Members grace_slick Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I was thinking of the concepts for my potential or partially-complete songs, and they're all a bit odd... - The Snowman - a morbidly obese guy has bad dandruff. He is unpopular because of both his weight and dandruff problem. He pushes away his sorrows with more food and balloons to even larger proportions until he is larger than the planet Earth. Then whenever it snows, it's actually him scratching his head. - Shopping Trolley Suicide - see my other thread in this section about my new song concept/idea. - Onion Foot - a guy called Frank is walking down the street and finds there's an onion stuck on his shoe. He kicks it off and continues walking, but then finds it's there again. He gets a bit disturbed by this and starts kicking and jumping around madly, trying to rid himself of these mysteriously reappearing onions. People inside their houses think he's insane and call the police, who have him taken to a mental hospital, as he was rambling about onions and none were in sight. His elderly mother, at the end of the song, is calling his phone and leaving ever more concerned messages, unable to find him. She heard from her friend that he was stealing onions from people in the neighbourbood and dancing around the town wearing them on his feet. Eventually he ends up in jail. The reason for this isn't explained though. It's just mentioned through her last phone message to her son. (it's not explained because it makes no sense, you see. lol) - Mr Moth Works in the Nose Department - about a guy who works in this factory making prosthetic noses. He works all day, and it's from the point of view of this girl who is obviously really bored and so sits outside this factory one day from dawn till dusk and sees Mr Moth come in and then go home. She follows him and finds out he lives behind the factory in a box constructed of disgarded prosthetic nose clippings. It's actually quite a lovely piano tune. Do any of these seem just too weird for the majority of people in society? I don't want to do songs that are weird just for the sake of being so. I want GOOD quality music that makes you feel things, and then maybe if people listen closer, they might go "WHAT!?" lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members nuclear arsenal Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 i can relate to all these songs. it's a little eerie.i write mostly straight ahead songs, because that's how they come out, but you should write however you want to write. it's the 21st century, there's no real artistic boundaries left, except in your own head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LeonardScaper Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 WHAT!? No....seriously, go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Stackabones Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Worrying about them is weirder than writing about them. When you worry about something, you're neurotic; when you write about something, you're a songwriter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Everyone has a bunch of half-baked stupid ideas that won't come to anything. When you start finishing them, recording them, and putting them out there, it will be a little easier to determine if you're weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 Maybe... but why should that stop an artist? Make the art you feel! There are millions of wannabes out there falling all over themselves trying to sound like someone else. How lame is that? Be you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members ido1957 Posted September 12, 2009 Members Share Posted September 12, 2009 I think the more unusual the topic the more memorable the song. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eclepto Funk Posted September 13, 2009 Members Share Posted September 13, 2009 it's better to be weird than boring i am the walrus? smells like teen spirit? bullet with butterfly wings? ashes to ashesfunk to funkywe know major tom'sa junkie? oh yeah baby Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted September 14, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 Actually, that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members moonlight Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 There's always a market out there for pretty much anything under the sun. Step out into the wilderness and give it a go. the worst that'll happen is you'll hear no. Yet you'll have an opportunity to exercise some creativity. Might work... might not work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members AlastairEno Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 Maybe... but why should that stop an artist? Make the art you feel!There are millions of wannabes out there falling all over themselves trying to sound like someone else. How lame is that? Be you. I was about to post a 30 page diatribe with Shel Silverstein style illustrations, a venn diagram and a manifesto, but you summed up what I was going communicate quite nicely. Although, I think the illustrations would have still been nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members IanAlderman Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 It's much better to be weird and original. I'd rather have something that people have no choice but to react to instead of being a cookie cutter version #4,253,097,787 of How You Remind Me or whatever comes along on the radio. Nobody really wants to hear that nonsense. When I listen to the radio, I hope and pray to hear something NEW and exciting- even though it's mostly an exercise of futility, that's what gets my gears grinding. So weird or no, I'd say keep going and keep writing no matter how weird you think it may be. Some people out there like new innovating weird-ness. Like me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members easilyspooked Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 i love those song concepts. now write them. we'll listen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Matximus Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 Yes. You are. Absolutely. But that's because you're spending too much time thinking, talking and writing about these songs rather than just writing them. Get on with it!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members XPM Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 I was thinking of the concepts for my potential or partially-complete songs, and they're all a bit odd...- The Snowman - a morbidly obese guy has bad dandruff. He is unpopular because of both his weight and dandruff problem. He pushes away his sorrows with more food and balloons to even larger proportions until he is larger than the planet Earth. Then whenever it snows, it's actually him scratching his head.- Shopping Trolley Suicide - see my other thread in this section about my new song concept/idea.