MAB Q&A

"The Bup Bup Song" uses BIAB bass and drums, while on "Slightly Out of Phase" (a song that OD hates by the way -- ha, ha) I am playing everything.  I have a little roland spd-20 drum machine that I am playing "congas" with my hands.  I did OK, but I am going to re-record that part of it.    I really suggest that you buy a tambourine, shaker and maybe a kick drum or cajon to get that rhythm going.   It really doesn't take too, too long to get acceptable percussion sounds, but like everything else, nothing is easy.

Kevin, if by cajon you mean those little box drums you sit on and play, I have looked at those. BUT, I really don't want to learn another instrument. That Roland SPD-20 sounds interesting though. I'll have to look into that, or some other type of drum machine I can get different, simpler drum patterns from. One other thing about my drum tracks is my Yamaha actually has the entire rhythm section; Drums, base, other instruments. All I can do is drop specific sounds out and set the volume for the ones I do want to record. I tend to record the drums and a base sound, which all ends up on one track. I can control some of the drum instrument volumes, and as soon as I get my latest song done, I'll upload it. The shaker stands out, and a slight drum beat will be in the background and almost no bass. The dood news is, when I master my song I can completely drop out the drum and bass.

phil g.

I NEED SOMEONE'S HELP. It should only take a minute or two. I have created a private listening room, but I still don't completely understand how it works. I did notice when I went to the Ramp Wall, which is where [I think] everyone goes when they logon. If not, it's a simple menu selection to get there. What I noticed was, on the Ramp Wall, there is a history/post of when I uploaded the private listening room song, and there appears to be a link to that song. Could I get someone to go to the Ramp Wall and if you see that link, can you click on it and see if it lets you listen to my "private listening room" song?

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP,

phil g.

MAB, man that is terrible! I use a Droid by Samsung with Verizon. I had a similar issue. It wanted me to do an update to the latest software version, so I did. But there was a continuious message every time I turned on my phone to do some kind of security protection thing. When I called Verizon they said the only way to get rid of it was to reboot my phone with the older software version. Not only did I not get the older version, I also lost EVERYTHING I had. Luckily, the tech did have me back up my Verizon data to the cloud. BUT that did NOT include any of my app data. Like my voice recorder app, grocery list app. AND I actually lost all the apps I had downloaded to my phone. I'll NEVER update my phone again! My wife still gets the "Please update your software" message when she turns her phone on. She learned from my mistake. I'm starting to believe your conspiracy theory! LOL!

phil g.

Regrdless of what  messages you don get, YOU ALWAYS BACK UP Daily or weekly  and ESPECIALLY ..NO  EXCEPTIONS >> when upgrading  your software. And  MAc , Apple, PC   Samsung ,Android WHATEVER,

BACK Up.............  and BAck up your back up too

I speak  from loss of data   myself  a few  years ago

Yes John. I try to back up everything, but a lot of times I just forget. I try to plug in my phone to my computer and it automatically backs up. The computer is backed up by an online service, but takes days to reload. All of it just bothers me. the fact that we are SO tied to everything electronic. If something were to happen, terrorists hit vital points, we have an overall technology breakdown, we are all sunk. Every place we shop, suddenly has millions of hacking problems. Home Depot just a few days ago.

Tina deals with it first hand. DIEBOLD, the company she works for are the largest producers of ATM machines in the world. Security is one of the biggest issues they deal with. The second they get another model out there with new hard and software, there are thousands of people trying to find ways to break into them. It seems we spend most of our time trying to defend against criminal acts. 

All just wears me out to a point of exhaustion. 

One of the main reasons I like to come here is we can talk about things I enjoy, music and helping people instead of dealing with all of this other garbage. It is why I like it when you guys start asking questions are starting discussions. Somethings I can't help with. The Band in a Box deal because I have never used that and approach recording very differently than most of you. 

