Finalist in John Lennon Songwriting contest in Folk with "Shadow On My Trail", Runner up in John Lennon Songwriting Contest in Folk with "Money1, Soul 0"

Finalist in International Songwriting Competition in Blues with "Move A Little Faster"

Semi-Finalist in International Songwriting Competition in AAA/Americana with "Behind The Curtain"and "Battleground", and in Blues with "Long Slow Train"

I've decided to include a songwriting page on my site for several reasons. First, I've been doing this for many years, and I genuinely feel I have something to offer folks who are beginning to write songs, and secondly, I want to offer an alternative to that "songwriting machine" technique, that formulaic, cookie-cutter approach which is so popular with record companies today, is ubiquitous on those "office rock" radio stations, and is an enemy of real music. There is a difference between songwriters who get marketed, and marketers who write songs. Don't get me wrong. There are some terrific marketers out there; they write very well-crafted stuff, and make a hell of a lot more money than I do. But I'm not interested. I've listened and listened and listened to all kinds of music for over 40 years now, and I don't get fooled by crap, don't want to hear crap, and I especially don't want to write it. I'd rather be sincere and not have any number 1 hits than write schlock. Of course, If you come up with a song like "Vertigo", you can have both credibility AND success. There has been some terrific credible stuff written through the ages that is very commercial. Jimmy Webb, for example, was commissioned to write another tune for Glen Campbell back in the late sixties. "You have to stick with the 'city' theme", they told Webb."It worked great for Galveston and By The Time I Get To Phoenix". A short time later, he came up with Wichita Lineman. Can't argue with that.

Several years ago, I attended a songwriter's workshop, and the gentlemen speaking advised us that we should not allow more than 13.1 seconds at the beginnings of our songs before the vocals start, because 90% (or something like that) of all songs don't become hits if the vocals begin beyond that. I'm glad Jimmy Page and Robert Plant didn't heed that advice when they wrote "Stairway to Heaven".
Be wary. Success is often confused with quality, as if there cannot be one without the other. Often success comes without any real quality, and quality brings very little success.

What do I mean by quality? Well it's the old school approach. You can't be considered a craftsman until you've come a long way in your trade. It takes a lot of hard work and a lot of acquired knowledge. You need to listen to all kinds of music, and listen to the masters: The Beatles, Frank Sinatra, Robert Johnson, Count Basie, Jimi Hendrix, Ella Fitzgerald, Mozart....You get the idea. Do the research. You can't write good stuff until you know what good stuff is. "Wait", you say."Isn't 'good' subjective? Isn't quality purely in the ear of the beholder?"

I say no. Amateurish stuff sounds, well...amateurish. Log on to garageband.com. You'll hear some brilliant stuff, and a LOT of novice-sounding stuff. One of our biggest flaws as human beings, I believe, is our inability to recognize when we simply aren't cutting it. Think about it.

Which brings me to my most controversial philosophical point: The myth of subjectivity. Quality songs are not subjective. Whether or not you like or dislike a song is subjective, but there is an undeniable quality to a song that has been composed by someone who has extensive creativity, an experienced palette, and a nose for refreshing and poetic lyrics. There just is. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes an experienced ear to recognize that, and not all buy cds.

Placing a value judgement on a song, such as "This elevator music sucks", when speaking of Ravel's "Daphnis et Chloe", simply illustrates either ignorance, stupidity, or both.

"To listen is an effort, and just to hear is no merit. A duck hears also." Igor Stravinski

I believe a song needs to be approached in the same way a painter approaches the canvas. How do I best convey my message? What type of mood do I want to evoke? Is this light and happy, or dark and brooding? Can I recognize the difference between a John Singer Sargent portrait, and the guy at the fair who paints John Wayne on saw blades? Whom do I idolize? Why do I idolize them? I am constantly thinking of songs as visual things. I "see" the great songs I'm listening to. It's almost like watching a movie, for me.
What derails a song from becoming great? Well, lots of things.

Insincerity-the feeling you're being manipulated, perhaps by the industry's idea of the "women over 30" demographic.

Lousy lyrics. Words that are full of cliches, phrased awkwardly, and come across in an amateur fashion. Keep in mind. Good lyrics do not always have to involve deep existential musings. They can be light and happy, like many of Smokey Robinson's songs. I try to do both, depending on what the song calls for. (Soul Inspiration has a fun, "top down in the summertime, driving on Pacific Coast Highway" vibe. "Ghosts" has a dark, brooding, "Getting older sure sucks" vibe).

