Welcome to the Just Plain Folks forums! You are currently viewing our forums as a Guest which gives you limited access to most of our discussions and to other features.
By joining our free community you will have access to post and respond to topics, communicate privately with our users (PM), respond to polls, upload content, and access many other features. Registration is fast, simple, and absolutely free; so please join our community today!
I found this song lyric (Life In A Dying Town) from Carroll Kiphen this afternoon in the Lyric Feedback Forum. I felt inspired so I wrote and recorded this little stripped-down demo. I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Musically, with the girl singer, it sounds like stuff you hear on pop radio, young girls singing love ballads. and this should probably be a heartbreak, love ballad.
This sounds like a young girl singing what probably should be a country song, and an adult POV.
i dont wanna get into with you, im honestly trying to be helpful. What i noticed in your previous songs, they sound good, they are good melodies, but the prosody is off.
You have to consider that the music is a showcase for whats being said. In this there is a disconnect.
Hey Tony, the lines you came up with are great and it would be pretty easy to generate new vocals together with my existing tune based on your lines. The only issue I have is that you changed the subject and gave it a much more positive vibe. Carroll’s lyrics deal with the fact that communities and towns are disappearing because the young folks are moving away. There are many discussions here in Germany why this is happening and how it can be stopped. It’s sad, because many towns with a rich history don’t have a future. I tried to express this in the music that I composed. Now, with that positive twist you put on the lyrics, your song is about a town out in nowhere, near Memphis. I think your lyric would require music with a more positive vibe. But you really wrote some good lines and it should be relatively easy to compose new music for them. Thanks for sharing this.
Hi Fdem, imagine this young girl that you hear in a video clip singing about the town she lives in. A town which is slowly dying because her fellow young ones are moving to the cities. She's singing about life in the dying town she lives in. To you it sounds like today's pop because her voice sounds young. What do the younger generation sing? Oldies? Is this pop or country? It's a stripped down demo with just one single instrument. It could be either or, or something completely different. An artist could take this in many directions. I didn't want to limit the potential by taking it in a specific direction to start with. I don't feel the discomfort you are feeling, but many people respond differently to music. Thanks for your feedback.
Thank you Tony. Many people told me that song I posted recently called "Don't Leave Me Alone" sounded very dark. I find it interesting that you find it light hearted. Like I wrote, many people hear and respond to music differently.
What i noticed in your previous songs, they sound good, they are good melodies, but the prosody is off.
You have to consider that the music is a showcase for whats being said. In this there is a disconnect.
Prosody matters, keep pluggin away.
HI Fdem, ok, prosody matters to you and according to you, in all of my songs the prosody is off. One of the things that I find important is to write songs that artists want to sing. One of the songs I posted here recently (Let Me Run) I wrote specifically for a young female artist. I had several artists asking if they could have that song. You say the prosody is off. Well, maybe it is. Nevertheless, I found a good artist, musicians, a music producer, a video clip producer and the song got radio airplay and was performed live before an audience of several thousand people. So far, nobody involved noticed anything was off.
Dom may be right about the prosody in this particular song. Of course, I don't think it's fair to judge the song on the basis of the AI technology that you are playing around with. But I think maybe EZ-Keys comes into it too when it comes to getting the feeling just right.
"Let Me Run" is really good. It feels different in its production. Did you produce it with friends playing the instruments?
Musically and lyrically this can be compared, on the surface, to Simon and Garfunkel's "My Little Town."
The main difference is that S & G are "looking back" and there is as much (angry, resentful) personal opinion as descriptive "snapshots" in their song, whereas the young woman is singing more "in the moment"--about what is happening NOW, as we speak, in her town, and it's mostly descriptive and does not reveal much (at least directly) about how she feels about her town.
And though Carroll's lyric as sung by the female vocalist does seem more objective about her town than the one in S & G's hit, it is no less moving to me, and the song, as a whole is very moving to me as well.
I think there is an "inkblot" effect when we listen to something that is basically descriptive imagery: we tend to "project" how the singer feels into the singer, based on how those images make us feel.
