What songwriting topics would you like us to cover? Let us know below! ⬇ ⚡Check out our worldwide community of songwriters. (New Year. No Limits discount) 20% off this month at 👉 songtown.com/platinum-no-limit-january/
On Facebook, a songwriter posted about how his long-term songwriting partner wanted a formal contract between the two of them. He seemed to have the idea that it would mean his songwriting partner would be able to get lifetime royalties for songs he had nothing to do with, and that he also wouldn't be able to work with other people. Several people on the thread seemed to be confused about it, even though I pointed out that a contract could pretty much say whatever the parties to it wanted it to say - it could be exclusive or non-exclusive. It could cover just a specific situation, like Lennon -McCartney in the framework of the Beatles. He also didn't fully understand copyright. He had the idea that song ownership wasn't established until you actually got a copyright. This would be a good topic for a video!
This is my favorite new channel. I started getting back into music during the pandemic and got my brothers to do an album I had in my head since about 1990. The album is “Front Row Seats to the End of the World.” It is a semi-funny look at our world in that time. Since then, I have just gotten into writing. Love this.
I get ideas from books and movies, where a single line of dialogue can give me an idea to explore and develop into a song. I had one movie line that I developed into Should Have Worked A Little Harder(And Played A Little Less).
The National’s “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” album title is a reference to the technique of opening a book or magazine and looking for words that inspire. Jeff Tweedy talks about that technique as well. Good stuff.
Glad to of found the channel. With such bad ADD, I like to write in bars as opposed to in silence. Would hear great song titles/ideas but always feel as if I’m cannibalizing the bars.
This is for Marty! Recently, you talked about a song title Without You My Kidneys Wouldn't Function. I wrote some lyrics around it for you: Without You, My Kidneys Wouln't Function V1: Without you, my kidneys wouldn't function. My critical systems would all fail. I wouldn't want to live without the sweetness that you give. Without you, I would prob'ly be in jail Chorus: Baby you're the reason for the life that I live. And if you're not here I don't have a damn to give Without you, there's no reason for me to go on, because without you my kidneys wouldn't function. V2: They could take my eyes I wouldn't wanna see what the world was like without you here with me Take my legs and feet Cut me down to size I wouldn't wanna take a step without you by my side. (Repeat The Chorus)
Rick Roberts of Firefall used to keep a notebook with two columns Column A would have a word and column B would have a word that rhymed with it. When he thought he had enough words that rhymed, he'd build sentences around them. Then he'd work on fitting them into melodies, He'd come up with stuff like Didn't I hear you cry this morning/Didn't I feel you weep/Teardrops falling down on me/like rivers in my sleep.
Great suggestions! There’s so many ways to get creative when you start to think about it. I’ve also looked back and taken phrases from my old song lyrics. I found some great titles and inspiration . Great video. 👍
So I just furnished my first song after listening to this channel and Clay's book on mastering melody. Totally worth the effort. I can feel the power of all the elements working together. I did notice one thing. I don't like the modern technique of adding too many variations and hooks in where it's almost impossible to distinguish a chorus and a verse from the prechorus and postchorus. I was using Cherub Rock and Beautiful Day as models for arrangement. I think i did better using Song Towns ideas.
Marty, I would love to hear your thoughts on how country music can be evolved to sound less formulaic, or how Christian music could evolve to appeal musically to a larger audience
Hmmm. I know what you mean about formulas, but I think there are a lot of great songs that break rules and provide something fresh. I try to avoid sounding formulaic by using fresh titles and fresh angles. I think Christian music is often too deep into "preaching to the choir". I believe those topics could be received more readily by a broader audience if they were more conversational and not as "churchy" in their language. I also think it would help to write Christian songs for the common man, not for those already going to church.
It's an interesting question as to how to make a genre that's labeled Christian Music expand it's appeal. If you expand it's appeal, by default you're almost going have to remove the religious aspect or at the very least, soften it to a degree. Take Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum. It leaves a lot to the imagination, like Jaws does for moviegoers. Listeners can put a broad interpretation of what he's saying!@@martydodson3774
Hi Clay and Marty - Love these videos!! I’ve been binge watching. 😄 I’ve been seeing a lot about writing hit Country songs, but our genre is more Americana with a Country flavor. Everything you’re talking about is good no matter what genre you’re writing in, I just wondered if you had anything to share about Americana or Americana writers that have been successful or tips on what they are looking for. Chris Stapleton, for example, was all in on Americana before making it big. Thanks so much guys.
