Is The Art of Songwriting Dead?

[elsongs]

Not too long ago, I posted links to a couple of my band's songs on SoundCloud on my personal Facebook page.

 

My friends, instead of going, "Hey that' a cool song" or even "Ew, that song sucks," just put stuff like, "Hey can you play [Cover Song]?" or "I would totally dig it if you guys did [Cover Song]". A few months ago a friend of mine told me on Twitter, "I think you should totally cover Bruno Mars' version of Amy Winehouse's "Valerie." Oh great, a cover of a cover.

 

Now, I'm sure all of us have played covers, some more than others. And I don't have anything against playing covers per se, but it seems as though society is too dependent on them. Blame Glee or Guitar Hero, but hearing those comments from my friends kinda pissed me off...Why am I even bothering to convey my thoughts and feelings in song form, when I can just do Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and they go nuts?

 

Or maybe I should just dump my friends and look for new ones.

 

Just a songwriter's rant. Hey, maybe I'll write a song about this. Nah, no one will care anyway.

[stickboymusic]

 

A few months ago a friend of mine told me on Twitter, "I think you should totally cover Bruno Mars' version of Amy Winehouse's "Valerie." Oh great, a cover of a cover.

 

 

In fact that would be a cover of a cover of a cover OF A COVER.

 

you covering bruno covering amy covering the zutons.

[elsongs]

 

In fact that would be a cover of a cover of a cover OF A COVER. you covering bruno covering amy covering the zutons.

 

 

Yes, I stand corrected. The point is, music is free, art is dead and people are morons.

[Monkey Uncle]

Somebody had to write those songs that everyone wants you to cover. And somehow those songs made it into people's ipods and got stuck in people's heads such that they want to hear them over and over. There had to be a first time that they heard "Don't Stop Believin'." What made them want to hear it again? Crack that nut, and you've got it made.

[elsongs]

 

Somebody had to write those songs that everyone wants you to cover. And somehow those songs made it into people's ipods and got stuck in people's heads such that they want to hear them over and over. There had to be a first time that they heard "Don't Stop Believin'." What made them want to hear it again? Crack that nut, and you've got it made.

 

 

"Don't Stop Believin" came out some 31 years ago (I remembered it, I was 10 at the time). The traditional record industry was going strong back then. Journey was one of the biggest bands in the world back then. Then nearly 3 decades later some cheesy show on FOX co-opts it and an entire generation too young to remember the original goes nuts over it. The song itself becomes somewhat of a meme. The original band, minus the singer who sang the song, looks for a facsimile, finds him and tours.So basically they kinda cover their own song.

 

There is no escape (No Journey pun intended).

 

But basically, I have to be the biggest band in the world, have radio airplay, sell a lot of record albums, and have some cheesy TV show use the song three decades later.

 

OR, just quit making my own music and do cover songs full time.

 

Ah the secret to success couldn't be more easier.

[stickboymusic]

If you don't have belief in your own songs then maybe it is time for you to quit.

 

I for one do not write and record JUST to be successful, I do it because I enjoy it.

 

If you don't enjoy it then yeh by all means quit.

 

There are loads of great modern songs out there and new ones being written all the time. If yours aren't as good then keep writing until they are.

[elsongs]

 

If you don't have belief in your own songs then maybe it is time for you to quit. I for one do not write and record JUST to be successful, I do it because I enjoy it. If you don't enjoy it then yeh by all means quit. There are loads of great modern songs out there and new ones being written all the time. If yours aren't as good then keep writing until they are.

 

 

I have belief in my own songs. I'm a damn good songwriter. Thing is, no one cares these days.

 

That's NOT the same as someone saying that my songs suck. I would much rather have someone tell me, "Yeah, your song sucks" than to go, "Meh, play me a cover tune." I'm an artist, I want a reaction, positive or negative. But these days, people are too short-sighted or too short attention-spanned to do either. Music is free now, right? It has no value anymore.