Musically, based on some comments, I was prepared to be listening to "happy" music and experiencing irony between the music and lyric, like we experience when we hear Gilbert O' Sullivan's "Alone Again (Naturally)." But the music to "Life In A Dying Town" is about as happy as that in "My Little Town" --that being: not happy at all, at least for me.
There's a beautifully sad feeling that overwhelms me, especially in the chorus and the chord changes therein. The musical writing, here, does more to affect my perception of "how she feels" about the dying town than anything in the lyric, a lyric that sticks to "showing" and not "telling" consistently throughout. Bravo on that count!
So for me, in other words, the music helps clarify a very "showing" lyric by "telling" me it's okay to feel sad that this is "a dying town."
And the saddest beauty in the song is how the girl distances herself from it, though she has clearly lived in it, if not STILL living in it. She refers to the folks in this town as "they" and has divorced herself, in her mind, from the town, while trying to talk about it objectively. This is a very layered write.
Great lyric, great music. Perfect match between them, composition-ally, for me.
Mike
Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 08/30/2303:25 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice Fortune depends on the tone of your voice
-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon) from the song "Songs of Love" from the album "Casanova" (1996)
Hi Gavin, well, Life In A Dying Town has a 6/8 timing signature, which isn't all that common in pop music.
By the way, Fdem said the prosody was off in all the songs I previously posted here, not just this one. You think Let Me Run is good, someone else says the prosody is off. It shows that people "hear" songs differently. Thanks.
"Let Me Run" started as a stripped down demo. I wrote the words and the music and recorded everything myself. At that time I was criticized pretty much for the subpar lyrics. Apparently the lines were too short. It's amazing what people sometimes criticize. That all changed with the semi-professional production, the female vocals and especially the video clip. A musician found the demo in a forum and noticed the potential. We worked together on the song remotely. It's the same song, just polished. In the version used in the video all I did was record the vocals together with Elisa in my studio. She was very professional.
Hey Mike, you just made my day. It looks like we are floating on the same air waves. For a moment I was feeling a bit uncertain about this song and just listened to it a couple of times trying to find the issues I wasn't hearing. I take feedback seriously. Now I feel better. People do "hear" songs differently. Thanks!
Firstly, to put this together in a few hours is no small feat..hats off to you for that alone
Because it is in 6/8 time there will tend to be a bouncy feel to it because of the rise and fall of 6/8 time..... ergo. perhaps, a lighthearted melody noted by JAPOV and possibly the reason for Dom's comment. And you are so correct, we all hear the music differently.
I have a simple belief..if 99% of the population hates my music 80 million people love it, and that is just fine for me LOLOLOL
You do nice work Rob...keep posting
Steve
Creators of music have a responsibility to their craft. When they have finished using all the notes and words, they must pass them down to the next generation with a simple request. “Use these to create new music.”...Steven McDonald
Hi Steve, thanks for taking the time to listen to this song. Yes, I did record this one in just a few hours. EZ Keys makes that possible. I'm with you regarding those numbers you mentioned. Thank you!
Hi Bennash, yes, those are AI generated vocals. The tool is called Synthesizer V and the voice is Solaria. To save time I didn't sing this one myself. I went straight to the tool, entered my midi data and Carroll's lyrics. Bingo. Once you know how it works, it's pretty easy and efficient. Thanks for the feedback.
Hi Gavin, well, Life In A Dying Town has a 6/8 timing signature, which isn't all that common in pop music.
By the way, Fdem said the prosody was off in all the songs I previously posted here, not just this one. You think Let Me Run is good, someone else says the prosody is off. It shows that people "hear" songs differently. Thanks.
"Let Me Run" started as a stripped down demo. I wrote the words and the music and recorded everything myself. At that time I was criticized pretty much for the subpar lyrics. Apparently the lines were too short. It's amazing what people sometimes criticize. That all changed with the semi-professional production, the female vocals and especially the video clip. A musician found the demo in a forum and noticed the potential. We worked together on the song remotely. It's the same song, just polished. In the version used in the video all I did was record the vocals together with Elisa in my studio. She was very professional.