Thanks for watching! Chris and I wrote for years at the same publishing company. He wrote a lot of main stream country hits before his artist career took off. I for one just love great songwriting. I’ve covered a lot of genres over my career from rock to R&B to bluegrass to pop. So anything I talk about tends to cover across the board. Not just country :)
Thanks for the fun, helpful ideas. Great to see the new hat too; might be a song idea there. I like to see what word options my iphone comes up with when I start typing a phrase in; that's not using Ai is it? The first 4 words are mine, then the phone offered the rest: "The hat makes the whole world smile".
Rob Thomas from MatchboxTwenty did a title collage song about the 80s. It's called Timeless, from his Clip Tooth Smile album. It has many titles from famous 80s (pop)songs woven into the lyrics.
Having something to say is a great "trick" for lyric writing. The timing is the real trick: if you start writing immediately what you produce may be too vague, because you haven't really thought out all the angles. On the other hand, if you let it stew too long you may lose all inspiration. (I have a list of titles for song ideas that seemed to have a lot of potential at the time, but I left them for later, and now they're just words.)
Wow, I literally just did this over the Christmas break. Wrote about a girl in a photo at a thrift store .. "Picture of Myself" , posted in lyric only forum... so crazy that was one of your tips. Thanks for these great videos! happy new year ST!
Hay There! You know Classical is a period. But most people categorize all those periods together for music that last through the ages such as Baroque, Romantic, Impressionism and contemporary. But Classical like you say; Mozart is great to listen to such as his larger orchestral works but I also like Rachmaninoff.
Journey's "Raised on Radio" uses multiple song titles in the lyrics. So much so that it seems they weren't allowed to print the lyrics on the album (CD) sleeve because of potential copyright challenges...? Don't know, but the lyrics were conspicuously absent.
Interesting. A song title cannot be copyrighted so I’m not sure why there would be a legal reason for using titles. Many songs have done without copyright cases brought against them. I’ll try to find out more about that. Write on! CM
OK, guys. I just subscribed a few days ago, and I love the information that I get from your podcast. I just want to give you a different slant on AI songs. Long story short is that I had never tried to write a song, but I did make up a few while patrolling in Viet Nam (stop). Decades pass, and when I got on Facebook, I would occasionally post a poem that I had written, mostly religious, and traditional/historic "cowboy" poems. Not too long ago, someone commented that one of my poems would make a great song. Consequently, my daughter-in-law found a friend who wrote music. She put us together, and I was amazed. Not long after, I heard of AI productions, and using my poems as lyrics, I was able to utilize the generated singers and instrumentals to bring my poems (song lyrics) to life. The point I'm trying to make is that there are people out here who might have talent for lyric writing, but not singing or melody making. For them, AI offers a channel for their lyrical creativity. BELIEVE ME, I don't think that AI will ever take over the world, or the music industry, but it's just another tool. Who knows someone like me (probably better) might team up with you some day. Have a great week!
Great points. Many of our SongTown members are lyricists and they co-write all the time with melody writers in the community. Check it out sometime! CM
Just wanted to drop a note about an AI song our friend wrote. She’s a good writer already, but she used AI on one song. We were super impressed because this traditional writer had “written” a melody that was up to the minute, current. When she told us that it was AI, she said, “Now I just have to learn how to play like that “. My biggest concern for her is that if she was asked to write something similar in a writing session, she wouldn’t be able to.
A lot of writers are buying into a narrative that AI is better. It’s not, it’s soulless and predictable. Writers can use it as a tool in some situations but the human voice is far too important to hand over to AI :) Write on! CM
Why not combine the simple idea of You're the one I want to wake up to with You're my blue sky baby? Best of both worlds, because now you're setting up what blue sky baby means.
A fun way to come up with melodies is to take a random non-musical sentence and try to sing it over and over. And then of course you change the words later.
Hank Williams Sr. had a stack of romantic comic books. Merle Kilgore asked him Hank what you doing with these sissy books? Hank answered Boy where the hell you think I get my song ideas from?
