New Song - "Don't"
Pepe Papon
take a listen if you get a chance. The song is called "Don't".
I hope you like it.
Sean
It should be a hit Seth. I'm not a country music listener, but I think I
can recognize when it's done well.
The production sounds pricey! Very rich vocal sound. Is that you on vox?
I like the instrumentation a lot.
Rick Paul
news:ni3345192rmvmi9qc...@4ax.com...
>I just uploaded a new song to www.myspace.com/sethjacksonsong . Please
> take a listen if you get a chance. The song is called "Don't".
>
> I hope you like it.
My quick thoughts after listening through it twice:
The demo is great and feels like it could be on the radio as is. Musically,
I think it's also pretty catchy.
For me, where it falls down is lyrically. The message is a good one, but
you've said almost all you have to say in the first verse and chorus, and
the rest of the song really just says the same thing in slightly different
ways, without digging any deeper. It's too bad, because there is something
at the end of the chorus that seems like it could be a hint toward a
deepening story. In particular, the line that says something along the
lines of the singer won't lose faith if you don't, hints that the singer
might be going through a similarly tough time, and might be looking for
emotional support to keep hanging on, too. But the rest of the song really
just continues to focus on advising the singee that things will get better
so hang on, rather than digging into the more interesting, potentially more
emotional, territory that got hinted at in that one line.
The net result for me is that the song is hummable on first listen, but
doesn't offer me anything lyrically to make me want to hear it again and
comes off slightly preachy since it is just talking to the singee about
hanging on, rather than sharing anything personal that might actually give
the singee grounds for believing things actually can get better after
they're seeming bleak enough to want to consider suicide. I think, if you
dig deeper lyrically, you could go from having a catchy, hummable message
song to having a truly effective message song that survives on more than
just its message.
Rick
--
=======================================
Rick Paul
Closet Cowboy Music (ASCAP)
Web: www.RickPaul.info
MySpace: www.myspace.com/rickpaulmusic
=======================================
Sean
> "Pepe Papon" <hitme...@mindspring.com.invalid> wrote in message
> news:ni3345192rmvmi9qc...@4ax.com...
>> I just uploaded a new song to www.myspace.com/sethjacksonsong . Please
>> take a listen if you get a chance. The song is called "Don't".
>>
>> I hope you like it.
>
> My quick thoughts after listening through it twice:
>
> The demo is great and feels like it could be on the radio as is. Musically,
> I think it's also pretty catchy.
>
Rick's post made me realize that I didn't really listen to the lyrics.
They were just something for the singer to sing. I only listened to the
music side of it.
It's kind of strange that I, a linguist by education and one for whom
language is part of his livelihood, should generally not pay much
attention to the lyrics of a song, unless they are obviously, patently
stupid upon first listen, unless the song has reached me musically. And
then it won't be until I've listened to it several times that the lyrics
will start to matter.
Gill Smith
news:ePl0m.33472$PH1.30110@edtnps82...
"lyrics are for girls..."
anfd lyricits
I'm amazed to find out what songs I've been humming for years are about.
I recently found out that the 1960's Hollies hit "Stop, Stop, Stop" is all
about a guy jumping on stage at a strip joint and disrupting the act!
I listened to "Don't" and within 2 secs, long before lyrics kicked in, knew
it wasn't for me. it's power-ballad-meets-modern-country
--
http://www.gillsmith999.plus.com/
Sean
About a year ago I decided to add "I Am The Walrus" to my repertoire.
It's a fun song to do on acoustic guitar with my percussionist friend.
But man, it was murder committing those lyrics to memory. I must have
listened to the song nine million times as a kid, but when it came to
having them down enough to sing it all the way through without a glitch:
a real zen practice deal. They're just so damned random. I can now sing
it beginning to end without a hiccup 3.5 times out of 5. See how they
smile like pigs in a sty, see how they snide.
Gill Smith
The chord changes are hard to remember too!
The ONLY bit where lyrics count is the hook
and they count only in so much as they don't introduce unwanted
stresses/accents into the music which folks want to sing along to. they hum
the rest
--
http://www.gillsmith999.plus.com/
Rick Paul
news:ePl0m.33472$PH1.30110@edtnps82...
> They were just something for the singer to sing. I only listened to the
> music side of it.
