sometimes, I might have to spend some time coming up with another verse that's as good as, or near enough, the first half of the song, but the good stuff generally flows.
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+100000

I always feel my best songs, and the ones that are best received by others, are the ones that just fall out of my head and write themselves.
 
Maybe my last statement wasn't well thought out;

I suppose we all start writing songs, but when we realize that they're terrible we stop writing them, and.

I don't think I've ever gone "Oh jeez, this song sucks. I must finish it!"


But... what if we have the songwriting chops to write amazing music, but we only write commercial pop music professionally knowing full well that it's terrible?

This might open up a whole new cano o' worms.
 
Greg brings up a good point "I've started a lot of really bad songs. I recognize that they are crap so I don't finish them."

That is a skill unto itself! Many of the songs I now consider crap seemed good when I wrote then x years ago - but as my skills have improved, I can now look at those songs with a much more discerning view.

Over the years, I've gotten better at assessing if something is crap and pulling the plug - but too often I still try to make a silk purse out of a sows ear. Like many writers I may come up with a good 1st verse or a good chorus, but then struggle to finish the song at the same level of quality. I've started to keep a data base of verses, or even single phrases that I thought were good, but simply could not complete. If I have a period where nothing new is coming to me - I try to go back and work on some of those incomplete pieces.

I find my best writing happens when a character comes to me and askes me to tell thier story - sometimes, it feels like I'm not actually writing, I'm simply taking notes as they talk to me - and then I can later edit the story.

My wife thinks I'm freakin' nuts when I tell her a character has come to me and I have to quickly run off to write down what they want to say .................... but insanity can make for good art!!!!
 
Greg_L said:
+100000

I always feel my best songs, and the ones that are best received by others, are the ones that just fall out of my head and write themselves.
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And I guess they're the best received because they're kind of honest - as in they're the kind of thing you'd actually say, and that's the sort of thing people expect and want from you. If you're having to force it, then it's unnatural and maybe a bit fake, and people might pick up on that - I guess it's the same in all writing. Dunno if I'm making my point well.
 
Xdrummer said:
My wife thinks I'm freakin' nuts when I tell her a character has come to me and I have to quickly run off to write down what they want to say .................... but insanity can make for good art!!!!
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Lol, I can relate to that. On my home from work, I walk up a steep hill and that's where my best ideas come to me. When I get home, I pop my head round the door to tell my girlfriend I have to run upstairs for ten minutes to get the idea down before I lose it - sometimes she gets a bit pissed off at that.

I'm moving to a new town next month - what will I do without my idea hill?
 
Perhaps a big difference between pro's and people like us. Is that they have the right friends, gear and time to finish songs and make them sound proper. I think there are a lot of people who are just as good or better then lot of the pro stuff. But then again, that might be taste as well.
jonny deep said:
When I get home, I pop my head round the door to tell my girlfriend I have to run upstairs for ten minutes to get the idea down before I lose it - sometimes she gets a bit pissed off at that.
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Haha, I so recognise that feeling. Always is a bit awkward. Especially when I'm not at home, I come somewhere take some paper start writing. Then I hope no one starts a conversation with me. When I finish writing there is always someone who wants to read it.
And when I'm writing I can never tell if it is good or not. Actually I only keep on writing if I like it and usually discover the (the absense of) quality of the writing the day after...
 
Dicus said:
I hope no one starts a conversation with me.......
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I feel that way pretty much all day long. I got a potential great riff in my head, and people want to ruin with human interaction! What the hell is wrong with everyone?

:D
 
RAMI said:
I feel that way pretty much all day long. I got a potential great riff in my head, and people want to ruin with human interaction! What the hell is wrong with everyone?

:D
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Haha, so true! Perhaps we need a 'don't talk to me right now' sign.
 
Dicus said:
Haha, so true! Perhaps we need a 'don't talk to me right now' sign.
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I'm going to steal a "Do Not Disturb" sign from a hotel and wear it around my neck.

Added bonus: Little punks can't tell me "knock knock" jokes.

"Knock Knock"

""Read the sign, punk".

:D
 
Music : No problem, I easily create a new one, but… :guitar:
- Why is it every time so hard to find a good bridge ?
- Why do I everytime end with a whining ballad ? I love speed tempos and energic rythms ! :mad::mad::mad:

Lyrics : No problem, I easily get ideas, but… :p
- Why do I stop after 1 verse & 1 chorus ?
- Why do I think my lyrics are crappy the day after ? They were so brilliant yesterday ! :mad::mad::mad:
 
I really don't know if the stuff I have written over the past five years is any good or not. I like to think it is but as I am the only person to have heard it I can't really say. Now some songs that I wrote in the 70s I am convinced where as good as the pro's. There were several songs that I wrote and performed in public I found out some time later that other artists and bands where playing at their gigs. Maybe I am wrong but to me that said something about the quality of the songs.
 
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