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[Iamtheblues]

Man, can anyone write some lyrics about something OTHER than falling in love, being in love, unrequited love etc..? There's more to life than sappy lyrics! Some of the stuff I see on here sounds like either A) you write it to get in someones pants or B) you wanted to get in someones pants back in high school but couldn't. There's a bunch of smart cats on here who can WRITE! (Way better than I ever could) why limit it to one narrow topic???

 

Here's a few alternate topics:

The economy

Ecological problems

War

Fast cars

Reality TV

etc.....

 

BTW I just about gagged reading the words to that tune about the camera. Really? Really??

[Lee Knight]

A guy named I Am The Blues talking about not being stale.

[Iamtheblues]

Well, that really addresses the problem, doesn't it?

[bee3]

War... there's a new one.

[rhino55]

 

I'll address the problem. But first I wanted to react to your less than graceful presentation. You just slammed a friend of mine. Don't do that. Don't do that. Don't do that.

 

 

I've often thought the same thing as the op and have suggested it on occasion in threads where it looked like a developing lyric was going to take that direction, but the last line of the op is not cool.

 

It makes you look like you are trying to be a dick or a troll. The internet has got plenty of places to do that sort of {censored}. Don't bring it here.

 

LCK, the lyrics the the camera song is one of my favorites I've seen from you. Don't listen to this asshat.

[Oswlek]

 

I've often thought the same thing as the op and have suggested it on occasion in threads where it looked like a developing lyric was going to take that direction, but the last line of the op is not cool. It makes you look like you are trying to be a dick or a troll. The internet has got plenty of places to do that sort of {censored}. Don't bring it here. LCK, the lyrics the the camera song is one of my favorites I've seen from you. Don't listen to this asshat.

 

 

Agreed, though with something like 7 of my last 8 ideas being about love in some manner, I'm as guilty as anyone.

 

I've always admired Rush for their ability to craft compelling lyrics without delving much into the amorous arena.

[oldgitplayer]

One of the grandaddys of rock & roll wrote extensively about cars, and inspired a few generations since. Hey Chuck.

[rickidoo]

Sir Paul said it best:

 

==========================

"You'd think that people would have had enough of silly love longs

But I look around me and I see it isn't so

Some people wanna fill the world with silly love songs

 

And what's wrong with that ?

I'd like to know 'cause here I go again.

=====================

 

... and here I go again....

 

Rick

[rickidoo]

Lee - "Sleep" is mega beautiful. When I grow up I hope to write a song like that.

[rickidoo]

 

BTW I just about gagged reading the words to that tune about the camera. Really? Really??

 

 

I just realized the song this must have been referring to. It is a stunning example of artful lyrics, a beautiful melody, guitar chords that form their own melody, while pushing the envelop on using multiple keys... written in a style that is both a pleasure to hear and as unique as the writer. Please use a bit of tack when addressing work of others. There are ways to offer useful feedback to songwriters without publicly flogging them.

[stickboymusic]

 

It's all I've got so far, but I think I can build upon it: Dried up boogers on the wall mock me with their sinister laugh, something something something and a typical aftermath.

 

 

He just bitter cos he wrote these wonderful lyrics and nobody replied to his thread boo-hoo.....

 

I don't think people need to be posting examples to defend themselves, the guy doesn't like love songs.... so what!?

[Iamtheblues]

 

He just bitter cos he wrote these wonderful lyrics and nobody replied to his thread boo-hoo..... I don't think people need to be posting examples to defend themselves, the guy doesn't like love songs.... so what!?

 

 

The booger song!!!!! A classic for sure! At least it wasn't about pining for someone you can't have, or someting written to appease your wife/girlfriend. Not saying I don't like love songs, just not when every tune is along the same lines. I like chocolate ice cream, but I don't eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner, dig?

 

BTW, Lee I like the stuff you posted above.....

[rickidoo]

You know, on 2nd thought, why are we having this discussion at all? This is not a radio station where we have to decide what kind of music to play. We are independent songwriters each writing what we want to write, for our own individual reasons. If someone doesn't like what some of us write, that's their choice. If the concern was out of marketing of songs, then that's a good discussion for some song marketing forum. But it has not place in this forum, in my opinion. Let's let it just fade away...

[Oswlek]

I smell the next challenge... Non-love songs.

[stickboymusic]

I smell the next challenge... Non-love songs.

 

But what will we write about and how will we win the girl of our dreams????

[LCK]

 

LCK, the lyrics the the camera song is one of my favorites I've seen from you. Don't listen to this asshat.

 

 

What's so funny is that I've written a number of songs (okay, a few) that aren't love songs. "Philo's Tune" is about, among other things, fractal geometry and the invention of television. "The Life of the Human Body" is about anatomy and death. "Jackson Danger" is about a kid with a guitar, forced to work at his parents' Mexican restaurant.