Oh come on, you can't tease that penny whistle playing video and not follow through on it!!!! I remember when Just a Swingin' came out - and I thought "this is the dumbest song I've ever heard and I like it" ;-)
Loving your videos! I’m a songwriter/guitarist trying to get my songs heard. My style has been compared to Tom Petty, Lou Reed and Mark Knopfler. Here’s a link to some of my demo songs. ruclips.net/p/PLuxXSol10UsezJQB9RU8TetamDU457VV-&si=NpprU-OqKAMDiQGG
I found these quite helpful, and I hope they keep coming out with them. I'm fairly new to the channel but I've watched a few of the videos now, especially these types, and I haven't seen that this video is redundant with previous ones or retreading already trodden ground. Just my $0.02.
@@ThisGuyDude the “10 tips” thing has been proven to be a very effective RUclips strategy to get clicks and views. I just hate being played like that 😂
![Felix "Unfair" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Oswujxm2Ag0/mqdefault.jpg)
What songwriting topics would you like us to cover? Let us know below! ⬇
⚡Check out our worldwide community of songwriters. (New Year. No Limits discount) 20% off this month at
👉 songtown.com/platinum-no-limit-january/
On Facebook, a songwriter posted about how his long-term songwriting partner wanted a formal contract between the two of them. He seemed to have the idea that it would mean his songwriting partner would be able to get lifetime royalties for songs he had nothing to do with, and that he also wouldn't be able to work with other people. Several people on the thread seemed to be confused about it, even though I pointed out that a contract could pretty much say whatever the parties to it wanted it to say - it could be exclusive or non-exclusive. It could cover just a specific situation, like Lennon -McCartney in the framework of the Beatles.
He also didn't fully understand copyright. He had the idea that song ownership wasn't established until you actually got a copyright. This would be a good topic for a video!
You guys are filling a great void. No one ever talks about this stuff.
Glad to help! Keep those creative juices flowing! CM
Thank you!
This is my favorite new channel. I started getting back into music during the pandemic and got my brothers to do an album I had in my head since about 1990. The album is “Front Row Seats to the End of the World.” It is a semi-funny look at our world in that time. Since then, I have just gotten into writing. Love this.
Thanks for letting us know. I like that album title! CM
That's awesome! Thanks for the kind words!
My favorite channel on RUclips.
Started writing a new album thanks to you guys
Love it! Write on! CM
Awesome!!
I get ideas from books and movies, where a single line of dialogue can give me an idea to explore and develop into a song. I had one movie line that I developed into Should Have Worked A Little Harder(And Played A Little Less).
Movie inspiration has worked out well for me as well! CM
The National’s “First Two Pages of Frankenstein” album title is a reference to the technique of opening a book or magazine and looking for words that inspire. Jeff Tweedy talks about that technique as well. Good stuff.
Very cool! CM
John Anderson is absolutely awesome. On my top 5 list. I didn't know that about that song though. Funny..😊
Thank you guys! I feel more creative every time I watch an episode.
Write on! CM
Glad to of found the channel. With such bad ADD, I like to write in bars as opposed to in silence. Would hear great song titles/ideas but always feel as if I’m cannibalizing the bars.
Whatever works! Thx for watching & Write on! CM
Napkins can be a blessing when it becomes the canvas for a great song
This is for Marty! Recently, you talked about a song title Without You My Kidneys Wouldn't Function. I wrote some lyrics around it for you:
Without You, My Kidneys Wouln't Function
V1:
Without you, my kidneys
wouldn't function.
My critical systems
would all fail.
I wouldn't want to live
without the sweetness
that you give.
Without you, I would
prob'ly be in jail
Chorus:
Baby you're the reason
for the life that I live.
And if you're not here
I don't have a damn to give
Without you, there's
no reason for me
to go on, because
without you
my kidneys
wouldn't function.
V2:
They could take my eyes
I wouldn't wanna see
what the world was like
without you here with me
Take my legs and feet
Cut me down to size
I wouldn't wanna take
a step without you by
my side.
(Repeat The Chorus)
That sounds like a hit!
@@martydodson3774 Want to co-write it with me? 😁
Rick Roberts of Firefall used to keep a notebook with two columns Column A would have a word and column B would have a word that rhymed with it. When he thought he had enough words that rhymed, he'd build sentences around them. Then he'd work on fitting them into melodies, He'd come up with stuff like Didn't I hear you cry this morning/Didn't I feel you weep/Teardrops falling down on me/like rivers in my sleep.
That's another cool trick. Thanks for sharing! CM
I'm going to try that!
