rippinlyricist

Wow, at first I only had a few postings on this topic, but now it seems I've opened up a small, but touchy Pandora's box. I appreciate everyone's insights. I guess change is inevitable - and money drives that change. At one time, I used to embrace change - even be a part of it - but I think age has me pining for the "good old days". I think we all kind of get stuck in our heyday. It is always good to see that (from what I've observed) the younger generations have an appreciation for the "older" music. It's interesting to follow the history of country (as well as other forms) of music. If you listen to bluegrass, often you can hear the Celtic sounds in the songs. Of course, the banjo is a descendant of Africa, so country, like rock, or other genres, have a range of influences. I guess those influences have changed, and continue to change country music. Of course, my original concern is that in trying to become more relevant (i.e,, marketable/profitable), that the musical elements that make country music unique have been so watered down that it is in danger of becoming extinct. Even when country incorporated rock, it did it in a country fashion. I don't see that happening with today's "country" music.

Hey all, Let's say that I've got some songs (registered with the Copyright office) I want to get to a publisher. But I want to try them out locally first. And I want a band to play them and cut a demo so I can sent this to publishers, in hopes of a more lucrative recording. I'm thinking I'll "pay" the demo band by letting them use the songs while I retain the ownership. Is this a legitimate way of going about this? I guess I should first ask if this is even possible to do? I'm not sure how all the ownership and usage rights works on a copyright. If anyone has some knowledge about this, I'd appreciate your input. Thanks in advance.

It makes me so mad... I think I'll write a song about it (lol).

Thanks for your input everyone. And, yes, the only other copy of this particular song is residing with the U.S. Copyright Office in D.C. But I have a question, if I want to try to sell my song to be recorded, do I need to cut a demo for the song or does the publisher take care of that? Again, thank you for all of your input. It's been helpful.

Okay folks, I've been out of the scene for a while. My hey day of writing was in the 90s. What the **** (you fill in the blank) has happened to country music? I mean, from what I can tell, it's not really country music anymore. I can understand how country music needed to integrate with rock 'n' roll to stay relevant. I was jiggy with that transition - as a matter of fact, a lot of my songs are on the rockin' side. But what I'm hearing today doesn't even sound anything like what I would identify as country. It sounds more like pop. Maybe I'm just an old farm boy (no, really, I'm "old" and I was raised on a farm). So, again, I reiterate, what the blank happened? And is there any chance something can stop the adultration of what I know as country music? By the way, I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong place - wasn't sure where to put it, but I thought some songwriters would be up on this kinda stuff. So let me know what's going on. Thanks.

I don't get it. I thought that's the first thing you wanted to do - to protect your work. What do ya mean?

Hey folks, How's it going? Good with me. I just got my first song copyrighted... yea!!! So, anyway, what's next for me, if I want to have it recorded and such? I have a recording of me at a writer's night in Nashville, but I would rather the song be redone. Any advice would be helpful. Thanx.

I can't afford a band for a demo either. What I'm thinking about doing is bartering with a band - i.e., they produce a demo tape, I'll allow them to use my song. I don't know if that'll work or not, since I'm new to this. Any thoughts?

Darn, this sounds a lot like work - requiring self-discipline and such. But after all, that's part of the reason I'm here - to find out these kind of things.

I've got about 75 songs started (that I've counted so far) - most are in the country genre.

I may be a little weird in this area, but I get the melody and the lyrics at the same time. It just comes to me in one neat little package. Of course, I usually have to tweak the lyrics, but the general theme is already there. Then I have to pick up the guitar and figure out the chords that go along with that melody. I say it's weird because, surprisingly, I've come up with some pretty good songs, but there's not any work to the initial creation.

Hey all, Thanks for your great advice. I've kind of got a handle on how to proceed. And, Tom, when you say figure out which one you're the weakest in, are you talking about discipline, personal organization, and knowing and understanding the songwriting craft, because I'm weak in all of them. And Mike, you're right - I think it's going to be about rewriting... and rewriting, and rewriting.... And Nick, you may be right. Out of well over 70 songs I've started, I guess it would be crazy to think all of them should be finished. At any rate, thanks folks. You've given me some good advice, and whether you know it or not, a little inspiration to keep moving on it.

I say I've written several songs - one intentionally. I don't try to write songs. But for inspiration, it's hard to beat a bad breakup (lol).

Thanks Tom. I haven't found quite what I'm looking for yet, but I'll try to scroll some more later. Some of the links you posted made me start thinking I have quite a bit more work to do (lol). My problem is, I don't try to write songs, they just come to me out of the blue, so I write them down. But I don't have that same inspiration for the rest of the song. Tough luck, huh? To make matters worse, I'm a perfectionist in these kind of things. Every word has to be perfect. I'm my own worst enemy - or critic - when it comes to that. But thanks for the advice and the links. As I say, they gave me a lot to think about that I wasn't even thinking about.

Hey folks, I've got a question here. I've started several songs. When they come to me, I usually get a verse and a chorus. The problem is, even though I know where I want to go with most of them, I can't seem to finish them. Here's a big part of my problem. I've often said, I've written many song - one intentionally. I don't try to write songs, they just pop in my head. So when I try to finish the song, often times they lyrics sound contrived or unnatural - so I scrap it. How do I sit down and actually finish a song? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated - because I'm stuck. Thanks in advance.