Yesterday was a lot of fun. Disecting the ways songs work and don't work is pretty naturally to me. Being an entertainer all my life, I kind of have a good handle on what works with the listening public.  So being asked to illustrate some songs, like Phil did, helps me do what I do best. I love that.

Technology drives me out of my mind because I don't assimilate information that way. You find that a lot in creative people. They absorb information in different ways. What might seem very simple to many people, math, tech stuff, comes very difficultly to me. What is very hard for some people, public interaction, dealing with music and the various CRAFT sections is pretty much like falling off a log for me. A lot of people can't do that at all.

Losing the current batch of songs is not that bad for me, because I have another weird thing I can do. I generally can look at a lyric I have written, and if I have just a little bit of time, can pretty much recall the whole thing. Not the lyrics by memory, but I could probably find my way through almost every song I have ever written. I don't have TOTAL recall, but I do have pretty good recall. Doesn't mean I can go out and perform every one of those songs, but I can find my way through them.

And a lot of my co-writers have recorded them at the same time. (AT LEAST THAT IS WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO, ISN'T IT RIDAWN!!!!)  So I will be able to deal with that. 

But the constant demands technology makes on us is pretty depressing sometimes. It has connected all of us, yet disconnected us at the same time.

Enough of my Rant. Let';s get back to Music. Phil, did you have something else you wanted me to do?

MAB

                                            AMERICAN KIDS- DISSECTION
                                                                    KENNY CHESNEY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=de1aPKXBdAE

This song is going to be a little more difficult for me because I'm not particularly fond of this song. I know why it works, sort of, and it is one of those things that happen and you just go...yeah. Makes you feel very old. It is basically a cross breed of hip hop and Americana. The story is there,but told in somewhat sophomoric terms. Although not as poorly written as many of them, it is like a lot of writers and artists are doing now. It generates most of the intererest in movement and sounds, as opposed to story. Although the story is there, and not too bad. It reasonates with a huge buying public so who am I to discount any of that. It is the free market place. I just miss singing instead of talking in rhyme. Call me a dinosaur. 
Interestingly,Phil, the fact that it is also written by Rodney Clawson should tell you that the guy is hot.  I think you are a Rodney fan.

The story takes place from the beginning of the parents and where they got started.American Kids"

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Doublewide Quick Stop midnight T-top
Jack in her Cherry Coke town
Momma and daddy put their roots right here
'Cause this is where the car broke down

Actually well written history lesson. But you have to listen a couple of times to actually be able to understand it. One of the problems I have with 'rapid fire lyrics" is that they are hard to understand. but that is why people want to listen over and over which after all is the purpose for music. 

Yellow dog school bus kickin' up red dust
Pickin' us up by a barbed wire fence
MTV on the RCA, no A/C in the vents

The setting here is the early mid 80's where MTC was starting up, all the images are pretty clear. Using the initials, MTV on the RCA, No AC in the vents. Is a very clever use of the initials. Elbow moments.

We were Jesus save me, blue jean baby
Born in the USA
Trailer park truck stop, faded little map dots
New York to LA
We were teenage dreamin', front seat leanin'
Baby, come give me a kiss
Put me on the cover of the Rolling Stone
Uptown down home American kids
Growin' up in little pink houses
Makin' out on living room couches
Blowin' that smoke on Saturday night
A little messed up, but we're all alright

A lot of John Cougar Mellonhead/Bruce Springsteen images here. It is all about middle America. Just like the main point, hook most important image, AMERICAN KIDS. But the images all are Mainstream. The hook is in a different place, in the middle of the chorus. but since every line refers TO the American Kids, it doesn't lose the impact. Had this not been the writers and Chesney, I don't think they could have gotten away with it. Interestingly enough, when I first started hearing this song, it reminded me of a "hippie sing along" type deal. Funny to see the video, where it IS on a hippie bus. It's kind of a "new take on the 60's lifestyle. 
And they don't repeat the hook as it "trails off" at the end of the song. This one breaks a lot of rules, but it works. Can't argue with that. 

