Sunset guy, I can only tell you that when you have to play your song live in front of 15 other people and they write their opinion on our lyric sheet and then discuss... that's how you "learn". And frankly, most of the time they were absolutely right when my lyric fell apart, the chorus wasn't strong enough etc etc. I never took offense, neither does anyone else.

The whole point of songwriting is to "communicate" a message and if the message didn't get across I want to know why it didn't and how to correct it.

But there's nothing wrong with saying, wow that's a great hook, perhaps you might want to explore x y or z or make it more upbeat. etc etc If anyone would like to know what a real critique looks like, go ahead, be brave, post your song and I will be happy to listen. p.s. I also used to work for a music supervisor and had to listen to 1,000's of songs before they would even get to her. (yeah, small brag there, sorry) lol

"It Mattered to THAT One"