Just found you guys! Super fun and helpful. Sharing this with my NSAI group in St Pete Fl.
Awesome! Welcome! CM
Love you guys!
Great suggestions! There’s so many ways to get creative when you start to think about it. I’ve also looked back and taken phrases from my old song lyrics. I found some great titles and inspiration . Great video. 👍
The 'Mozart effect' lasts about 12 minutes so I take advantage of this often.....really opens up something I can't explain. ❤
I didn't know about the 12 mins... Better Write fast! 😂
So I just furnished my first song after listening to this channel and Clay's book on mastering melody. Totally worth the effort. I can feel the power of all the elements working together. I did notice one thing. I don't like the modern technique of adding too many variations and hooks in where it's almost impossible to distinguish a chorus and a verse from the prechorus and postchorus. I was using Cherub Rock and Beautiful Day as models for arrangement. I think i did better using Song Towns ideas.
Love hearing that! Write on! CM
Thanks guys ❤
Great ideas!
Marty, I would love to hear your thoughts on how country music can be evolved to sound less formulaic, or how Christian music could evolve to appeal musically to a larger audience
Hmmm. I know what you mean about formulas, but I think there are a lot of great songs that break rules and provide something fresh. I try to avoid sounding formulaic by using fresh titles and fresh angles. I think Christian music is often too deep into "preaching to the choir". I believe those topics could be received more readily by a broader audience if they were more conversational and not as "churchy" in their language. I also think it would help to write Christian songs for the common man, not for those already going to church.
It's an interesting question as to how to make a genre that's labeled Christian Music expand it's appeal. If you expand it's appeal, by default you're almost going have to remove the religious aspect or at the very least, soften it to a degree. Take Spirit In The Sky by Norman Greenbaum. It leaves a lot to the imagination, like Jaws does for moviegoers. Listeners can put a broad interpretation of what he's saying!@@martydodson3774
Happy new years Elvis i mean Clay mills and Marty,,,🎉
😂
Hi Clay and Marty - Love these videos!! I’ve been binge watching. 😄
I’ve been seeing a lot about writing hit Country songs, but our genre is more Americana with a Country flavor. Everything you’re talking about is good no matter what genre you’re writing in, I just wondered if you had anything to share about Americana or Americana writers that have been successful or tips on what they are looking for. Chris Stapleton, for example, was all in on Americana before making it big. Thanks so much guys.
Thanks for watching! Chris and I wrote for years at the same publishing company. He wrote a lot of main stream country hits before his artist career took off. I for one just love great songwriting. I’ve covered a lot of genres over my career from rock to R&B to bluegrass to pop. So anything I talk about tends to cover across the board. Not just country :)
Startin’ my day off right! 😂 great video, thanks!
Glad you enjoyed! Write on! CM
Thanks for the fun, helpful ideas. Great to see the new hat too; might be a song idea there. I like to see what word options my iphone comes up with when I start typing a phrase in; that's not using Ai is it?
The first 4 words are mine, then the phone offered the rest: "The hat makes the whole world smile".
My hat thanks you. Write on! CM
Rob Thomas from MatchboxTwenty did a title collage song about the 80s. It's called Timeless, from his Clip Tooth Smile album. It has many titles from famous 80s (pop)songs woven into the lyrics.
Love it! CM
The TMBG song 'Why must I be sad' uses a lot of Alice Cooper song titles!
Having something to say is a great "trick" for lyric writing. The timing is the real trick: if you start writing immediately what you produce may be too vague, because you haven't really thought out all the angles. On the other hand, if you let it stew too long you may lose all inspiration. (I have a list of titles for song ideas that seemed to have a lot of potential at the time, but I left them for later, and now they're just words.)
Damb pot heads....lol. Seriously, your channel has helped me immensely to not over think during the writing process. Have a happy new year! Thanks.
Hey hey Clay,
Your "Lone Wolf Ballcap" goes well with your Elvis Jacket, lol !
Haha!
Nice tips. The painting/photograph idea is a very good. Remember the Classical composer Mussogorsky: "Pictures at an Exhibition."
Wow, I literally just did this over the Christmas break. Wrote about a girl in a photo at a thrift store .. "Picture of Myself" , posted in lyric only forum... so crazy that was one of your tips. Thanks for these great videos! happy new year ST!
How do I get my songs to you?
