Originally Posted by Martin Lide
Originally Posted by Neil Cotton
Originally Posted by Martin Lide
Goal #1 of a song should be appeal. Whatever makes a song appealing is a good thing. The primary consideration for a song is the music. If that doesnt work, it isnt a good song.

My suggestion...do whatever or employ whomever that makes your song as appealing as you can make it.
Still no guarantee that anyone else will notice or care, but you will.

Martin

I always thought, as a songwriter, the primary goal of a song was emotional appeal, not the perfect sound; trying to connect with listeners, created the aw haw moment, with an appropriate musical presentation. That's where I have screwed up . LOL



Neil

Foremost, please keep in mind that all that I have is an amateur's opinion. smile

I used to see songs in the same way that you described. The lyric tells a story that resonates with listeners and the music appropriately (enough) carries the message. (Dylan, Van Zandt)
But after hanging around these ammy song sites and playing in bands years ago and mostly... trying stuff out at open mics amongst other hackers such as myself...it became clear (to me) that if someone sang a song well to an audience and were merely reciting straight from a cook book....that would go over better than the most profound lyrics set to un-appealing music.

Unrelated sidenote: In that context, the people who went over the best, usually sounded like someone famous. And almost always mistaked that for their own prowess. wink

Back on point...I came to the conclusion that my songs were melodically deficient. Am still a work in progress.

Just my take.

Martin


Melodies are not my strength...so to my point, I need feedback on whether it is working. So to your point, I need to spend more time performing my song than I do, so whatever I hear in my head is heard through a speaker. smile

http://www.myspace.com/neilcotton http://upickedcotton.tripod.com/neil