[stickboymusic]

 

I have belief in my own songs. I'm a damn good songwriter. Thing is, no one cares these days. That's NOT the same as someone saying that my songs suck. I would much rather have someone tell me, "Yeah, your song sucks" than to go, "Meh, play me a cover tune." I'm an artist, I want a reaction, positive or negative. But these days, people are too short-sighted or too short attention-spanned to do either. Music is free now, right? It has no value anymore.

 

 

Ahhh Im with you - well this isn't really about the art of songwriting being dead then. This is more about the state of the music industy and the lack of value placed upon music which is a whole other MASSIVE debate.

[EightString]

I find even my closest friends can be incredibly off-base with their musical opinions sometimes. I don't let it get to me.

 

A funny example, a friend of mine was bugging me to learn a certain cover that I had no interest in doing. Turns out, it was a song that HE knows, and had some strange idea about jumping up on stage during one of my upcoming gigs.

[Marshal]

Therein lies the dilema of art.

 

Art is communication. (My words). I like a phrase I saw on a tee shirt at the Chicago Art Institute by Edgar Degas: "Art is not what you see. It's what you make others see."

 

That being said, most of the world is not ready for art. Everything now days is a commodity. Music especially. Those of us that love the art form, are inspired to create it. But the vast majority of the populace are consumers of background music, not art. Music is everywhere. Every TV show, every commercial, every movie, ever news-show has music. And if it's familiar music, it's more likely to sell something. The populace has been duped into believing programs like American Idol are music at it's best. For crying-out-loud, they're just wedding band auditions in my book. They cheapen, rather than enhance the musical experience. They dumb-down the populace.

 

All that being said, it's lonely being an artist. But it probably always has been (and always will be). Unless you're Thomas Kinkade ;) . Especially if you buy into the "Art is communication" thing. Because you (I) desperately want somebody to appreciate this new creation you (I) have poured our soul into.

 

But commercial success is never a measure of art. We just have to learn to deal with our own insecurities. And find a few like-minded souls that can buck you up and share creative juices with. That's why places on the internet, like this, are still popular. it allows us to find the other 1/2 of 1% of the populace that cares about this type of art.

 

Rant over.

[saturn1]

I don't think that things are all that much different now than they were then. Most of those people with the giant classic rock songs of today spent a long time playing covers before their original music got heard. A lot of people never got heard beyond a small, close group. While there was a bit more radio diversity and a lot more album sales then, there were a lot fewer ways to get your music disseminated. No You Tube, no Facebook, no websites, no Pandora. Vinyl and cassette tapes were much more expensive to duplicate and distribute than CDs or MP3 files. Musicians and songwriters were much more at the mercy of the corporate tastemakers. There were far fewer tools available and it was much more difficult to do your own promotion. There are people who are open to new, original music, some even seek it out. Don't ditch your current friends, but certainly look for new ones who are more interested in creative efforts. Songwriting/music making is no different than any creative art. How many pictures are painted that never get seen, how many poems or stories are written that never get read? As Dylan said (or maybe it was Mr. Natural), 'keep on keepin' on.'

[Lee Knight]

yes, it's over

[rhino55]

I can think of 3 possible responses. All of which sound pretty cynical, but here goes.

 

1) You need different friends.

 

2) You need to write better songs.

 

3) You're writing songs for the wrong reasons.

 

The real answer is probably a blend of all three, but without knowing you or you're friends I can't really say what that is.

 

FWIW, I think the original vs cover band mindset is toxic. If you're playing in bars, you should be selling your live show as a good time. Labeling your music as art or calling yourself an artist is something for fans and critics to figure out on their own.

[Marshal]

yes, it's over

 

 

:lol: :lol:

:lol:

 

 

(There were more LOLs but the big-computer-in-the-sky limits the number to 10)

[EightString]

yes, it's over

 

Too bad HC doesn't have a rep system. I would have given you some for that one.