There's no such thing as a line that's too short. Too short for what? LOL
Wow I'm pretty impressed what AI can do . I've been hearing about it for 4 weeks . but never a example what the machine can do. I heard the demo , That song is horrible on that site
Hi Bennash, I posted this before. Here's a video that shows you in detail how the software works. This video contains all you really need to know about the program. I didn't need a manual, just this video.
ok let me educate myself Thanks Your song sounds 100% better then what that demo is doing what I hear on that site
I don't see the value , He sits at a machine a creates a robot song . Maybe I'm missing something Looks like he let a robot fix a lyric also I'd have look at this guy more carefully It reminds me of a toy for no one to listen to but himself
Lyrically it does a decent job , Small town angles have been done many times Thats the new one 2023
your hook is catchy, I've just heard streets roll up at 9 angle
I'm with you, Gavin. But they kept saying 2-, 3-, and 4-word lines are too short for a good song. I didn't get it then and I surely don't get it now.
Sounds like the kind of thing that some (not all) of the folks who write lyrics only come up with. It's all about structure and how it looks on the page, the same kind of thinking that leads to an obsession with counting syllables. If you have a tune in your head, none of this matters
Hi Fdem, imagine this young girl that you hear in a video clip singing about the town she lives in. A town which is slowly dying because her fellow young ones are moving to the cities. She's singing about life in the dying town she lives in. To you it sounds like today's pop because her voice sounds young. What do the younger generation sing? Oldies? Is this pop or country? It's a stripped down demo with just one single instrument. It could be either or, or something completely different. An artist could take this in many directions. I didn't want to limit the potential by taking it in a specific direction to start with. I don't feel the discomfort you are feeling, but many people respond differently to music. Thanks for your feedback.
im glad this didnt cause a blow up. not its not just her voice, the piano sound your using is contemporary, and the form and feel. i was listening to miley cyrus flowers the other day, some of those emotional love ballads you hear, it sounds like that genre completely, with or without the vocal, but the vocal certainly makes it a kids song, that may be an issue with the ai vocalist until they come up with variety.
i dont think young kids think about dying towns, certainly not a target audience of miley cyrus and taylor swift fans.
you can tell an older guy wrote the lyrics. you seem to be more in line with whats going on in radio today, and thats a good thing.
i dont hear paul simon in this at all, but opinions are like...whats that again?
What i noticed in your previous songs, they sound good, they are good melodies, but the prosody is off.
You have to consider that the music is a showcase for whats being said. In this there is a disconnect.
Prosody matters, keep pluggin away.
HI Fdem, ok, prosody matters to you and according to you, in all of my songs the prosody is off. One of the things that I find important is to write songs that artists want to sing. One of the songs I posted here recently (Let Me Run) I wrote specifically for a young female artist. I had several artists asking if they could have that song. You say the prosody is off. Well, maybe it is. Nevertheless, I found a good artist, musicians, a music producer, a video clip producer and the song got radio airplay and was performed live before an audience of several thousand people. So far, nobody involved noticed anything was off.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts with me.
i havent heard all your songs only a few, yes i agree, about the singers pov being important. which it would be a hard sell writing a commercially geared song with a lyric about a dying town. the lyric lends itself more to country or americana or
btw Morristown, nj IS on the list of most fleed cities in the us, yet the bars and restruants thrive. people go to party not live.
its only my take , i think you write good melodies and your sound great
my hometown, by springsteen, hes a rocker yet he wrote this as a folk song, a reason for it. If it was angrier it could be a punk rock song, depends on thbe setting. this is about a dying town, but notice how its written, it doesnt say its a dying town,
That's easy to say when you know an older guy wrote it? What reasoning leads you to this?
For me, the lyric feels organic (enough) to a woman's POV in that it's a bittersweet portrait being rendered, and it's quite measured, things I associate more with women and femininity. IOW, there's enough there, in the lyric, for me to suspend my disbelief and feel this is the genuine expression of a young woman describing a town in which she used to live.
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
i dont hear paul simon in this at alls
The lyrical themes overlap a little in "My Little Town" and "Life In A Dying Town" ("nothing but the dead of night back in my little town" and "This is life Life in a dying town" for example).
