Strictness in contrafactums

[Arthur T.]

A few people have suggested that some of my songs could be
improved by being taking some liberties with my source tunes.

You're probably right, but...

ttto: I'll Have To Say I Love You In A Song (by Jim Croce)

You're trying to be kind,
And I appreciate it.
But I find I am disinclined
To write as you suggested.
Some lyrics I can write okay;
In tunes I am not strong.
And I'll make some explanations in a song:


ttto: Teach Your Children (by Graham Nash)

You, who write tunes or sing,
You are the kings of composition.
And when you write new words, you're not deterred
In your ambition.

Write howe'er you care,
If you're aware how you will sing it.
And thus, you're free to float,
To use new notes,
And you can wing it.

You are free to improvise.
Your performance clarifies
How your song is customized.
And that works for you.


I, who do not compose,
I feel imposed to write to the source tune.
And if I improvise, it seems unwise,
Something that's force-hewn.

(I) write in scansion strict.
The songs restrict all of my choices.
Because I do not sing,
My words must bring
Your inner voices.

I think you can now see why
I don't bend the songs and try
Something not so cut-and-dried.
It won't work for me.



So I'll continue to write as close as I can to the song as it's
written or performed. How can people, looking at just words on the
screen, know how the song goes, if I don't match the original music?


--
Arthur T. - ar23hur "at" pobox "dot" com

[X-Lydia]

> So I'll continue to write as close as I can to the song as it's
> written or performed. How can people, looking at just words on the
> screen, know how the song goes, if I don't match the original music?
>

Good point. The one time I heard someone else singing one of my filks, it was to a different tune than the one I specified. (Good performance though.)

[Gary McGath]

On 6/9/16 10:24 PM, Arthur T. wrote:

> So I'll continue to write as close as I can to the song as it's
> written or performed. How can people, looking at just words on the
> screen, know how the song goes, if I don't match the original music?

It depends on the tune. If it follows a regular meter, such as any of
the 100,000 songs that use ballad meter (e.g., "Banned from Argo"), then
the singer will understand what to do with an extra or missing syllable
here or there. They might push the syllables a little differently than I
would, but as long as it works, I won't worry. If you're writing to an
irregular tune (many show tunes serve as examples), then changes will
throw the reader off, and it's probably better to stick close to the
original tune.

There was one case where I wrote something to the tune of "Rolling Down
on Old Maui," and someone complained because I didn't stick in extra
syllables in the same places that the original does. That just misses
the whole point of a tune with regular meter. "Rolling Down on Old Maui"
doesn't even stick in extra syllables in the same place from one verse
to another.

BTW, when I saw the title, I tried making it scan in my head to
Rossini's "Largo al factotum." It doesn't work very well.

"Writing a contrafactum to 'Banned from Argo,'
La la la la la la la la la, la!"

Never mind.

--
Gary McGath http://www.mcgath.com