August 2004
Guild Tidings
The official publication of
The International Songwriters Guild
Volume 9, No. 8
NEXT MEETING - 5:00pm Sunday, August 1st 2004
President's Letter
Dear Members,
Here we are in the second half of the
year. If you’re like me, you are starting
to think about the seasonal holidays
coming up. I look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas. In the back of my mind, I’m secretly thinking about writing songs for those occasions. I have several I’ve written in the past, and I perform them when the time of year and occasion is right.
I love to “rewrite” standard Christmas songs while performing. One is “I’m Dreaming of Thanksgiving” (in place of “White Christmas”). After Thanksgiving is past, I go back to singing about a white Christmas. Audiences seem to love it; it’s like a funful parody.
Wouldn’t it be much better to do an original song rather than a parody? Yes, so write one! I have some of my own, of course, but I’d do something of yours. Seriously, I’d like to have some new material. Hey, let’s all do an album together! Let’s see if we can put some ideas together, and do an album for market.
So get busy and bring something to critique Sunday. We’ve had some real good ones lately, and I always look forward to our critique sessions anyway.
See you Sunday,
Russ Robinson
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Title Guy Says…
By Matt Griffin
I harp a lot on titles at our monthly critique sessions, and I’ve written articles several times on title selection for this friendly newsletter. I talk about it so much that a couple of members have dubbed me “Title Guy”. But the topic is so important, I think it bears repeating again and again (as does the title itself!).
Note that, like all songwriting “rules”, these can be broken. But most of the best songs of the last 50 years followed these simple notions:
Title Guy says: Create an interesting, singable title. The possibilities, of course, are virtually endless. What you want is a title that sings well, is instantly memorable, and generates universal interest. Titles based on the names of people and places (“Billie Jean”, “New York State of Mind”) can work very well. Popular sayings (“That’s Just the Way It Is”, “Who Let the Dogs Out?”) have been fodder for great titles for many years; listen to your kids or someone else’s for the latest catchphrase. There are many, many other ways to create a catchy title. Alliteration (“Sounds of Silence”), rhymes (“Name of the Game”), multiple meanings (“Blue Christmas”), and plays on words (“She Got the Gold Mine and I Got the Shaft”) can produce real “memory glue”.
Title Guy says: Find a good place in your song for the title. The title should be featured prominently in your lyric. If your song is a verse-chorus type, the title must appear in the chorus (with very few exceptions). First or last line (if not both) is generally best, but a strong musical hook in another spot may scream out “put the title here”! For an AABA song, the title/hook is usually placed in the first or last line of each verse.
Title Guy says: Build your song around the title. Oftentimes songwriters, especially inexperienced ones, will write a song stream-of-consciousness-style and then pick out a title from what they’ve written. But think of your favorite songs, the ones that really sing to you. The best songs are built around the title. Most professional songsmiths generally start with a title and build everything (even the music!) from there; you should consider doing the same. OK, you don’t absolutely have to begin with a title, but the final result should sound as if you did. Paul McCartney wrote some very simple, sweet music with the working title “Scrambled Eggs”. A song called “Scrambled Eggs” probably wouldn’t have sold well; fortunately, he changed the title to “Yesterday”.
Title Guy says: Repeat the title often. How often? That depends on the genre, placement of the title, and just plain songwriter’s preference. Some good writers try hard not to overdo it, but still have their title in its place in the same position of the chorus (so, maybe 3 or 4 uses). Then there’s Mr. McCartney, who used “Let It Be” no less than 42 times. In general, I think more is better. Just don’t force one in where it doesn’t sound right. But if it’s a common phrase like “Let It Be” or “And So It Goes”, then rinse and repeat!
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July 2004 Top Three
(1) Trash Day Carlos Colon
(2) Carbondale Elementary Carlos Colon
(3) On a Bridge in May Gar Brandt
© 2004 ISG