April 2005
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 10, No. 4
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, April 3rd 2005
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Hey, looks like Spring has sprung! The good old song “Winter Wonderland” is a
favorite of mine, and didn’t apply in this area this year. I keep thinking I should write a song called “Spring has Sprung”. This could fit with weather anywhere in the country. Maybe it would be interesting to have a contest to se what each of us can do with that song title. Come on, give it a try!
Many of you called to say you saw me on national TV at the Disney sports complex a couple of weeks ago, when the Atlanta Braves played the Pittsburgh Pirates. The producers remembered that I once lived in Atlanta, and thought it would be fun to put me in a wheelchair to cheer on the Braves. I got calls from sports fans (songwriters) telling me they saw the event. It was fun for me, too! I’m not really in a wheelchair, but I guess they thought it would attract more attention. Some of those that called asked if I’m in a wheelchair now. Guess that’s something I should be thinking about, but I’m not looking forward to it!
Let’s hope we have a good turnout for the April meeting. I can’t think of anything other than April Fool’s Day to celebrate, so maybe we’ll have a little better attendance this time. Hope to see you all Sunday. Do bring your latest, or perhaps a song you’ve been putting off bringing in. It will be new to us.
Til’ Sunday, best ever!
Russ Robinson
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A Musical April Fool
By Matt Griffin
If you have a slightly naughty streak in you, as I do, you probably really like April Fool’s Day. I feel almost a duty to spring something on my kids, although they’re wise to most of my tricks now. But think about it: April Fool’s Day could be called Acceptable Lies Day. It’s the only day of the year when you can tell a complete fib and have (most) people be OK with it.
I don’t think I’ve ever heard an April Fool’s song, but it might be fun. In fact, it would have to be fun. Maybe a series of tall tales, all punctuated with “April Fools!” But even if you don’t want to write a song specifically about April Fool’s Day, some of the ideas can work in songs about almost any topic. I’ll call them joke songs.
Joke songs are rarely big hits on pop or other charts, although there have been a few (Weird Al Yankovic has fashioned an entire career out of them). But joke songs can work in novelty or other niche markets. Live performers often seem to have one or two, and use them to break up their act with some humor. As they say, everyone loves to laugh.
Of course, it’s not nearly that simple. Just as many people cannot tell a joke well, many songwriters don’t seem to have a funny bone. If you don’t hear it, don’t worry about it. But if you can convey your own nutty/quirky/subtle/sarcastic/outrageous sense of humor in a song, bring it on!
There are techniques that actually work better in joke songs than in serious ones. A common one is multi-syllable rhymes. They have to be used sparingly in serious-toned songs, because a string of double-syllable rhymes just sounds silly. But if silly is what you’re after… Mixing genres or forms can produce immediate comic effect; for example, a gospel lyric sung to rap, if you could pull it off, just might be hilarious. Or conversely, set gangsta rap words to light gospel music or reggae. I’ve heard happy lyrics sung against sad music and vice versa.
If you’re going for laughs, you can discard the usual songwriting rules and replace them with just one: if it’s funny, keep it in. Surprise your listeners with nonsense words, or with a bridge that sounds ridiculously out-of-place. In a joke song, creativity trumps all other considerations.
Just make ‘em laugh.
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March 2005 Top Two
(1) Rodeo Queen Dan Cook
(2) Linda’s Song Carlos Colon
© 2005 ISG