Looking up this week after getting a reggae endorsement to sound like St Ann instead of St Felicity, I saw the usual little dark mist in the corner behind the left monitor speaker. At times I have absolutely believed this is my best muse, back from a pizza run to the outer star belt. Or maybe just the golden ring around Uranus. Still…it seems to bring inspiration in a dark way: more Keith Richards than Cliff Richard, and I feel the need to write something that involves leather, whips, and a box that sounds like Pavarotti hitting the water from the top dash. I’m looking for my file called Heavy Riffs That AC/DC Lost Under The Driver’s Seat. It would help if the word MURDER appeared on the first line of the lyrics: that always brings out Bowie knives. As Sam Goldwyn said: Start with an exploding volcano and build from there to the climax.
I cannot stress how important the first two lines of the first verse are in any song. If you work your way up a song, in a style I like to call Captain Cliche, you’ve probably lost them before the second guitar hits. Please avoid a first verse that goes like this: ooh I love you yeah it’s true what am I supposed to do baby I know without you all my dreams are in the toilet…blah blah.. .
Is anyone still awake? The only thing that could save that song would be a beat strong enough to lift Lazarus out of the grave and over the horizon. I never thought that the years I spent writing ads for various ad agencies would be worth so much to me now. The rule of thumb in advertising is: by the time you’ve written the headline, you’ve spent 80c of your dollar. You have to hook them. It has to say something different about a subject you’ve heard a million times. Take the never-ending theme of LOVE (aka LURV… lo NASTY… and BUMPING UGLIES) If I taught songwriting, one of the first projects I would set out on would have to be: write a song about LOVE, but make it interesting . make it different. Have the listener say: I’ve never thought of it that way before. Now Paul McCartney, being famous, doesn’t have to work as hard as the rest of us. That’s what he calls it: Another silly love song. With a chorus that says: I love you, I love you, I love you. Ugh, Macca… it’s time to open the window!
Here’s how I do it: My song is called: If you were ice cream… and the first verse is: If you were ice cream, I’d eat you, with a very small spoon… if you were starlight, I’m going to find you. , halfway to the moon… I think it’s a lot more interesting than Paulie’s, but hey, he’s famous, and I just started kicking in the door. For more examples of how I approach early verses and songs in general, please head over to my new site or click the link below.
You need to go to town for some new acoustic guitar strings. I haven’t changed them in a year, and no… there’s no direct link between underwear rotation and guitar strings. Y-one… two… three…
Copyright 2005 Dollar Bill