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
i dont think young kids think about dying towns
The only people who "dream" about leaving a small town are those stuck in one, and the only people who are stuck in one are those too young to move away, or too poor to afford to move. Young kids? No. Kids not quite old enough to move away? 15-17 yr olds? Yes. A dying small town? Even more so.
And I think those of a similar age can empathize, even if their situation is different. You don't need to be from a small dying town to empathize with someone who is/was.
Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 08/30/2311:13 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice Fortune depends on the tone of your voice
-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon) from the song "Songs of Love" from the album "Casanova" (1996)
Very smart Mike So my thoughts if Rob has a fan base Have people heard enough small town angles Who cares what songwriters think , Its your fan base Rob That's my point
Hey guys, did anybody notice that all the “small town” songs that were referenced here were about guns: Aldean, Springsteen, S & G. The one I did with Carroll’s lyrics isn’t. Just wondering if that might be the reason some of you don’t like it.
its not just her voice, the piano sound your using is contemporary, and the form and feel. i was listening to miley cyrus flowers the other day, some of those emotional love ballads you hear, it sounds like that genre completely, with or without the vocal, but the vocal certainly makes it a kids song, that may be an issue with the ai vocalist until they come up with variety.
the lyric lends itself more to country or americana
Hi Fdem, thanks for your positive comments about my songwriting. I have to admit that I've never heard of Morristown.
I'm sorry, but I can't leave those quotes you made uncommented. You say the vocal makes it a "kids song"? Is that supposed to be negative critique? I guess I'm doing something right because exactly that was my intention. I explained in a previous post in this thread what my idea/vision was when I wrote and recorded this song. The market segment from age 12-25 is where the money is. Don't tell me you want me to change her voice and make her sound like a grandma, which is easily possible with that AI software. I could have also made her sound like a much younger kid but my target voice was Cyrus, Swift or Lana Del Rey.
Ok, you think this lyric is country or americana and not pop, rock or something else. Are you one of those guys who looks at a lyric and can tell which genre it was written for? It’s funny, but so many people claim to have that skill. I personally think that’s total nonsense.
Who sang “I Swear” better? John Michael Montgomery in 1993 with his no. 1 country version or All-4-One with their no. 1 R&B version in 1994? What about “Hooked On A Feeling? B.J. Thomas’ country version in 1968 or Blue Swede’s legendary rock version in 1974?
I’ve got a few more… “Me And Bobby McGee”. Everybody knows that song. It was originally written and recorded by the Grammy Award winning country musician Roger Miller. We all probably know Janis Joplin’s rock version much better. What about Lonestar’s no. 1 country song “I’m Already There” from 2001 which was covered by the pop band Westlife in 2007. We all know Rascal Flatts no. 1 country song “What Hurts Most”. That one was successfully released as a Eurodance song in 2007 by Cascada. And another one we all know … Dolly Parton’s country song “I Will Always Love You” from the 70s which was covered by Whitney Houston in 1992 as a pop song.
These are examples of hit songs that were successfully recorded in different genres. Same lyrics, same melodies. I personally think a good lyric can work in various different genres. The same goes with good, catchy melodies. All these examples (and there are many, many more) show how flexible and open-minded we, as songwriters, should be if we want to be successful. I'm a fan of stripped-down demos because they make it much easier for the artist/producer to take the song in directions you couldn't imagine when you wrote the song. In the past, even I've recorded the exact same song in completely different genres and both versions sound as if they were written specifically for those genres. Fdem, I respect your view here, but I guess we just totally disagree.
That's easy to say when you know an older guy wrote it? What reasoning leads you to this?
For me, the lyric feels organic (enough) to a woman's POV in that it's a bittersweet portrait being rendered, and it's quite measured, things I associate more with women and femininity. IOW, there's enough there, in the lyric, for me to suspend my disbelief and feel this is the genuine expression of a young woman describing a town in which she used to live.
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
i dont hear paul simon in this at alls
The lyrical themes overlap a little in "My Little Town" and "Life In A Dying Town" ("nothing but the dead of night back in my little town" and "This is life Life in a dying town" for example).