[blue2blue]

 

". A few months ago a friend of mine told me on Twitter, "I think you should totally cover Bruno Mars' version of Amy Winehouse's "Valerie." Oh great, a cover of a cover. Now, I'm sure all of us have played covers, some more than others. And I don't have anything against playing covers per se, but it seems as though society is too dependent on them. Blame Glee or Guitar Hero, but hearing those comments from my friends kinda pissed me off...Why am I even bothering to convey my thoughts and feelings in song form, when I can just do Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and they go nuts? Or maybe I should just dump my friends and look for new ones. Just a songwriter's rant. Hey, maybe I'll write a song about this. Nah, no one will care anyway.

If it makes you feel any better, doing "Don't Stop Believing" would drive my friends out of the club en masse -- unless, perhaps, it was done in a teeteringly sloppy lounge music version by a guy in sparkly tux.

 

 

As a songwriter and musician, I enjoy performing other folks' songs. I think you can learn a lot and, of course, occasionally have some fun.

 

And it can be cool to be watching a band you like and have them pull up some almost-forgotten favorite of yours in the middle of their set of originals. It's a little moment of bonding and communality.

 

That said, I'm generally bored to tears watching cover bands.

 

The closer they are to the original, the more painfully boring it gets. Sure, sometimes it's 'amazing' how close they can get. But I could put on a record and hear the real thing. The only exception are bands that rework and rearrange the songs to, you should pardon the expression, reinvent them. (So, despite the fact I despise the Dickies and hate their aging frat-'punk' audience even more, I still have more use for them than the average cover band. [FTR, seen them twice. Sort of enjoyed them about half of the first time but by the end of the show, I decided I hated them.])

 

 

You mention Glee -- and I have to say, even though I stopped watching after the second season, I'm kind of a fan -- despite the amazing plastic-man nature of the show's characters (the personality and even ethos of various characters change radically to fit individual episode plots), despite the fact that watching 30 year olds portray hi skool kids gets sillier and sillier, I like the edge and the (not-quite) go-anywhere adventurousness.

 

But where the show falls down for me is in the music. (Which, when you think about it, is kind of a problem.) Way too much incredibly banal pop -- both current and past. (Natch, the red-haired guy was a big disco and Journey fan. I mean, yeah, it actually fits and all, but it sets us up to hear some real lame stuff.)

 

And then there are the performances/arrangements/audio production. There have been some pretty good singers in the cast and some really good guest singers. So why insult those singers with clumsily obvious Auto-tune and Melodyne correction? Mind you, I'm not so much on about the AT-as-FX use -- but it drives me NUTS to hear a good singer doing a straight ballad and, sticking out like so many sore thumbs at the tricky spots, are those nasty tuning artifacts that the vocal editing staff couldn't be bothered to get right.

 

 

One thing that IS kind of interesting about doing covers is it sets up the listener to do 'head-to-head' comparisons. Such comparisons are popular in the computer performance testing world. (The cross-platform testing at DAWbench seems to be endlessly fascinating to many, for instance.)

 

Which, of course, fits into the current crop of 'talent show contest' TV shows.

[Chicken Monkey]

Right now is probably a better time to be a singer-songwriter than any time, save for that magical 8 months or so in the 70s. There was a time where, if you were in an "original" band, you were either moving to NY or LA to "showcases", or you were playing Proud Mary in taverns throughout Middle America. Now, just about any town of 100,000+ people has a couple of venues that host original music.

[Canvas]

I've got two things to say about this. First off, you're talking to the wrong people. As saturn1 pointed out, music nowadays is more democratic, not less; that doesn't mean you can say it's democratic just yet, but things definitely got better. You don't need record labels, you can just upload your music to Bandcamp, and if it's a little lo-fi people dig that.

