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What makes a country song a COUNTRY song?


davie

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Any specific characteristics? Motifs, composition, structure, etc?

I have a few old songs that kinda border along the lines of country. And I have no intention on singing these songs anymore. I was thinking about pitching them to other artists to use.

On a sideline, anyone know anything about country singing? What makes it country sounding? lol

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Hmm...most country artists seem to put on a bit more twang in their voices and use the kind of generic Southern US accent...some more than others, but there's this Australian woman singer called Casey Chambers (who I don't care for personally), and she sings in that over-the-top "country" American accent...and on some Rolling Stones songs, the ones that sound more "country" (to me anyway, but I'm like you, I don't really know what country actually IS), they put on more of an extreme accent like that too.

The instrumentation...I don't know...it's all twangy to me...the guitars...the songs are generally about love or failed love...

Dammit. I don't know!! lol

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And I'm trying to differentiate between kd Lang's early country stuff and her later pop stuff...obviously it's different...Big Boned Gal From Southern Alberta and Constant Craving bare no resemblance to each other apart from the voice, but...I don't know how to EXPLAIN the difference really, you know?

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It's the ribbon and bow on the package that makes it country. Country, (Nashville country), is very direct and easy to understand. It fully explains itself in one listening. Like a good TV commercial, it's geared to a lowest-common-denominator of understanding. The good stuff is like an arrow piercing the heart. The mediocre stuff is like going for the same target with a dull rusty butter knife. . . . , with your eyes closed.

But what do I know ?

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Quote Originally Posted by Marshal View Post
It's the ribbon and bow on the package that makes it country. Country, (Nashville country), is very direct and easy to understand. It fully explains itself in one listening. Like a good TV commercial, it's geared to a lowest-common-denominator of understanding. The good stuff is like an arrow piercing the heart. The mediocre stuff is like going for the same target with a dull rusty butter knife. . . . , with your eyes closed.

But what do I know ?
Yeah I get what you mean. I think that mainly applies to the modern/mainstream/pop country nowadays. But it seems like all genres are kinda diverging that way. One thing I noticed when people talk about country songs, is that its heavily story-based.
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Quote Originally Posted by davie View Post
Any specific characteristics? Motifs, composition, structure, etc?
On a sideline, anyone know anything about country singing? What makes it country sounding? lol
I'm still learning about it and have only been writing country for about a year now....

~it's conversational
~it's lyric is literal and direct and very very light on anything poetic
~it celebrates being rural
~they sometimes invent words
~sometimes the lyric, line, or phrase is ridiculous (yeah I know this is subjective)
~the subject matter is always universal
~if your song title sounds like a bumper sticker you're on the right track
~it's not exclusive to being southern
~although it seems to be exclusive to being American (not sure how much Keith Urban
is selling elsewhere.... Pollstar says there are a handful of Canadian and Australian
dates but everything else is in the United States)
~musically it's either a "white man's blues" or a muscle shoals soul (yes, the Ray
Charles album counts)
~ it's not smart but can be clever
~it's house is divided : Texas, Muscle Shoals, and California all have their own varieties
of country and are suspicious of Nashville (and vice versa)...still not sure of the
difference. TIMKEYS might know but he doesn't hang out in this forum.

***there is a western swing ragtime type variety not currently on the radio that is
harmonically and modally as advanced as bebop .

That's the basics and is all I can think of right now (been driving for 14 hours)...there might be some more basic stuff I'm too tired to mention and are surely a few I haven't learned yet. AND there are a crapload of other rules and guidlines but are mostly Nashville criteria and have little to do with actually making good music or writing a good song, which literally makes it a Crap-Load

NOTE : not sure how Lady A or some of the crossover types figure as "country".... sounds like singer/songwriter pop to me.
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After seeing the film, 'Crazy Heart' 18 months ago, I started asking some questions to some of the folk on a musicians forum. This is what I gleaned which may be of interest:

There are a number of sub-genres of Country music in the US.
Most musicians on the forum loathed the modern Nashville sound. Apparently it was once good, but now its all 'wrong'.

What I preferred is apparently what is termed, 'Outlaw Country' and 'The Bakersfield Sound', and includes artists like, Merle Haggard, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Kris Kristofferson, Townes van Zandt.

But what chance has a Pom in Oz of understanding American Country music?

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Quote Originally Posted by J.Paul View Post
I'm still learning about it and have only been writing country for about a year now....
Hmmmmm....that last tune you posted sounded perty cunchy to me. wave.gif

Liked it......

