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It occurred to me that George Harrison wrote at least two songs on the art of songwriting, “This Song” (check out the “humorous” promotional video that one of those soft serves who don’t allow embedded videos from YouTube has posted here) and “It’s Only a Northern Song.” Traffic has that song every songwriter can relate to, “Empty Pages.” Collectively I’m sure we can list a hundred songs on the art of songwriting, but rather than turn this into another Last Man Standing, let’s share what have these songs taught us about songwriting and the songwriter of each song? For instance, Harrison’s songs about songwriting teach us that it’s not brain surgery, that it can be as much a matter of punching the clock than it is inspiration, that there’s no point in overthinking a song…
Van has a whole running series about songwriting and the subtext, or maybe it’s just the text, is that he is very cranky about it. E.g., “I’d Love To Write Another Song,” “Town Called Paradise” (“Copycats ripped off my words /
Copycats ripped off my songs / Copycats ripped off my melody…”, “Why Must I Always Explain,” etc. Of course, the subject could be unicorns and Van would still be cranky about it.
I don’t get the meaning of ‘soft serve’ in this context. Is it a Philly expression or something?
I tend to think “Northern Song” is less about songwriting and more about snubbing his nose at publishing, the idea that one could write a song and yet not own it. I would see this as a predecessor to a song like “Funk Pop A Roll,” or perhaps that Church song on “Gold Afternoon Fix” which begins with the lyric, “Hi to all the people who are selling me, here’s one straight from the factory.” It expresses a dissatisfaction with the music biz, which is probably another topic we could beat to death, I mean, explore.
Then there’s David Garza, whose song, “Say Baby,” advises singers (or songwriters) – soul is a four letter word, so don’t forget to say baby, baby, baby, baby, baby…
A more relevant example would 10CC’s “I bought a flat guitar tutor,” which used to have a vid on uToob but it’s been pulled. But basically, the lyrics are all puns on the chords:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Bought_a_Flat_Guitar_Tutor
“”I Bought a Flat Guitar Tutor” is a song by 10cc appearing on their 1977 album, Deceptive Bends.
The song is quite short and often thought of as a novelty piece amongst fans. The lyrics to the song are all puns for musical terminology. Whenever Eric Stewart or Graham Gouldman sing the name of a note the note is played as part of the music to the song. “
This is followed by a laundry list of the lyrics and the chords that match them.
I generally hate songs about writing songs, because they smack of writer’s block. “Well, I’m sitting here with my guitar, looking at an empty page.” Few exceptions to my dislike of these songs, Leon Russell’s “A song for you” is one of them, esp the Donny Hathaway version.
Sloan’s “G to D,” I believe it’s called, does a bit of what you describe with that 10cc song, cher, but not to those lengths. I forget what that song is about – I think it has more to do with relationships than songwriting.
Good point about the number of these songs that concern staring at empty pages.
BigSteve, I don’t know who coined this derisive “soft serve” phrase, meaning something like “wimpy,” but I picked it up from my favorite radio host, Tom Scharpling of WFMU’s The Best Show on WFMU.
Both Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen:
“It goes like this
The fourth, the fifth
The minor fall, the major lift”
and Shot In the Arm by Wilco:
“We fell in love
In the key of C
We walked along
Down by the sea
You followed me down
The neck to D”
make me think of the more mechanical, theory based aspects of song writing, but that could be because I don’t understand theory that well. If you are on one chord, I suppose there are a lot of choices as to where to go next, but if you want it to sound, say, melodic (or dissonant or whatever), your choices are greatly reduced.
Haven’t we talked about Who By Numbers? That’s a whole record about stardom and writing. “However Much I Booze” has a humdinger of a lyric:
“Now the walls are all clawed and scratched
Like by some soul insane
In the morning I hungoverly detach myself
I take no blame
I just can’t face my failure
I’m nothing but a well fucked sailor
You at home can easily decide what’s right
By glancing very briefly at the songs I write
But it don’t help me that you know
There still ain’t no way out
Won’t somebody help me?
I don’t care what you say, boy
There ain’t no way out”
Is “hungoverly” even a word?
TB
Richard Hell’s Time saying only it can write a song that’s really really real:
And when I want to write a song that says it all at once
Like time sublimely silences the whys
I know that if I try I’m going to take a fall at once
And splatter there between my lies
Tweedy summed up the problems I have coming up with anything interesting in Someone Else’s Song –
I can’t tell you anything you don’t already know.
I keep on trying, I should just let it go.
I keep on singing, you’re eyes they just roll.
It sounds like someone else’s song from along time ago.
You already know the story and the chords are just the same.
You already know I love you, and I sound like whats-his-name.
But you can’t stop me, I want you to know.
I know it sounds like someone else’s song from along time ago.
TB, your mention of “However Much I Booze” brings to mind the much more obvious Townshend songwriting seminar, “Guitar & Pen”. In this one he seems to be encouraging the struggling writer (possibly himself) to stick it out.
At some point in the late 70s, Pete should have written a song about literally gazing at his navel.
It got worse for Towsers in the first half of the 80’s!