 

Sometimes, very clever music will make its way onto the radio. Justice's first album combined catchy rhythm and some very non-diatonic ideas (

); Stress is straight-up rough on the ears, yet very popular. Less popular is their 17-minute epic, Planisph

[BumbleBb]

I've been lucky, my friends have shown a lot of interest and enthusiasm for my songs. But in general I think people are simply comfortable with familiarity. I have been guilty of seeing a band I like and tuning out a bit when they play something I don't know or wishing a band I don't know would play a cover I know instead of their own songs. Sometimes it takes a few plays and some time for a song to sink in and people seem to prefer to hear those that already have, the songs they now know. I think it's normal and not a sign that art is dead or whatever. I love music and high value art, creativity, and songwriting, and yet I've experienced that phenomenon where sometimes I want to hear what I already know. These days I'm not that way really, maybe because my interest in music is different now that I play and write but before that I did experience it. I think it's pretty natural. Some songs grab you right away but the ear does also crave familiarity. People want to sing along, etc. Also of course it depends on individual tastes too, it could be your friends just have different tastes than the kind of songs you write.

[elsongs]

 

What remains is the artistic interest as well as the desire for success (in quantity and/or quality). That being said, original music that becomes successful isn't selling out or being co-opted, it's just people realizing it's good music. Don't pull a Kurt Cobain. Also, see this .

 

 

Ironically, Kurt Cobain offed himself at a time when nearly everyone was appreciating his music.

[Canvas]

That's exactly why I said not to pull a Kurt Cobain if your original music becomes successful.

[elsongs]

 

Don't ditch your current friends, but certainly look for new ones who are more interested in creative efforts. Songwriting/music making is no different than any creative art. How many pictures are painted that never get seen, how many poems or stories are written that never get read? As Dylan said (or maybe it was Mr. Natural), 'keep on keepin' on.'

 

 

Yeah I have put thought into that. Don't make fans out of your friends -- they probably like you for other reasons (and don't give a {censored} about your art). Instead make friends out of your fans. People don't go to shows to "support." Entertainment is not a {censored}ing charity (unless you're all doing a benefit show or something). People go to be entertained.

 

My last show was part of a citywide music festival where people played music out in public. Coincidentally, it was next to a reception which a few of my friends attended. My show began as the reception ended. Not one of them stayed for even a minute. But whatever, they're very simple people, who only like certain genres from a certain time period.

[espec10001]

 

Yeah I have put thought into that. Don't make fans out of your friends -- they probably like you for other reasons (and don't give a {censored} about your art). Instead make friends out of your fans. People don't go to shows to "support." Entertainment is not a {censored}ing charity (unless you're all doing a benefit show or something). People go to be entertained. My last show was part of a citywide music festival where people played music out in public. Coincidentally, it was next to a reception which a few of my friends attended. My show began as the reception ended. Not one of them stayed for even a minute. But whatever, they're very simple people, who only like certain genres from a certain time period.

 

 

Yeah, things like that do sting sometimes. I bet you though that if you keep gigging and traveling you'll find your draw. You could even be far more successful in another country. Jimi Hendrix had to go to Europe with his band before he took off in America. Sometimes, the place and people you're familiar with aren't going to change, so you're better off searching (touring) somewhere else where people might be more receptive and open to new things.

[elsongs]

 

That's exactly why I said not to pull a Kurt Cobain if your original music becomes successful.

 

 

I can assure you that WON'T happen.

[Pitar]

 

". A few months ago a friend of mine told me on Twitter, "I think you should totally cover Bruno Mars' version of Amy Winehouse's "Valerie." Oh great, a cover of a cover. Now, I'm sure all of us have played covers, some more than others. And I don't have anything against playing covers per se, but it seems as though society is too dependent on them. Blame Glee or Guitar Hero, but hearing those comments from my friends kinda pissed me off...Why am I even bothering to convey my thoughts and feelings in song form, when I can just do Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" and they go nuts? Or maybe I should just dump my friends and look for new ones. Just a songwriter's rant. Hey, maybe I'll write a song about this. Nah, no one will care anyway.

 

 

Don't worry about it. Most people enjoy music but it has to be their music. They are to the art as the oblivious bull is to the China shop, otherwise.