lyrics nothing without hook/demons give songs?

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WES is RIGHT, melody lines always draw people in way before lyrics, when you first by an album it takes you several listens before you start picking up on the lyrics, but the songs that you go back to on the album are the songs that have music you like...Learning the lyrics is the after effect of liking the music....(except maybe in bob dylans and yes also some folk and country where musically content is subjugated to lyrical content)...

The perfect example of melody being more important than lyric is in the explosion of nirvana onto the "pop" scene.......When "Smells like Teen Spirit" first came out there was not a damn person in the world that knew even so much as a single word Kurt Cobain was singing except kurt himself. Nevertheless, the song sat at the top of the charts for an eternity despite his mumbling of words that know one could understand...Why, because of the MELODY........And then maybe after you hear it a thousand times you start to get the lyrics....LIke i said the lyrics are the after effect of drawing in listeners with melody...............

originally posted by fkeefe.....

"Hey Nave, There are people who have been inspired by God and written some great songs but I agree it isnt exclusive. I dont quite understand what you mean when you criticise writers who want success are you saying you write songs for YOUR pleasure only? Im not knocking you if thats how you feel but dont knock other writers who have gained recognition for their obvious talents."


For the most part fkeefe, I do write songs primarily for myself and I have been for as long as I can remember.......And I'm sorry if I'm coming off as abrasive, It's just that I can't understand some folks.....Sometimes I too feel like a song just flows out of me as if it was divinely inspired...So, I do understand were you all are coming from........But couldn't you just say that god blessed you for your song writing abilities rather than giving god the credit for writing your songs.....Ya know geeze, if your so talented take some damn credit for yourself already.....Songs that flow out of you come from your subconscious mind not a higher power.......Being inspired by god is one thing, thinking that god and demons write "hooks" is absurdity. We don't live in the dark ages anymore and last time I checked the Earth is not the center of the universe.....And as far as my comments on the nashville scene, I think that alot of the people who I have met on the internet who are from or who planned on going to nashville are so concerned about writing songs that will make them famous that in the end they miss the whole point about songwriting.....which is .........that everyone is doing it for themselves first and foremost, not for fame, not for god or demons or any other reason...The reason you all write songs is for you......And if that ain't the reason than I assure you that you would not be doing it! The purpose of art is to serve the artist first........All other purposes are secondary...and if art doesn't serve the artist first I assure you that it will not serve anyone anyway.......People in nashville always seem to bring up the God factor but at the same time it's as if they would sell there souls for a recording contract....Change their clothes, their hair, their sound.....whatever.......It's all superficial nonsense which is quite to the contrary of the ideaology of the routes that nashville was founded on.........That is the sad truth.....The place has turned into a joke and a laughing stock of the American music scene as far as I'm concerned......Now I know I'm going to piss people off by saying that but too bad....... it's the truth and If you can't see that than I can't help you....

-nave
 
My point is first off, claiming that you are the author of all these amazing hooks (40 to be precise) is arrogant.....let others be the judge of that....

Second, Thinking that god writes your songs is arrogant.....It is such a self centered opinion to claim that god is doing your arrangements....Don't you see how small we all are in the big picture?

The combination of these two things form a wall of arrogance that simply infuriates me.......Sorry..

-nave

P.S. I do agree with the author of the thread, no one listens to songs for lyrics they listen for melodies......If all people wanted was good lyrics then they would just go to peotry readings instead of buying CD's....
 
songwriting

"But couldnt you just say that God blessed you for your songwriting abilities rather than give God the credit"

Nave
What you obviously dont understand is the people who believe that God has given them inspiration to write certain songs REALLY BELIEVE IT its called "FAITH". You may disagree with that but that doesnt mean its not true its just not true for you.
Some people say they write better under the influence of certain drugs, others get inspiration from meditation thats how they feel so why the big deal when it comes to people who believe in GOD.?


"That everyone is doing it for themselves first and foremost,not for fame,not for God or demons or any other reason"

What a sweeping statement.How many successfull songwriters have you spoken to about this? I have met quite a few myself when I was signed to Rondor Music in London back in the eighties and many since then and All wanted to achieve success from their songwriting and why not! There is nothing wrong with that its the reward for the work and effort that was put in because believe me to write just for yourself is a lot easier than writing for the "ears of the proffessionals".

