Hey Folks,
Been going thru the songs (boy, it really takes time, but it is extremely gripping!), and i just thought i'd mention at random some of my observations. Before that, i have to say that i am quite surprised, there are so many good songs here, that i am now reluctantly leaving out some really good lyrics in order to narrow down my list of choices. That's really something, and if i had the time i would have congratulated every one of these people personally. I think that the final five will be no definitive indication of songs that clearly stood out above the rest, because most of them are just good as the other. OKay, that's done, now on to the other comments...

It's a queer thing, but it seems that Everybody Loves February. More than a couple of songs have been written in tribute to this month. Well, i don't seem to remember much about MY Februarys apart from the fact that it is usually the month given us off to prepare for our final exams in March. [Linked Image] Not criticising anyone at all, just saying that i'm blowed if *I* ever write a tribute to February! <G>

I was also tickled to read a song where the writer calls God a 'she'. Not trying to make an issue of this, but i'm tickled all the same, like Obelix (of Asterix comics) i can only tap my head and say "these foreigners are crazy"! <G>. Have you read the Calvin & Hobbes strip where Calvin decides to call himself a "chromosomally advantaged youth" because the word "boy" is "sexist and demeaning"?

Here something to chew over. After going through half of the songs submitted, i can't count the number of times i've thanked God I was born here in India - where the stories of love forsaken, love rejected, families breaking up, thoughts of how hopeless life is, once-upon-a-time-lovers leaving for other loves...such stories are so much more rare.
In all, i think that of the songs submitted, there are more songs written on a depressing note than there are songs of the happier type. Even the songs that try to look beyond the depression seem to be struggling to find that silver lining, vainly claiming to clutch on to a hope that they themselves don't really believe to be in existence. I know, from experience, that dark thoughts make for good poetry, but i have decided that these are not lines i would pick up again. Cheer up, people!! If life can be there the way it is here, why don't you quit complaining and get with the groove?

Next. Most of the lovesongs and songs about 9/11 (as Brian pointed out) and all that were so unimpressive because we've heard those cliches a million times before. Who said you can't write about love without being different? There was one outstanding "different" song that tremendously impressed me, i would have loved to name it except the contest rules don't permit that.

Just a word to the Christian songwriters here. I am a Christian songwriter too (self-proclaimed), but some of the songs here, instead of making me thrilled at finding a kindred spirit, they made me quite ill. When you want to reach an audience, don't give them a message that whacks them on the head, give them something that moves them. If i was one of those "on the outside", i wouldn't want to hear the chant "Jesus is great", i'd want to know what in the world makes you think so. And if you've convinced me, you've moved me.

That's more than enuf for a single post, i guess i'll continue later. But a parting line, taken from jasonfromscumgrief's signature : "Never mistake lack of talent for genius"....

C ya!
Pramod

I used to have an open mind, but my brains just kept falling out...