- Onion Foot - a guy called Frank is walking down the street and finds there's an onion stuck on his shoe. He kicks it off and continues walking, but then finds it's there again. He gets a bit disturbed by this and starts kicking and jumping around madly, trying to rid himself of these mysteriously reappearing onions. People inside their houses think he's insane and call the police, who have him taken to a mental hospital, as he was rambling about onions and none were in sight. His elderly mother, at the end of the song, is calling his phone and leaving ever more concerned messages, unable to find him. She heard from her friend that he was stealing onions from people in the neighbourbood and dancing around the town wearing them on his feet. Eventually he ends up in jail. The reason for this isn't explained though. It's just mentioned through her last phone message to her son. (it's not explained because it makes no sense, you see. lol)- Mr Moth Works in the Nose Department - about a guy who works in this factory making prosthetic noses. He works all day, and it's from the point of view of this girl who is obviously really bored and so sits outside this factory one day from dawn till dusk and sees Mr Moth come in and then go home. She follows him and finds out he lives behind the factory in a box constructed of disgarded prosthetic nose clippings. It's actually quite a lovely piano tune.Do any of these seem just too weird for the majority of people in society? I don't want to do songs that are weird just for the sake of being so. I want GOOD quality music that makes you feel things, and then maybe if people listen closer, they might go "WHAT!?" lol I think it's all in how you present the material. What is the objective of your writing endeavors? What are your personal musical convictions? Here is some perspective, but certainly I am not qualified to "preach" or KNOW reality. It's just my take. Personally, I am entertained by these notions or song premises based strictly on your unique imaginative content. So what you are presuming "weird" might just be "entertaining" in many of your listeners minds. How do you present your music? Are you a person sitting on a stool with an acoustic guitar in a coffee house, singing moderately flat about "smelly cats"? Or are you putting these songs into some electric neo psychedelic song context? Are you a virtuoso musician using the odd angular context of the lyrical content itself to paint as unique and animated a take on life as is your presented playing style and technical abilities? There really is no such thing as "the absolute rules" of artistic presentation. It most likely just comes down to being exactly who and what you want to be perceived as in whatever context you do so best naturally within. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 Yes. You are. Absolutely. But that's because you're spending too much time thinking, talking and writing about these songs rather than just writing them. Get on with it!!!! Definitely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members fenderbender66 Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 smells like teen spirit? I just recently learned where that phrase came from.According to the book "Heavier than Heaven", a biography of Cobain, his then girlfriend spray painted that on his wall..."Teen Spirit" was a brand of deodorant she wore, and since they were intimate, it alludes to the fact the he smelled like her. kind of romantic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Boydog Posted September 14, 2009 Members Share Posted September 14, 2009 don't know that I'd say "wierd" maybe "unique"you know, the kinda song u nique up on.. :poke:actually the concept for each song is intriguingly unique, You go girl:thu: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LeonardScaper Posted September 15, 2009 Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 Get on with it!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members kurdy Posted September 15, 2009 Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 There are two ways you can be successful in songwriting. One is to try and emulate what's popular. If you're exceptionally good at it, and not merely mediocre, you'll be a great success, and attract a wide audience. Possibly have a few hits on the charts. However, there are so many people trying to do it this way, that it's harder to stand out among the crowd. Most people just wind up sounding like everyone else. The other way to go is to do something that's totally left-field and unique. Your potential audience will probably be smaller, but you may have a greater chance of carving a niche for yourself, and gaining a smaller loyal audience. People will be more likely to remember you because of your uniqueness. A lot of female singer-songwriters seem to have success with this method. Tori Amos, Regina Spektor, Nellie McKay, Amanda Palmer, Bjork, the list goes on. These artists have all written some truly bizzare songs, but they certainly have no shortage of hardcore fans, even if they aren't mainstream. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Eclepto Funk Posted September 15, 2009 Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 I just recently learned where that phrase came from.According to the book "Heavier than Heaven", a biography of Cobain, his then girlfriend spray painted that on his wall..."Teen Spirit" was a brand of deodorant she wore, and since they were intimate, it alludes to the fact the he smelled like her. kind of romantic. actually, a fellow musician in the Seattle area (Kathleen Hanna) spray painted the phrase on Kurt's wall as a joke because her friend and Kurt's girlfriend at the time (Tobi Vail) wore Teen Spirit. Hanna was "tagging" Kurt's room as a joke that Kurt had been "tagged" by Vail with her fragrance of course, the song puts a totally different spin on the phrase ... gotta love it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted September 15, 2009 Author Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 I find it a lot easier to come up with ideas than to actually write them...that's why I blab about stuff and over-think things so much...procrastination. The delay of the onset of feelings of failure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted September 15, 2009 Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 I find it a lot easier to come up with ideas than to actually write them... Everyone does. That's why my hoverboard idea hasn't materialized. The difference between a songwriter and a civilian isn't the dumb ideas part, it's the sitting down and doing the hard work part. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members easilyspooked Posted September 15, 2009 Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 Dude! Build A Hoverboard! Then use it on stage! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members espec10001 Posted September 15, 2009 Members Share Posted September 15, 2009 I was thinking of the concepts for my potential or partially-complete songs, and they're all a bit odd...- The Snowman - a morbidly obese guy has bad dandruff. He is unpopular because of both his weight and dandruff problem. He pushes away his sorrows with more food and balloons to even larger proportions until he is larger than the planet Earth. Then whenever it snows, it's actually him scratching his head.- Shopping Trolley Suicide - see my other thread in this section about my new song concept/idea.- Onion Foot - a guy called Frank is walking down the street and finds there's an onion stuck on his shoe. He kicks it off and continues walking, but then finds it's there again. He gets a bit disturbed by this and starts kicking and jumping around madly, trying to rid himself of these mysteriously reappearing onions. People inside their houses think he's insane and call the police, who have him taken to a mental hospital, as he was rambling about onions and none were in sight. His elderly mother, at the end of the song, is calling his phone and leaving ever more concerned messages, unable to find him. She heard from her friend that he was stealing onions from people in the neighbourbood and dancing around the town wearing them on his feet. Eventually he ends up in jail. The reason for this isn't explained though. It's just mentioned through her last phone message to her son. (it's not explained because it makes no sense, you see. lol)- Mr Moth Works in the Nose Department - about a guy who works in this factory making prosthetic noses. He works all day, and it's from the point of view of this girl who is obviously really bored and so sits outside this factory one day from dawn till dusk and sees Mr Moth come in and then go home. She follows him and finds out he lives behind the factory in a box constructed of disgarded prosthetic nose clippings. It's actually quite a lovely piano tune.Do any of these seem just too weird for the majority of people in society? I don't want to do songs that are weird just for the sake of being so. I want GOOD quality music that makes you feel things, and then maybe if people listen closer, they might go "WHAT!?" lol Do what you want and be true to yourself! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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