Hay There! You know Classical is a period. But most people categorize all those periods together for music that last through the ages such as Baroque, Romantic, Impressionism and contemporary. But Classical like you say; Mozart is great to listen to such as his larger orchestral works but I also like Rachmaninoff.
Journey's "Raised on Radio" uses multiple song titles in the lyrics. So much so that it seems they weren't allowed to print the lyrics on the album (CD) sleeve because of potential copyright challenges...? Don't know, but the lyrics were conspicuously absent.
Interesting. A song title cannot be copyrighted so I’m not sure why there would be a legal reason for using titles. Many songs have done without copyright cases brought against them. I’ll try to find out more about that. Write on! CM
I did the "write the stupidest song you can" and everyone loves it. Now I am sorry. 😢😂😂😂
I know right! 😂 CM
OK, guys. I just subscribed a few days ago, and I love the information that I get from your podcast. I just want to give you a different slant on AI songs. Long story short is that I had never tried to write a song, but I did make up a few while patrolling in Viet Nam (stop). Decades pass, and when I got on Facebook, I would occasionally post a poem that I had written, mostly religious, and traditional/historic "cowboy" poems. Not too long ago, someone commented that one of my poems would make a great song. Consequently, my daughter-in-law found a friend who wrote music. She put us together, and I was amazed. Not long after, I heard of AI productions, and using my poems as lyrics, I was able to utilize the generated singers and instrumentals to bring my poems (song lyrics) to life. The point I'm trying to make is that there are people out here who might have talent for lyric writing, but not singing or melody making. For them, AI offers a channel for their lyrical creativity. BELIEVE ME, I don't think that AI will ever take over the world, or the music industry, but it's just another tool. Who knows someone like me (probably better) might team up with you some day. Have a great week!
Great points. Many of our SongTown members are lyricists and they co-write all the time with melody writers in the community. Check it out sometime! CM
Just wanted to drop a note about an AI song our friend wrote. She’s a good writer already, but she used AI on one song. We were super impressed because this traditional writer had “written” a melody that was up to the minute, current. When she told us that it was AI, she said, “Now I just have to learn how to play like that “.
My biggest concern for her is that if she was asked to write something similar in a writing session, she wouldn’t be able to.
A lot of writers are buying into a narrative that AI is better. It’s not, it’s soulless and predictable. Writers can use it as a tool in some situations but the human voice is far too important to hand over to AI :) Write on! CM
Why not combine the simple idea of You're the one I want to wake up to with You're my blue sky baby? Best of both worlds, because now you're setting up what blue sky baby means.
Guys, it would be cool to see you rewrite AI written songs (lyrics) and of course there are ai generated songs as well. But these are complicated.
A fun way to come up with melodies is to take a random non-musical sentence and try to sing it over and over. And then of course you change the words later.
Write on! CM
Already Gone was written by Robb Strandlund, not Jack Tempchin
Robb and Jack co-wrote it. Jack told me a great story about it the first time we wrote together. -CM
Hank Williams Sr. had a stack of romantic comic books. Merle Kilgore asked him Hank what you doing with these sissy books? Hank answered Boy where the hell you think I get my song ideas from?
Also Remember John Prine: "Dear Abby" (reading a newspaper in Paris)
Prine was a master! CM
Oh come on, you can't tease that penny whistle playing video and not follow through on it!!!!
I remember when Just a Swingin' came out - and I thought "this is the dumbest song I've ever heard and I like it" ;-)
I’d pay money to see that 😂 -Clay
Loving your videos! I’m a songwriter/guitarist trying to get my songs heard. My style has been compared to Tom Petty, Lou Reed and Mark Knopfler. Here’s a link to some of my demo songs.
ruclips.net/p/PLuxXSol10UsezJQB9RU8TetamDU457VV-&si=NpprU-OqKAMDiQGG
"MAGIC" = SOUL > A.I.
Back with the “10 tips” again 😂 Surely you guys are more creative than that?
I found these quite helpful, and I hope they keep coming out with them. I'm fairly new to the channel but I've watched a few of the videos now, especially these types, and I haven't seen that this video is redundant with previous ones or retreading already trodden ground. Just my $0.02.
Thx for watching. Write on! CM
@@ThisGuyDude the “10 tips” thing has been proven to be a very effective RUclips strategy to get clicks and views. I just hate being played like that 😂
Sometimes we go crazy and have 5 or even 7! We don't shoot for any particular number, it's just however many we have that we think would be helpful.