I am afforded the opportunity of listening to Modern American Radio Friendly Country Music quite often these days. Some of it is very infectious......those guys really know how to take advantage of a good hook.....over and over sometimes. They also really know how to engineer and produce these tunes. You could learn something from analyzing their mix decisions.cool.gif

These days one of the hallmarks of country is a solid and punchy electric guitar tone. Back in my day it used to a well strummed Martin acoustic.
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I would not waste my time pitching to any Nashville aritists -- that is one tight town. It's not a closed shop, but you have to pretty much be there and work your way into the scene -- and that is not an overnight process.

But you might well give a shot to pitching to local (or even regional) country, roots, and new country/alt-counry artists.


Here's a thread from this forum from some time ago on the realities of the Nashville market. If it sounds pessimistic and somewhat cynical, that may well fall into the kinder-to-be-cruel category of unpleasant but foolish-to-ignore truths...

http://acapella.harmony-central.com/...8#post37920958

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I always respect your input, Blue.

It seems like a whole different world over at Nashville. I see a lot of good points in that thread. It's actually a lot from my own songwriting and likely out of my niche. I think you'd have to live to absorb all their influences in order for a country song to sound 'authentic'. I think I should just stick to own niche, that is, my own take on pop/rock. icon_lol.gif

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Here ya go guys ,,, this explains it. I am off to play a tropical storm don party on south padre tonight. The storm was kind to us ,, and my guess is the peeps will be up to a big night at the bar.

 

J Paul pretty well nailed it. I play for a singer songwriter down here and he starts by writing the lyrics thinking of them as a story ,, then goes back and writes the melody and chord progression. I for sure am no songwriter, but I do like to stop in here to see what you guys are up to,, and listen to the original stuff. well its off to mikey world lol

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If your question is "how do I get my song recorded by a country artist", well from how I understand it, there is a much stricter aesthetic in the modern commerical country music business, especially with lyrics. Lyrics have to be simple and direct, conversational, with attention to detail--everything needs to be spelled out. It has to be like a mini-story. There can be no ambiguity. The title has to be ear-grabbing and catchy, often a twist on a phrase, which is usually made the hook of the song. Writers in this genre work really hard to acheive this--otherwise it stands little chance of getting recorded. So if your song contains all these things, you're golden...lol...also it helps if you live in Nashville.

If your question is, what makes a country song "country", rather than pop, rock, etc (i.e., why Taylor Swift is considered country and Colbie Cailiat is not), well I think the answer is that it comes down to marketing. What the record companies label it is what it is. Musically these days, "country" seems to mean just pop/rock with a banjo or fiddle thrown in. Take out the offending instrumentation, and you've got the "pop" crossover remix.

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Typical Song Topics
Inbreeding (See George Dubya Bush)
Gator Pie (See George Dubya Bush)
Retardation (See George Dubya Bush)
George Dubya Bush (See George Dubya Bush)
White Supremacy (See Colin Powell)
Science Fiction (See Gator Pie)
Suicide (See George Dubya Bush)
Alchemy
Satanism (See George Dubya Bush)
Your wife left you
Your dog died
Your truck broke down
The ol' still blew up
The fed's got ya down

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"Marshall" of Chicago said it better than I could (and with a nice 'economy-of-style' -- something I'm seldom accused-of). This is great writing, incidentally that could open a chapter of a book on our favorite subject here:

"It's the ribbon and bow on the package that makes it country. Country, (Nashville country), is very direct and easy to understand. It fully explains itself in one listening. Like a good TV commercial, it's geared to a lowest-common-denominator of understanding. The good stuff is like an arrow piercing the heart. The mediocre stuff is like going for the same target with a dull rusty butter knife. . . . , with your eyes closed."

And to answer your rhetorical question, Marshall: You know a LOT!

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Now that I have your attention . . .

Just played that song for my wife "Irene" who said: "Did James Taylor write that?"

"Words and music," I said. "He wrote every song he ever performed," except for one he co-wrote with Jimmy Buffett -- SUGAR TRADE.

"I never heard it," she said.

"I'll find it," I said, "But it's not on any of Jimmy Buffett's albums (she owns them all). Taylor recorded it for his "Dad Loves His Work" album (1977). Lo and behold, it's at YouTube. Set to a generic 'old country' folk melody (I'm thinking Jimmy Buffett composed the tune) the lyrics creep up on you. It opens with a soft and pretty gentleness . . . but soon the underlying realities of the Caribbean "sugar trade" hits home.

Why not include it here? Well, as 2012 draws to a close, one last posting at one of my favorite threads this year (not least for evoking some astute thoughts from our moderator). Call it "old country."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v3miBzGJ6SI

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