Trite, uninspired, rehashed, or boring melodies. There is no excuse for boring songs, yet we hear them all the time. What about the uninspired stuff, the "Is this your first song?" syndrome? Real songwriters do clever things, often by a refreshing turn of phrase, or a musical idea that intrigues and keeps you listening. Johnny Cash used very simple structures, but his voice, his subject matter, his timing, and the sincerity and the tremendous stark canvas he painted on, was pure genius. It was the atmosphere. Tell me he wasn't visual. And, of course, the Beatles. If you are unable to hear the incredible depth and command those guys had over the musical landscape, then sell your music gear and curl up with American Idol.

I've come to the conclusion that you need (at least) these three things in order to write great songs.
1) A great shit detector (most important)
2) The ability to come up with meaningful ideas (melodies and/or lyrics)
3) The ability to organize, plan, and use common sense to complete those ideas

HERE WE GO

I don't know how the songwriting process begins for everyone, but for me, it's either a melody that suddenly comes to me, or a line or a phrase that sounds interesting. Sometimes I "get" new songs from other songs. I'll hear a different melody over a chord progression and sing with the other song. Then I rush home, grab my guitar, and plug this melody into a different set of chords. Usually, the listener has no idea what song I originally got my new song from, since by the time I'm done with it, it's morphed into something completely different.
The music always comes first, then the lyrics, but I've often wondered what would happen if I tried the opposite, like the Elton John-Bernie Taupin team. "Hey Elton, here's something called 'Rocket Man'. See what you can do with this one."
The trick is getting the whole package to sound effortless, no manner how many times you hammer away to get the song sounding that way.
(I love watching Olympic figure skating because everything looks so relaxed and easy. Of course, I know most of that stuff is near impossible to pull off, and in my only attempt at ice skating, I ended up with 11 stitches above my left eye.)
The key is building your song on a solid foundation. If your basic idea is mediocre, chances are the finished product will be. When John Fogerty came up with titles like "Born On The Bayou", and "Run Through The Jungle", he must have known he had winners, even if he'd come up with nothing else yet. Now that's a foundation.
Paul McCartney had the melody to "Yesterday" before he had any lyrics, so he sang "Scrambled Eggs" for awhile until he came up with the title.

I come up with song ideas all the time, (though admittedly, no "Yesterday") but I only take a few of these ideas any further because they are not special to me. They're OK, or pretty good. I don't want OK or pretty good. I want Great! When I do come up with something that I feel actually is special, I do a strange thing.

I relax.

"Genius is one per cent inspiration and ninety-nine per cent perspiration." -Thomas Edison

(I'm not saying I'm a genius. I just enjoy quotes.)

I don't push it. If I can't finish it now, or I get stuck, I come back to it, sometimes months, or even years later. Why? Because I "know" I have something, and as long as I work hard enough on the idea, and don't get lazy on the lyrics, the song will work. The inspiration, the part that suddenly appeared, and the part that we can't just will into existence, has given me the opportunity to apply some perspiration to finish the tune..Now, or later.
When I do feel like working on this "special" idea, I start to think about what I call "song symmetry". I want everything to sound balanced. By that, I mean I want the arrangement to build comfortably, have plenty of hooks, and not to linger. So, as I'm working the tune out, I usually sketch something like this:

Seeing Red, Feeling Blue

Intro figure
Verse 2x
Chorus
Verse (drums and bass in)
Chorus (different words)
Bridge
Re-intro figure
Verse 2x (breakdown on second half to just drums and vocals)
Solo (over chorus progr)
Chorus
Re-intro figure
End

Well, within a half hour, I realize that the title is the corniest piece of crap I've every come up with. I don't care how angry I am at the 2004 election, this has to go. (I'll save it for my Music Row collection). Well, the song sounds kind of Irish, or Scottish with the drone feel…almost militaristic, so I decide to take a dramatic turn and make it about a medieval Scottish battle, and I download a bunch of literature off of the internet. Within an hour, I'm now singing the lyric, "By the old Roman Road", in place of "Seeing red, Feeling blue", I'm calling the song "Battleground" and I'm generally feeling better about the whole thing.

I tie the different song elements together in a way that works for me, using the intro figure as a recurring theme and an extra hook. Also, because of the drone feel of the tune, I add a bridge. Bridges (or middle eights) aren't mandatory by any means, unless you're working from one of those "Write a smash in ten minutes or less!" songwriting primers. I use them when I feel the song needs something else..needs to take the listener away for awhile. I write a lot of songs without them.

Next month: Building different arrangements