JPF Home Page Forums Lyric and MP3 Feedback Lyric Feedback Forum 2 RED RIVER ROMANCE

Graham, that's right...the way Dallas is pronounced, those would be perfect rhymes. that's why Dallas and Alice are often used in couplets. how you could say it rhymes with an ow sound loses me. but it's not my song.

Blake, description is the lifeblood of artistic writing...writing that's not for the sake of facts like journalism, and even then it's useful. I learned that in English class way before i dropped out in 9th grade. that's why Robert Johnson, Hank sr., Chuck Berry, Dylan, TVZ, Bruce and others are so admired. they described vivid scenes and fit them in songs. to criticize description in lyrics, esp Americana lyrics would be like saying a photographer has too much scenery in his landscapes. of course, too much of anything is no good, but so far I've rarely had anyone tell me that Nashville cliche...show me, don't tell me.

as for your concern for the craft, only you would know that. but song after song with rickety rhymes suggests a writer is settling. picture this....

a gal comes to me and says, "tell me if I'm a good singer, Mr. Grouch!" "uhh, ok..." she has little range, not much depth and very little emotion. I tell her she doesn't do much for me, she needs to work on her singing. she says Janet Jackson's popular and she doesn't have a good voice, either. true but the gal didn't ask me if it was possible to be a successful "singer" with an eh voice. she asked me if she had a good voice. that's two different things. if she figgers Janet can't sing but she's a millionaire so why should she work on her voice, that tells me she'd rather settle than be the best singer she can be. sure AJ's popular but he's not much of a lyricist. not that him(and Janet) aren't appealing, that's just not his strength. a recent Entertainment Weekly article said as much but jeez, all you hafta do is look at a few lyrics and see, he's not writing Eleanor Rigby on those genial cds of his. but it's your call. what you want to achieve when you write is up to you. I just pointed out what I noticed and then what I gleaned from your reaction.