john

Sorry to hear that Mike. As long as you have something to pay the bills, that is the main thing. What was your internet job?

Hi For those of you who enjoy a little audio science.... Cheers John

Well said Steve.

Hey Dave, one cliché at a time. Dammit, that's just a cliché too far. That's cliché, after cliché. Help,! I am drowning in clichés. You just never know the cliché that's going to get you!

Even with a well used phrase, most writers don't use all that much creativity! It is like they used it all up just finding that phrase. The truth is, we can all be a little lazy sometimes, but really many writers stop at the literal common use and understanding of a phrase... But for me, and I think most readers and listeners, the magic happens when we take something common and make it uncommon again, give it a unique edge, and fundamentally a new perspective. This is true musically as well. If you only use common phrases it is familiar, but essentially it is not different enough to either stand out, or to challenge us and make us become interested. In many ways what you are doing is managing expectation. First we set up an expectation, we build it and when we deliver the bit we've all been waiting for, we twist it, change it and otherwise screw with it to take that expectation and slap the listener around the face with it. The set up is key. Back on lyrics, let's take a phrase: "I love you." It is one of the most powerful things to say to someone. We all know this. We all have strong feelings associated with it. But it has been so over used, you couldn't accuse it of being very hook-like. So how could you change it? The set up is a good start. "I will brush the hair from your face Hold you in a warm embrace I promise I will always stay true Baby, you're my only. I love you." Ok not great. Hey, gimme a break. It's quick and off the cuff and, and, and... Meh. So there it played straight and was as cliché as it gets. So what can we do to break from cliché, and make it more interesting? Well a big part come in what we can do to the phrase or to the set up to change perception, give it a shake, twist the meaning. "I will brush the hair from your face Hold you in a warm embrace I promise I will always stay true But I always tell myself. I love you." Ok so now our intrepid listener is saying "what the...?" Is this guy saying he loves his partner, or is he saying "I might like you, but I love myself"? With a bit of work it could be clearer to suite your purpose, or not. "I will brush the hair from your face Hold you in a warm embrace I promise I will always stay true Baby, you're my only. I love blue." "what? What the hell are you trying to say to me? You're lonely and sad? You like the colour? What?" In this case we change the phrase and kept the context the same. From the listener's perspective it completely doesn't deliver on expectation. In both cases the listener now has questions, and that is a good thing. It helps make it stick. "I will brush the hair from your face Hold you in a warm embrace I promise I will always stay true Baby, you're my only. I love to hate you." "I will brush the hair from your face Hold you in a warm embrace I promise I will always stay true Baby, you're my only. I love...." "I will brush the hair from your face Hold you in a warm embrace I promise I will always stay true Baby, you're not my only. I love you." Yet again, all just minimal changes intending to put questions into the listener's mind, to take it away from cliché. All scratching the surface. What do you think?