 

And I'm not sure "She Takes Pictures" is a finished lyric yet. So there's that to consider.

 

LCK

[eddieboston2]

"Enough of these songs about love," he said,

A look of disdain in his eyes.

"There's so much more that can be done," he said,

"So many more topics in life."

 

Sing about forests and hardwood floors,

Or the sound of a train in the night.

Or just turn on the tube, we're a nation at war,

So many more stories to write.

 

Just don't sing of the past, don't sing of regrets,

Or things I that are better forgotten.

And please please please don't mention the steps

Of my girl as she went by without stopping.

[blue2blue]

"Enough of these songs about love," he said, A look of disdain in his eyes. "There's so much more that can be done," he said, "So many more topics in life." Sing about forests and hardwood floors, Or the sound of a train in the night. Or just turn on the tube, we're a nation at war, So many more stories to write. Just don't sing of the past, don't sing of regrets, Or things I that are better forgotten. And please please please don't mention the steps Of my girl as she went by without stopping.

I expect to hear this with some nice fingerpickin' behind it soon!

[blue2blue]

Man, can anyone write some lyrics about something OTHER than falling in love, being in love, unrequited love etc..? There's more to life than sappy lyrics! Some of the stuff I see on here sounds like either A) you write it to get in someones pants or B) you wanted to get in someones pants back in high school but couldn't. There's a bunch of smart cats on here who can WRITE! (Way better than I ever could) why limit it to one narrow topic??? Here's a few alternate topics: The economy Ecological problems War Fast cars Reality TV etc..... BTW I just about gagged reading the words to that tune about the camera. Really? Really??

 

It took me a while to find my moderator hat, but now that I've got it on, let me say that the OP has a point that's been discussed here and elsewhere before and will be discussed more in the future.

 

And, of course, as we've seen, many of us do have a number of songs that aren't about romance and love, even if we have plenty that are. In fact, out of the first 9 songs in my (alpha-sorted) song list 5 were completely romance-free and one was on the cusp:

13th Bar Blues - drinking, getting arrested for drinking

19 Days - long haul truck driving (OK, with a little cheating paranoia on the side)

2 Dazed 2 Care - the labor unrest in Poland in the early 80s that led indirectly to the breakup of the USSR

25 Guitars - making it big and then just losing it

A Bird Hung in the Sky - global warming (written back in the mid 70s -- do I get extra credit for being somewhat ahead of the pack?)

A Land So Far Away - the impossibility of 'going home'

A Star is Bored - the boredom of celebrity

Mind you, most of my songs probably do involve intimate relations between humans, but, like many, I've written about a lot of other topics over the years.

 

So... why is it that what we hear so much about romance on the pop radio?

 

If we look back across the centuries, we'll find that literature (and song is a form of oral literature, in a sense) typically focuses on matters that matter most to people: love and hate, life and death, greed and charity, and family and loneliness.

 

________________________

 

 

 

Now, let's move on to forum business...

 

Many of us have quite strong reactions to music. We're musicians, we're writers. We care about this stuff. We love some stuff. We hate some stuff. And that's normal.

 

But...

 

... this songwriting forum is not a wide-open, general topic, anything-goes forum.

 

It is an on-topic only, work-oriented forum that focuses on providing a 'safe,' nurturing place for writers -- some of whom have been writing for decades and some of whom are cranking up their courage to post their very first efforts -- and that can take a whole heck of a lot of courage.

 

This forum respects artistic freedom of speech enormously and we've bent over backward to try to make sure that people will feel comfortable posting everything from praise songs to death metal. (With proper content warnings, mind you. See the rules.)

 

Now, it may seem paradoxical, but the forum does expect a certain amount of circumspection when addressing the perceived shortcomings of others' works.

 

Frank appraisal is certainly within the permissible bounds. But gratuitous slagging or insulting put downs of other forum members' works is not.

 

And that is where this thread went wrong early, with predictable results.

 

When people understand the value of creating a 'nurturing' atmosphere -- sometimes especially if that doesn't necessarily come naturally to them [i was a right bastid when I was an arrogant young and self-obsessed young man] -- they may become quite protective -- aggressively so -- when it comes to preserving that atmosphere.

 

And that, of course, is what we've seen in this thread.

 

Now, that said, I suspect that once you get into the flow of things here a little more, Iamtheblues, I'm thinking you, yourself, will start seeing the value of a non-free-fire-zone atmosphere where collegiality and consideration for the sensibilities of others are watch words. It may not come natural -- it didn't to me -- but it does work and I think I can speak for others in saying I hope you'll find it works for you.

 

[eddieboston2]

 

I expect to hear this with some nice fingerpickin' behind it soon !

 

 

You just might!