Baptist church parkin' lot, tryin' not to get caught
Take her home and give her your jacket
Makin' it to second base, but sayin' you went all the way
Monday afternoon at practice
Jacket and Practice, are very good rhymes. Again, this has elbow moments all over the place. Does most things very well. 
Sister's got a boyfriend daddy doesn't like
Now he's sittin' out back, 3030 in his lap
In the blue bug zapper light
Using the "Sister's got a boyfriend" melody which is the old children's nursery rhyme, blah blah blah sitting in a tree, kind of younger kid taunting the older ones when they start messing with the opposite sex. Another Elbow moment.

We were Jesus save me, blue jean baby
Born in the USA
Trailer park truck stop, faded little map dots
New York to LA
We were teenage dreamin', front seat leanin'
Baby, come give me a kiss
Put me on the cover of the Rolling Stone
Uptown down home American kids
Growin' up in little pink houses
Makin' out on living room couches
Blowin' that smoke on Saturday night
A little messed up, but we're all alright
[x2]

Writer(s): Luke Robert Laird, Shane L. Mcanally
Copyright: Smack Ink, Twangin And Slangin Songs, Songs Of Universal Inc., Creative Nation Music, Universal Music Corp.

These guys do this well. It is a throwback tribute to the hippie lifestyle and one element of America that is different. Instead of the "growing up on the farm, settle down, have kids, put down roots' it is exactly the opposite. The "gypsy lifestyle" that so many did in the 60's through to the 90's. Free spirits. God, I've known a LOT of them. Think of the "Grateful Dead" fans. of course a lot of those are now Doctors and Lawyers and this would be them as well. Their kids and grandkids are now growing up and can see this in their parents scrap books and home movies.

It is catchy and memorable. After hearing it a few times, and reading the words, I like it better than just hearing it. It is not one of the songs I would be good enough to write. Getting that much information into that kind of rhythm doesn't work for me.  And for a singer, that is a lot of stuff to get out. Reminds me of some of the rapid fire like "Papa Loves Mama' and "Aint going Down till the Sun Comes Up" that Garth did in the 90's. Also there is a lot of this coming on now. Another part of the changing musical landscape.

MUSIC
This is primarily driven by the drums. The chords don't really do a whole lot. There is an interesting aspect that the production is all acoustic instruments, guitar, banjo, a little dobro. This keeps it into the "country feel" which comes through. There is no real melody for the vocals, more single note monetone, that Kenny pulls off very well. It is suited to his voice because he is not the best singer. So it plays to his strong points.
The "Second part of the chorus" ""Growin up in Little Pink Houses" part is your elevation. By adding more voices in a "sing along" quality, is what builds the chorus to a climax. It is even repeated in the video by the bus scene going.

Overall: Another interesting song that does much of what "DIRT" did, just in another way. Whereas "Dirt" spoke of the human condition, family, home, putting down roots, and that "DIRT' was the "AMERICAN CONDITION", this does much exactly the same thing, but presents the premise that "home can be wherever YOU are." Again it brings the "WE" aspect, the same as "DIRT" did the "YOU" aspect.
But they do the same thing. Every line points to the "AMERICAN KIDS" point. The visuals are everything American, which of course would limit it's ability to sell outside the US, since most of the world hates us now. But Kenny is able to do and say what he wants.And he does not take a "confrontational approach" like someone like Toby Keith does. It is more inclusive and telling " This is who we are instead" of THIS IS WHO WE ARE!!!!, more of a subtle attitude, than expressive attitude. 

The Elbow moments go throughout the song, with the SHOW, DON'T TELL" approach. Emotions are told THROUGH the visuals. We get a sense of the clan on the move. The feeling of free spirit. Then growing through the teen years, first taste of love, teen age attitudes. This is actually much more of a teen age song than an older person's song.   It targets the 30 and under, more than the Florida/Georgia Line song. But they both go after the same subject matter, WHO WE ARE.