> It's kind of strange that I, a linguist by education and one for whom
> language is part of his livelihood, should generally not pay much
> attention to the lyrics of a song, unless they are obviously, patently
> stupid upon first listen, unless the song has reached me musically. And
> then it won't be until I've listened to it several times that the lyrics
> will start to matter.
I think it is only natural that most of us (myself included) tend to only
notice the music on the first listen or two, unless something sticks out
sore thumb-like or we're paying particular attention to lyrics (e.g. in song
critiquer mode or songwriting student mode). However, the more times we
listen to a song, the more the lyrics start to sink in, and the more
important the lyrics start to become toward the longevity of a song. That
tends to be where the depth comes in that makes multiple artists want to
cover it, that makes it important to us as reminders of something important
in our lives, etc. It is, in my opinion anyway, the thing that tends to
separate the classic songs from those that sound equally good but never
quite went anywhere beyond maybe a movie placement, album cut as filler, or
even short-lived hit.
I'm not saying every song has to be deep to be (or at least have the
potential ot be) a classic, mind you. Some songs, especially ones that are
mainly geared for dancing, can be quite light, with their lyrical value
being some form of light entertainment. But that doesn't mean the lyrics
are any less important, just that they don't need to have a lot of depth.
However, when it comes to dealing with heavier subjects, additional depth
can make the difference between something that makes a catchy promo for a
cause when excerpted in verse/chorus form, and something that really
registers in a powerful way (e.g. in the commercial country market, "Don't
Laugh at Me", "I Hope You Dance", and "Live Like You Were Dying" are prime
examples of serious message songs that added that extra dimension to great
results).
I also think that added dimension can be a big help for a writer trying to
break into the industry, because there are already countless writers out in
Nashville writing catchy tunes with well-produced demos and well-crafted
lyrics. Getting a truly big break often involves having that song that
trancends all that "good" stuff, adding that extra dimension that makes the
song stand apart from the pack. Once you're successful, it's probably a lot
easier to get "good" songs cut, but getting to that first truly big success
most likely involves at least one "great" song.
Sean
> "Sean" <se...@fakemail.con> wrote in message
>> About a year ago I decided to add "I Am The Walrus" to my repertoire. It's
>> a fun song to do on acoustic guitar with my percussionist friend. But man,
>> it was murder committing those lyrics to memory. I must have listened to
>> the song nine million times as a kid, but when it came to having them down
>> enough to sing it all the way through without a glitch: a real zen
>> practice deal. They're just so damned random. I can now sing it beginning
>> to end without a hiccup 3.5 times out of 5. See how they smile like pigs
>> in a sty, see how they snide.
>
> The chord changes are hard to remember too!
For some reason that wasn't an issue for me. Probably because I've been
playing a loooooong time, so if the tune is firmly in my head the chord
progression just follows. (Maybe not fancy Steely Dan voicings and the
like, but the general "way the thing goes.") And the chord progression
in Walrus isn't random; it actually makes sense, so the old brain can
find something to hang on to.
One of the things Lennon did was to mischievously make sure that each of
the letters A B C D E F and G were represented in the chord progression.
David F. Cox
"Sean" <se...@fakemail.con> wrote in message
I started from listning to the lyrics I could decipher, and instantly
decided that there was too much production between me and the message.
Sorry.
To my know nothing ear the music might make one good song, the lyrics are
the basis for another.
A quick flick through the others shows a collection woth attention. but it
is past bedtime here. Thanks for the link.
David
ryepdx
wrote:
> I just uploaded a new song towww.myspace.com/sethjacksonsong. Please
> take a listen if you get a chance. The song is called "Don't".
>
> I hope you like it.
I'm going to have to agree with Rick's assessment. While lyrics aren't
necessarily the most important thing for a song to impress at first
blush, they are indispensable to its staying power. If the music is
ridiculously good then the lyrics don't necessarily have to be the
greatest (as evidenced by a large number of classic rock numbers) but
I don't feel that your song's music makes up for its lyrical weakness.
The music was good, the lyrics were good, but if you want a great song
then you're going to need to add some serious dimension to one of
them. I'd recommend working the lyrics; the Van Halen crowd tends to
avoid country, so it's doubtful you can fix it with a killer solo. ;-)