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
i dont think young kids think about dying towns
The only people who "dream" about leaving a small town are those stuck in one, and the only people who are stuck in one are those too young to move away, or too poor to afford to move. Young kids? No. Kids not quite old enough to move away? 15-17 yr olds? Yes. A dying small town? Even more so.
And I think those of a similar age can empathize, even if their situation is different. You don't need to be from a small dying town to empathize with someone who is/was.
I suppose i do know the person who wrote it is older, and that kind of stacks the deck. But im not trying to stack the deck negatively, im trying to help this writer, if i can. if i cant, then i cant, and i probably wont, but... i see potential, but what i think he's doing is picking lyrics that are easy to write a melody to. And i gave Carrol credit for having that skill, of writing singable lyrics.
but on top of structure, and form, is content. I dont feel any empathy in this song at all, other than the emotional melody and music. But i do think that a young girl, as you see it, would not be talking about "They like their eggs over easy Served with biscuits and ham Most folks round here end breakfast with A slice of toast with jam
Kids eat pop tarts, and ramen noodles. And the reason i say Kids, is cause the music is top 40, pop sounding, thats the audience. Now, Carrol didnt know this music would be written to it,. he just wrote whatever came to him. Fair enough, but in joining the two pieces, there should be an understanding that they are supposed to go together.
Can we find examples of the opposite, of course.
Again i think the music came after, and the music is top 40 ish, the lyric is not, if not for the simple fact that 99% of top 40 songs are love/relationship/breakup songs.
its not just her voice, the piano sound your using is contemporary, and the form and feel. i was listening to miley cyrus flowers the other day, some of those emotional love ballads you hear, it sounds like that genre completely, with or without the vocal, but the vocal certainly makes it a kids song, that may be an issue with the ai vocalist until they come up with variety.
the lyric lends itself more to country or americana
Hi Fdem, thanks for your positive comments about my songwriting. I have to admit that I've never heard of Morristown.
I'm sorry, but I can't leave those quotes you made uncommented. You say the vocal makes it a "kids song"? Is that supposed to be negative critique? I guess I'm doing something right because exactly that was my intention. I explained in a previous post in this thread what my idea/vision was when I wrote and recorded this song. The market segment from age 12-25 is where the money is. Don't tell me you want me to change her voice and make her sound like a grandma, which is easily possible with that AI software. I could have also made her sound like a much younger kid but my target voice was Cyrus, Swift or Lana Del Rey.
Ok, you think this lyric is country or americana and not pop, rock or something else. Are you one of those guys who looks at a lyric and can tell which genre it was written for? It’s funny, but so many people claim to have that skill. I personally think that’s total nonsense.
Who sang “I Swear” better? John Michael Montgomery in 1993 with his no. 1 country version or All-4-One with their no. 1 R&B version in 1994? What about “Hooked On A Feeling? B.J. Thomas’ country version in 1968 or Blue Swede’s legendary rock version in 1974?
I’ve got a few more… “Me And Bobby McGee”. Everybody knows that song. It was originally written and recorded by the Grammy Award winning country musician Roger Miller. We all probably know Janis Joplin’s rock version much better. What about Lonestar’s no. 1 country song “I’m Already There” from 2001 which was covered by the pop band Westlife in 2007. We all know Rascal Flatts no. 1 country song “What Hurts Most”. That one was successfully released as a Eurodance song in 2007 by Cascada. And another one we all know … Dolly Parton’s country song “I Will Always Love You” from the 70s which was covered by Whitney Houston in 1992 as a pop song.
These are examples of hit songs that were successfully recorded in different genres. Same lyrics, same melodies. I personally think a good lyric can work in various different genres. The same goes with good, catchy melodies. All these examples (and there are many, many more) show how flexible and open-minded we, as songwriters, should be if we want to be successful. I'm a fan of stripped-down demos because they make it much easier for the artist/producer to take the song in directions you couldn't imagine when you wrote the song. In the past, even I've recorded the exact same song in completely different genres and both versions sound as if they were written specifically for those genres. Fdem, I respect your view here, but I guess we just totally disagree.
All the best - Robert
Originally Posted by Rob B.
