SONGS THAT SOUND LIKE "SONGS."
Phil, you are kind of outlining your biggest problem. You are hearing conversations, but not LISTENING to them. You are not OBSERVING what is going on. Most people are like that. And it is why so many songwriters miss the boat,and while songs that just sound like other songs. An interesting thing when you go to festivals like this or in a place like Nashville, and see the amateurs all performing, then see a PROFESSIONAL hit writer, you see the difference. Most people do these songs and they are all about the same subjects, written the same way, usually have the same rhymes, same titles, same approach, even very stock melodies. This is because they are HEARING songs, on the radio, of their favorite people, but are not LISTENING to how they got that song.
They are just parrots repeating what has already been done.
Hit writers are hit writers for a reason. Their songs are easy to understand and very memorable. They have a simple story line yet can say so much in just a few lines. They inspire us to sit there and go "wow! How did they do that?"
They listened.
And they observed what is going on around them. With hit songs and those magical ones that SHOULD BE HITS, you can see the story in your minds eye. You know what is going on. You actually can hum or sing along, picking up part of the words before the song even ends. You are moved to tap your foot, nod your head, you stay involved in the action. And there is always something different or interesting about it. The melody will stick with you. The action will go somewhere you didn't see. The rhymes will be very interesting and rarely get Sam I Am. And most of all, it will sound like a CONVERSATION. It has reality, instead of a lot of flowerdy language that you have to be an English Literature professor to understand. It sounds like REAL LIFE.
So if you look at your songs and see a lot of things in it that just seem forced or unrealistic, you are missing the boat. If you are having so many words, verses, no real hooks,and if it bores YOU, how do you think your public will like it? How many things do you sit around watching, listening to, or being involved in that you really don't like, bore you to tears, or make you want to turn off or turn the channel.
Are your songs doing that? Do you have GLOW songs, that make people want to pull out their phones and text. (The GLOW in their faces).
And like Peggy, or OTT, a lot of people want to go spend a lot of money on demos, and want people to hear them, but there is no real forum for them to be heard. If there is no artist, you are in trouble in this day and age. If you spend a lot of money on demos, you have a great sounding demo to play for your friends. Most friends don't PAY for music. Especially not from their FRIENDS. They expect it for free.
So you have a conundrum folks. You have to find ways to get your music out there. It is not easy but it can be done. But you are going to have to realign your thinking for the reality of our age.
REALITY, I'T'S WHAT FOR DINNER. Or in the words of one of my favorites, JOHN ADAMS, "Facts are stubborn things."
MAB