Again, it is well written. Rodney and company know what they are doing. While I might enjoy a little more structured melody, a little more dynamic pauses, the song is hooky, and brings it's audience along on the "journey through American teenagers. Sort of a "Jack and Dianne/Little Pink Houses"  approach. The parents probably listened to that song and it is loosely  referenced. Again, using INDIRECT references instead of direct references. A "traveling gypsy" song for the road. Again, well constructed, singable, memorable and identifiable. Good job again.

Hope this helps.
MAB 

Thanks MAB! Another great review of a song [I ] really liked. You hit every point I was looking for. One thing I would add, I was listening to the top 40 Sunday night, and there was an interview with Kenny about that song. Turns out he had taken the writers to some island somewhere to get away from Nahville. Just like Luke Bryan did the song, "Drink A Beer" because he had lived it, Kenney said, "American Kids", reminded him so much of his childhood he just had to cut it. Like you said, if I had written that song, it would still be in my "sing at open mics" catalog. I really like how you are keeping those subtle sugestions of, 'Not only is it a really well written song, but the writers and artist have a RELATIONSHIP." Because, from the interview I heard on the radio, if Rodney and company had not had that relationship with Kenney, it might still be a great sing aolng at a writers night.

The main reason I'm bringing up these songs to talk about is to hopefully help some other ramper's here write some better songs. And MAB, you explain things soooo great! Yes it is important to understand the business, but in the words of the NSAI motto, 'It all begins with a song".

phil g.

Thanks Phil, glad that helps.

And thanks for that information. Like we have said endlessly (ad Naseum) here, this business is about RELATIONSHIPS. Writers will very often go on those trips, either hanging with your buds, as here, or more official writers "retreats." Most publishing companies will pack up a half dozen writers and artists, and will take them to the beach or somewhere exotic just to get to know each other better but also to write. It is one of the first things new artists do. A more experienced writer who owns the company like Craig Wiseman will take artists down with some of their other writers and write songs for that artist. You will also get the hit writers out on those trips.

That is WHY there is a KEY WEST SONGWRITERS FESTIVAL. the writers were going down there for years. One of the managers of the HOGS BREATH, CHARLIE (can't remember his last name, I only met him once) got to know all these hit writers down on vacation. It was him with people like BMI's David Preston, who came up with the idea of doing a songwriter's festival. There were writers there already, so why not get them to play out at night and write songs during the day. That is how that developed.

Frank Brown was sort of the same thing. People like Roger Sovine (BMI) and others had condos down there. They brought writers down all the time, and those writers, who got successful would buy property or condos there. Since they were coming down anyway, why not have writers retreats and write it off on income taxes. You find most of those festivals and special events came initially as tax write offs.

But when you have someone like Kenny and that group of writers, they probably write 10 or 15 songs in a week or two period, and the top ones get first shot on upcoming projects. And those artists are factored INTO the writing as the song goes down. Kenny probably talked elements of this very story, which is why it hit so close to home.

My overall takeaway from both of these songs are kind of interesting. We have been seeing "bro country" so much it has driven us all crazy. Both of these songs are about US, which is a deeper meaning. And the fact that both of them are chart toppers say to me that you may start seeing more of this coming along. I don't know that it is going to be a trend, those are always going to be party or relationship songs, but these are something that talks about something bigger than us. The country, roots, family. Also songs that have a little more depth to them.

And the timing is interesting. Aside from being the party season being over, our country is going through more somber times. With the economy, wars, terrorism going on abroad, civil unrest here at home, and such a divided country, there might be more of "substance songs" just to kind of declare that we are still a civil society, and point out some of the better angels of our nature.

I don't know. I can only hope. Thanks for bringing both of these songs up and letting me talk about them. 