By the way Leornado Da Vinci, Michaelangelo and probably most other great artists were paid for their work. They had wonderful talent and Im sure they wanted as many people to see their work as was possible. I hope you can see a little more that way now but if not then thats ok we must agree to differ. FK
 
Fkeefe, your points are well taken and in a way I'm the one who's at fault here.......I should just learn to keep my mouth shut when it comes to these topics about God.......But their is nevertheless some other stuff I would like to say...I gonna leave god out of it though :D

BTW, I don't know how much you know about art history but the artists that you've mentioned were hardly paid for their efforts...they were all basically slaves of the church/state....Both Michel Angelo and Leonardo Da Vince were given just enough to survive and not much more.....I can even give you specifics about Michel Angelo's painting career...The fact is that Michel Angelo, from a financial stand point, painted to get his father out of serious debt with the state/church....He painted to save his fathers life from death for not paying taxes....Both artists were poor with a capital p.

That is fact, however, I would like to believe that the first and foremost reason that they painted was because they loved painting and it was self rewarding more than it was a ploy for fame and fortune.....(we know about the latter)

My point is that it seems alot of people get wrapped up and ultimately warped by the idea of becoming a famous song writer or famous anything for that matter. You start to lose sight of things......And I am by no means suggesting that successful songwriters didn't have lots of drive and motivation and a genuine desire for achieve greatness....And there is nothing wrong with that........It's just when you go overboard that it starts to become a problem with me...
People become in love with the idea of being a famous song writer more than they love writing songs.....And writing a song becomes the secondary effect of this desire to become a famous song writer which is backasswards in my book.... And all art is about the artist first and foremost......All artists create for themselves by default and there are no "buts" about it.....(anyone who doesn't think so is just a poser who wants to become famous) There is a psychological need that all people have to create art and what that need is about is reconciling with oneself...Art enables people to carry on an internal dialogue w/ themselves in away that helps maintain good mental health.....This is not my subjective opinion but this is scientific fact (follow this link to my previous post https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=41981)The psychological reasons people create art are deeply ingrained in the psyche and they have little or nothing to do with becoming famous.....They do however, serve the same purposes as dreaming as I mentioned in the post I gave you the link for.........

-nave
 
at least we are getting somewhere

"Both artists were poor"

I dont know if you get the History channel over there in the USA but weve just had the biographies of Leonardo,Michaelangelo and most of the great impressionist artists and ALL were striving to get their works shown and in the end they all achieved that goal. Unfortunately for some eg Vincent van goch he died before his work was appreciated yes and he died poor. But Leonardo and Michaelangelo and many others according to the bios were very well off at the end of their lives. When you say they were slaves of the state might I point out that according to their biographies they were paid extremely well and with regards to Leonardo a lot of his commissions were never completed. Of course you must have this first great need to ,write,paint,etc etc etc thats" inspiration"(Im not speaking in the spititual sense here) but then what has been, written,painted ,etc etc the rest of the world wants to see and hear because their work has inspired others.Would you say they have sold out because they were paid for their work. Yes first the desire but then the acknowledgement by the world of their talent. FK PS can you name any real talented songwriters,artists etc who have shied away from being successful. I cant think of any.
 
good advice

Hey B H LEWIS Ive just noticed your post. I totally agree with you.
Thats the best piece of advice Ive seen on this thread FK
 
All I was trying to say is what B H lewis said in his short and sweet way.........which is probably a heck of alot better than my way of explaining it.........


BTW, the only artist offhand that I can think of that turned his back on stardom is J.D. Salinger, apart from that I'm sure there are many more examples.....I just can not think of them off hand...


My point about the other artists you've mentioned is simply that most were part of the working class and not the aristocracy...

-nave
 
last jab at it

Ok Nave, Perhaps Ive misunderstood you. If you agree with the post by BH then Im with you 100%. The song comes first absolutely and as BH says hone your craft work at it and success might come yor way as it seems to have done for him in signing a recording contract recently. Thanks for the debate Nave talk to you again sometime. FK
 
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