Originally Posted by Fdemetrio
its not just her voice, the piano sound your using is contemporary, and the form and feel. i was listening to miley cyrus flowers the other day, some of those emotional love ballads you hear, it sounds like that genre completely, with or without the vocal, but the vocal certainly makes it a kids song, that may be an issue with the ai vocalist until they come up with variety.
the lyric lends itself more to country or americana
Hi Fdem, thanks for your positive comments about my songwriting. I have to admit that I've never heard of Morristown.
I'm sorry, but I can't leave those quotes you made uncommented. You say the vocal makes it a "kids song"? Is that supposed to be negative critique? I guess I'm doing something right because exactly that was my intention. I explained in a previous post in this thread what my idea/vision was when I wrote and recorded this song. The market segment from age 12-25 is where the money is. Don't tell me you want me to change her voice and make her sound like a grandma, which is easily possible with that AI software. I could have also made her sound like a much younger kid but my target voice was Cyrus, Swift or Lana Del Rey.
Ok, you think this lyric is country or americana and not pop, rock or something else. Are you one of those guys who looks at a lyric and can tell which genre it was written for? It’s funny, but so many people claim to have that skill. I personally think that’s total nonsense.
Who sang “I Swear” better? John Michael Montgomery in 1993 with his no. 1 country version or All-4-One with their no. 1 R&B version in 1994? What about “Hooked On A Feeling? B.J. Thomas’ country version in 1968 or Blue Swede’s legendary rock version in 1974?
I’ve got a few more… “Me And Bobby McGee”. Everybody knows that song. It was originally written and recorded by the Grammy Award winning country musician Roger Miller. We all probably know Janis Joplin’s rock version much better. What about Lonestar’s no. 1 country song “I’m Already There” from 2001 which was covered by the pop band Westlife in 2007. We all know Rascal Flatts no. 1 country song “What Hurts Most”. That one was successfully released as a Eurodance song in 2007 by Cascada. And another one we all know … Dolly Parton’s country song “I Will Always Love You” from the 70s which was covered by Whitney Houston in 1992 as a pop song.
These are examples of hit songs that were successfully recorded in different genres. Same lyrics, same melodies. I personally think a good lyric can work in various different genres. The same goes with good, catchy melodies. All these examples (and there are many, many more) show how flexible and open-minded we, as songwriters, should be if we want to be successful. I'm a fan of stripped-down demos because they make it much easier for the artist/producer to take the song in directions you couldn't imagine when you wrote the song. In the past, even I've recorded the exact same song in completely different genres and both versions sound as if they were written specifically for those genres. Fdem, I respect your view here, but I guess we just totally disagree.
All the best - Robert
We could list probably thousands of songs, that make no sense, do not seem like they fit, seem like they are poorly written and conceived, and find every exception to the rule there is.
But how does that help us? Lord know hows those people broke into the business, and how those songs became hits, and maybe its just cause they are fun and people like them. But how is that a target for you?
Do you not have to see the bullseye in order to hit it?
At the end of it all, most of our songs will end up right here on this site and go nowehre else. But, there is art, for the sake of art, doing things right, and writing the best song you can.
I wont go into your threads any more, it seems any statement other than "this is great" is unwelcome and causes friction.
Hey guys, did anybody notice that all the “small town” songs that were referenced here were about guns: Aldean, Springsteen, S & G. The one I did with Carroll’s lyrics isn’t. Just wondering if that might be the reason some of you don’t like it.
I reference Aldeans song as a reference to Trump, hes funny he has claimed alot of writers endorse him but do not, he tells his fans to support Aldean, Trump has never lived in a small town, and does not hold those values.
And btw, Jason Aldeans lyrics are not great either. but they do have attitude, and of course hes a great performer, and already has an audience.
I mentioned Springsteens song, to show that you dont have to call it "life in a dying town" for it to be about a dying town.
Love, is probably the biggest theme in music, any genre. But few people write "i Love You; there are exceptions, and not many titles with I love you in it. Why" Cause I love you means nothing.
When your wife or girlfriend is waiting at home for you, you come home, she hugs and kisses you, says "how was your day" ""i was thinking about you all day" "I made you this or that"
THATS LOVE, not Saying I love you.