If there's any one thing that I would like you to take away from them, would be to the importance of writing to the hook and using distinct visuals in fresh ways. Both of these songs are very illustrative of the craft. Make good use of studying them. Then apply it to your own writing. And compare some of your existing songs and see if you are doing the same things. Should be interesting.

MAB 

O.K. MAB, thanks again for the revew of two former #1 country songs I did really like. Now let me see if I can challenge you to talk about the current #1 song (according to bilboard) that I just don't get. Don't like the rhythm, the melody, and the lyrics seem lame to me. The song is Jason Aldean, "Burnin It Down". How did this song get to #anything let alone #1? Maybe it's just because it IS Jason Aldean?

BTW EVERYONE ELSE, MAB is giving his evaluation. How bout someone else chime in as well? I already said why I don't like this song. Anyone out there agree? Disagree and why?

phil g.

MAB,

I have enjoyed how you disected both songs; but I still have a question about the first one I have failed to ask yet.

Allow me to paste a verse and chorus to ask my question:

"Dirt"
You get your hands in it, plant your roots in it

Okay, here is my observation and question.  In the verse (and most of the chorus), the end of every line has the same word resulting in the same rhyme.
Is there a rule most of us amateurs should not do that, and one of those situations the Pro's can get away with but not us???

I can't say you ever told us not to do that; but I would never do it, and if the Kid had sent me some of his lyrics ending every line with the same word (resulting in the same rhyme),   I would have told him he can't do that either.   But had RiDawn Raelette sent me some lyrics like that,  I would have told her she can do anything she likes.  Ha!!!   (just teasin).

Don't get me wrong,  I really like how they wrote the song.  I just had a concern if using the same word at the end of every line would be accepted for us to do also.

OD

Sorry for your loss Marc! I am not backing up as often as I should either. Luckily, I have things in more than one place. If you need any of our songs, let me know and I'll send them to you. Hello to everyone else here! I gotta get back to the new Country songI've been writing. It's called "I was home gettin' hammered while she was out gettin' nailed". Keep on writin' people!

Very good observations OD. And it is somewhat an example of 'got to know the rules to break them.' Yes, a lot of us would get called out on it, but actually it doesn't bother me because they are not actually going for the RHYME. They are actually supporting the HOOK.

 Dusty headlights in it, dance with your boots in it---(In What?) DIRT
 You write your name in it, spin your tires on it- (WHAT?) DIRT

Each one of those lines and the rest all reinforce the hook of the song. So it is almost like asking a question and then answering it with each line.

Now, yes, we would probably be called out on it and I can assure you that when those guys were writing it they probably said "Can we get away with this?" To be 100% honest with you, I really didn't even pay attention to that until you said something. That is because it is totally 100% CONVERSATIONAL. It doesn't seem out of place, forced or abnormal. So I think that rises above all those other points. And again, always remember that there are always going to break the rules. 

When you are coming off of a huge hit "CRUISE" you are going to get away with things most people can't. And these are vetted by dozens of people, MANAGERS, AGENTS, PRODUCERS, LABEL EXECUTIVES, and all this stuff is TEST MARKETED. So there are a lot of steps done before it even gets to the public.

Most people don't sit down and go over all these little details like we are supposed to. And a lot of evaluators tend to do things in a vacum. So the real world trumps that all the time.

But there is probably not a hit writer who has not bent the rules or even broken them a more than a few times. If you know what you are doing, you can usually get away with one or two here and there.

Phil, I have not forgotten your other post. I got half way through my review on that song, went to check something out and it all dissapeared. Will be back in a bit and let you know my comments.

MAB 

Thanks Ed. It was actually just the 159 songs I have written in the past eight or nine months. I had been using my cel phone to record the easy work tapes. Last night, Tina actually found them on my computer so they had been backed up. Today they all came back up so I guess it is all worked out. So now, I am back in business and backing them out.

MAB 

My opinion is that the internal rhymes in the lines (shade -- clay, plowed-up ground -- dad damned, ...) make up for it or they switch up like:  tires on it  -- bonfires on it ;  up on -- stuck on; shovel to it -- posts through it, etc.  The rhymes are not just the last word, but the combination of the words before it, too.

Just my thoughts.

Philboy,

First of all,  allow me say "Thanks" for the offer to stay in your RV during the FB festival.  That was very kind and generous of you.
Truth is; if the Old Dog makes it down, I would prefer to stay closer to The MAB and be within waddeling distance to my room.
Also;  about the stand up bass.  I have always played an electric bass,  I only bought the stand-up a few years ago to please my bluegrass picking buddy that thought the stand-up was the only authentic bluegrass sound that would work for our occasional jams.   I had always been curious to play one, so I didn't mind making the purchase.  Sad thing was; we only got together 2 more times before we quit having those sessions all together.

I will say this about the standup bass.   It was a little difficult getting used to the neck not having frets.  However, it was easy to correct and you could slide up and down the neck to find your note without much trouble and it sounded pretty cool.  It was also much larger in body and kind of like dancing with a fat woman.   Now I know what the girls must think slow dancing with the Old Dog.  Ha!!!

KevMo Ol Buddy,  you will just not allow the apology from the Old Dog.  You do not have a single song the Old Dog 'hates'.   
I was merely trying to get you to spend more time on your lyrics like you do on your melodies and recordings.

Fast Eddie,  good to hear from you Brother.  I sincerely doubt you will be making it to Nashville for RiDawn Raelette's show; nor to FB.  It would be nice if you could make it; but we all know how busy you are.  However; know that the Old Dog could use some 'adult' supervision and you would be most helpful if you could make it.

Now, to RiDawn Raelette.  Because we are becoming 'special' friends and getting much closer,  I was touched (so to speak) by your appreciation of the Old Dog wearing clean underwear when I come down to Nashville for your show.  Please note this will take some effort on the Old Dog's part because I am down to my last 3 pair.  The others have all split out,  gotten holes in them (in the wrong places) and just plain had to be retired from service.

Since I am down to only 3 pair,  I have to wear them for a length of time to fit into my laundry schedule of doing a wash once per month. That means I put the two worn pair, take off the last pair, and put them all in the washer at the same time.  I then have to expose myself around the house and hope no-one knocks on the door; or the electric company doesn't stop by to read my meter.  I will also have to do my laundry the day before I leave for Nashville so I can change a little earlier than normal.   That having been said,  I can allow you to pick out which pair you would like for the Old Dog to travel in and show up in for your performance at the Commodore on the 5th of November.

I'll give you your 3 choices to choose from.   First choice are my only remaining pair of jockey/briefs that are very comfortable to scratch in; but the elastic waistband has to fit over the Old Dog fat belly. This causes problems in the rest room because they get tangled up with the bottom of my T-shirt and make it difficult to find the 'hose' when it's time to water the lawn (if you catch my drift). Even so, they feel comfortable for up to 10 days or 2 weeks before even I can't stand them.

The other choice for you is an older pair of bikini briefs, I have left over from the 80's. I hate when they are in the rotation because, even though they fit well under the Old Dog fat belly,  they don't cover up the back side so well and tend to ride up (if you know what I mean).  However, they do have a nice floral design you may like, because of the small print of flowers you might expect while tip toeing through the tulips (as the saying goes).

The last pair are rather discusting; if I do say so myself.  A pair G-string underwear the Old Dog had left over from his days traveling the countryside with a Male Review Show.  Now,  I was not one of the dancers but the roadie that had to gather their skimpy uniforms, left on stage after the shows.  This pair of G-string underwear somehow ended up in my travel bag and I don't know who they belonged to.  I'm guessing not one of the dancers; but probably one of the larger women in the audience (because they fit me after all this time). You talk about riding up, we don't even want to go there.