Hence why say life in a dying town, show me how its dying. and bring some emtoion into it
"I wont go into your threads any more, it seems any statement other than "this is great" is unwelcome and causes friction."
Fdem, You're not causing friction. I'm listening closely to what you are saying and I respect your views. On some issues you don't agree with me and I don't agree with you. There is nothing wrong with that. Btw, some of my songs didn't end up just here. They actually went somewhere. Not as far as I had hoped for, but further than here.
why say life in a dying town, show me how its dying
I thought the lyric to be a virtual laundry list of descriptive observations. Most aren't specific to "dying towns" per se, but neither are they in Simon's "My Little Town."
In "My Little Town," Simon pinpoints lack of "imagination" on the part of the townspeople as what made him leave, then "Everything's the same/in my little town." In "Life In A Dying Town" the singer mentions how the townspeople will do "the same old things again" --IOW pretty much a lack of imagination and endless repitition, as well.
What age group finds "the same old thing" most boring? My vote is for the younger crowd, who might have fresher ways of thinking, seeing, processing life.
I don't believe a song is a "debate," having to be structured in terms of thesis, antithesis, and then finally synthesis. A song should simply follow it's own internal logic, and for me "Life In A Dying Town" does that.
Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 08/31/2301:05 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice Fortune depends on the tone of your voice
-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon) from the song "Songs of Love" from the album "Casanova" (1996)
Hey guys, did anybody notice that all the “small town” songs that were referenced here were about guns: Aldean, Springsteen, S & G. The one I did with Carroll’s lyrics isn’t. Just wondering if that might be the reason some of you don’t like it.
Just another thought...
Just a holler south of Memphis There’s a one stoplight town Where proud locals meet for breakfast Eat grits and count rounds
They like their eggs sunny Served with biscuits and ham The smell of gun oil and coffee And a slice of toast with jam
One old sign on the interstate Full of buckshot holes Where the free and brave raise families Unashamed to call it home
This is life Life in Shooter town This is life in a shooter town
Nothing changes 'round here You only reap what you sow Folks sit in front porch swings And clean their guns so everyone knows
The diner closes at nine Sweet Caroline counts the register Unafraid to walk home alone Keeps a .44 under the counter
Sundays are for gathering The Bible guides their way They sing then check their aim And pray for a brighter day
Life in a dying town is not just about the town dying. It is about a rural American way of life that is ceasing to be. People were happy and satisfied with a simpler life. This way of living no longer appeals to many of the younger generation who are more driven by materialistic things.
Ok, after all these discussions about if the female vocalist fits this song well or not I'd like to throw a new vocalist into the discussion. I replaced the Solaria lead vocals with vocals sung by Kevin. Luckily with AI this can be done with just a mouse click. What do you think? Does the song sound better when sung by a male vocalist?
why say life in a dying town, show me how its dying
I thought the lyric to be a virtual laundry list of descriptive observations. Most aren't specific to "dying towns" per se, but neither are they in Simon's "My Little Town."
In "My Little Town," Simon pinpoints lack of "imagination" on the part of the townspeople as what made him leave, then "Everything's the same/in my little town." In "Life In A Dying Town" the singer mentions how the townspeople will do "the same old things again" --IOW pretty much a lack of imagination and endless repitition, as well.
What age group finds "the same old thing" most boring? My vote is for the younger crowd, who might have fresher ways of thinking, seeing, processing life.
I don't believe a song is a "debate," having to be structured in terms of thesis, antithesis, and then finally synthesis. A song should simply follow it's own internal logic, and for me "Life In A Dying Town" does that.
But thats a huge NO, writing a song where the lyrics in it do not follow the title of the song. No. they are not specific to a dying town, more importantly, who understands it? Older people who know what a dying town is, or care. Not top 40 listeners which the music is.
If you're Paul Simon you can get away with alot more, because you already have an audience, an audience who is willing to endulge you. When you're writing for commercial reasons, and trying to get some notice, if thats the goal, then you dont have that luxury.
Thats the main issue, prosody. And lack of emotion.
We would like to keep the membership in Just Plain Folks FREE! Your donation helps support the many programs we offer including Road Trips and the Music Awards.