So, there is a list of my available underwear selections for you to choose from RiDawn Raelette.  You tell me which pair you want the Old Dog to show up in for your Commodore performance. 

 OD

Hey Big Ed,  good to hear from you again Brother, loved your song idea.  Ha!!!

MAB, first, I'm dissapointed in your observation. Second, OD let me show you the rhymes (and Kevin, yes there are internal rhymes, but there are also END OF LINE rhymes like you pointed out.) Look closer;

...plant your roots in it
...dance with your boots in it
...spin your tires on it
...whisky bonfires on it
...bet your life on it (a near rhyme with tire and fire)
...grew up on
...damned his luck on
...circle up on
...get stuck on
...roads that you run up
...peeled off and hung up
...shovle to it
...posts through it

These are (in my mind) completely acceptable end of line rhymes, and very clever and well used I might add.

As a matter of fact, a song that MAB, JimmyB and I wrote (the first one I wrote with MAB) used a similar rhyme scheme. It had these lines;
I'll be the charm on your braclete
The eggs to your bacon

I wanted so bad to rhyme "let" with "con" but the rhyme is "brace" and "bac". He gets away with it because of the way the words are pronounced, and where the emphasis syllables are. it's BRAClet and BACon. Took me the longest time to see that. (BUT MAB, I still sing the line I re-wrote, "Gold in your neclace". Sorry man, I just didn't like throwing bacon and eggs in there with jewelery and clothes LOL)

phil g.

Phil,,

I just  played the Aldean  song  you  mentioned a few posts back. "Burning it  down"

Took too long to get started . The intro was not interesting  enough to whet my appetite. and keep me listening

The vocal tonal  quality had nothing interesting about it.

 The rythym was "meh" ..a poor mans  "trance  beat"

 The title  seemed to  be attached to an ordinary  idea  hoping to  capture some interest. 

Almost like a " man you gotta release something..anything .."

Then I fell asleep

john

John, YEP! You pretty much summed up my thoughts! BTW, I've been meaning to tell you; It's WRONG! LOL You don't Right a song; you Write a song. You Right a chair, boat, toy, whatever object. Doncha just love the english language?

phil g.

Oh wait! I just reread your signature. You are correct. Write is Right! LOL

 I dont say  I "right a  song"...... but then  you learned manglish in USA  not  English

Allow me to translate

I think I can write! Right?  ( correct? )  Wrong! ( incorrect !)  Right!  ( =Ok  )  Correct!

You're gonna have to give me some slack John. It is almost midnight here, I lost $60.00 at poker tonight, and I'm on my second drink. But, yes, you are correct, Write is right. And no.... It's MY brandy and I'm NOT sharing! LOL. Too late. gonna finish my last drink and call it a day.

phil g.

Hey guys,

Phil, I thought I had already addressed that part on the rhymes. The rhymes are actually INNER rhymes and not rhyming the last word. Because it supports the HOOK.There are also songs that don't rhyme at all, have a "refrain" line, with no rhymes at all, just the hook repeated at the end of it. There are a lot of different forms of songs, we just usually cover the most prevelant types here. Those are the rules people need to learn first before trying to break them.

Yes, we did rhyme the first syllables instead of the last syllables. It is all just shooting at things and trying to make them make sense. It is all about being CONVERSATIONAL. If you can speak it, most of the time you can get away with it if it fits into the musical format.

MAB 

Phil, it's actually THINGS THAT GO TOGETHER, that are important. Not just Jewlery and food. It is matching two things that go together, covers a little more territory. 

MAB 

No apology was required in the first place.  I was just "tweaking" a bit.   Ya know these are just my 50/90 tunes, the lyrics are probably written in under an hour.  If the song has any promise I come back and re-evaluate the lyrics (or not).   I have some story songs (but not many).  I just posted an older  one, This is Her Weekend, that I am trying to clean up the production.  But I still am going to have my daughter do a little female voice in there over the next few weeks.

                                                               BURNING IT DOWN-JASON ALDEEN

Phil you have been on fire here and brought up some good ones. Now this is one that we always have to deal with. You ask "Is it just that it is Aldeen?" Yes. In every career "art' there are interesting things that happen. When Elvis Presley went through this HOLLYWOOD phase, and did 33 versions of pretty much the same movie, people loved Elvis. They went, even though the movies were pretty silly. But he would never reclaim his spot as "King of Rock and Roll" and died pretty much a caracature of himself. 

Jason Aldeen decided a while back to conciously go after a demographic that has never worked to well in Country, rap and hip hop. His pairings with people like Colt Ford, worked and he started delving into that world. Just like Kenny Chesney and the Jimmy Buffett crowd and Taylor Swift in the teen age crowd, somethings just work for some people. But it often brings the negative side of those worlds as well.  In the case of Chesney, every one going for the beach and alcohol elements which would lead to bro country. Taylor would create a lot of imitators, in many cases bringing the art form to a very sophomoric attitude and of course, angry chick singer songs.

With Rap and hip hop, you get endless drum loops, extrodinorilty repititous and redundance sounds, nothing in the way of melodic interest and subject matters, well, which are about one thing and one thing only. SEX. 

This song is just about "getting it on." No ambiguity, no confusion, just talking about getting down and dirty. Leaves nothing to the imagination. While it might have a couple of rhymes in it, "Flirty and working", for instance that are kind of cool, the rest just kinds of lays there. There are no double meanings, no entendres. Just lays it all out there.

Now, I am no prude. As a guy who has a song called "Cleaning up around the house", about having sex in every room in the house, I can push that envelope too. But I think it is nice to have some kind of clever elements to the song. I don't believe this has any that I see. 

This is what I would call a "fist pumper" song. It is much the same as the 'party song". If you have ever seen a big concert crowd, all packed in the front of a stage like sardines, all bunched up together, with their hands pumping in the air or waving side to side in unison. That is what this song does. Interestingly enough, you see kids about 10 or 11mouthing the words to these types of songs, I am not even sure some of them know what it means. But the rhythm of the lyrics and the beat drives them forward. 

Every song can't be a great piece of work. More are like this one than not. Just feel good to some people. I think we could analyze it all day long and point out what is wrong with it, but at the end of the day, none of us would be it's target audience. You have to just accept the fact that it happens and it finds an audience that keeps it out there. 

How this all applies to our own writing, which is the point of doing something like this, is discovering what is out there, Both good and bad. For instance. two of these songs are miore rapid fire lyrics, and that is something I don't have much of an interest  in. It is not something that I would do well, so I would avoid it in my own writing. 
The same for you, Phil, if you didn't feel comfortable in writing the inner rhymes like we did on that one song, you would not do that. You would make something that works for you.

In the cases of songs to pitch, you get outside input, but if you have a "gut feeling" you go with it. If someone is going to cut a song but have some problems with certain words or phrases, they will tell you if they really like the song. Sometimes you do it, sometimes you don't. 

The only real thing that this song tells me is how really big the "tent" of country is. It covers a lot of different types of songs. From the more traditional of Brad Paisley,George Strait and Alan Jackson, the rock attitude of Montgomery Gentry, Hot pop chicks like Miranda Lambert, Taylor Swift,  and Carrie Underwood, humerous country of Big and Rich and Dierk's Bently, Male model country or Fla./Ga Line, Mellow vocal sounds of Zac Brown, soft voices like Allison Krause, testostorone of Toby Keith and Blake Shelton, and pretty much everything else in between. You can't really define it and it is breaking a lot of rules as it goes.

It is good that you are paying attention and breaking it down. But you can't get too caught up in things that don't go where you would like them to. You are not the target audience for that. Find elements that you like in other songs and concentrate on that, and leave the rest to others that like that style. 

Different strokes for different folks.

MAB