I frankly LOVE JPF's Lyric Board(s) because ya DON'T have to Declare a Lyric "Fer Fun" vs "Commercial." MOST of What I Write IS "Experimental" these days, if only to Inspire Me to put weary Pen to Paper.

BUT...MANY a Major HIT HAS been "Experimental"...(The Byrds "Turn, Turn, Turn" comes Immediately to-mind.) Wouldn't stand a GHOST of a Chance of Passin' via the Nashville "Experts" here..YET sold well over a Million Copies/would do so Again, Today, IMO.

There's some Very Decent "Cross-Pollination" between "Country" and "Pop" oriented Writers here. I enjoy reading Calvin's VERY Condensed Lyrics..then hopping to some of the (They Shall Remain Nameless) REAL "Hefty-Line-Lengthers" to see if some of Cal's Style's "Rubbed Off"...

Over time...it Has...(We've ALL rubbed off a bit on Each Other's Output, IMO.)

Which, of course, gets us Back to The Good Ol' JPF Motto, eh? :-)>

As for the "Theft" aspect...I hope The JPF Boards remain "Intact" forever. They're, JMO, one of the best "Dated Records" of just WHEN you put out each New Lyric..kind of the Ultimate "Poor Man's Copyright...as long as the Data remains Accessible/Retrievable. (Also HOPE you'd at least Publish the Demise Date should it ever come to that, Brian...I lost over a year's-worth of Lyrics when "Hujo's Nashville Lyric Line" site went belly-up UNexpectedly, around yr 2000.)

No Biggie...I just penned some More..hopefully Even Better Ones. ;-)>
&, Yeah, many of 'em DID actually "Suck"
a bit...BUT..(Huge, MONSTER "But"..) you probably GOTTA write 50-100 "Sucky" Songs BEFORE you'll have Your Brainstem Allign Properly and OUT comes that HIT "Angle" or HIT "Hook" or "HIT Melody"..(Hopefully, ALL three at ONCE?)..

In closing..(it's been a LONG Monday)..I (personally) got a decently Big Kick outta a Critique I gave a "Pro" not too long back on his Song-Posted. Said he'd used a Tired Rhyme or Two..& la die da..& suggested he get a BOOK on Songwriting, Too...to help the poor dude out.

He replied with a Nice Summary of a Decent Career as Producer/Sound Man/Etc over several Decades..etc.

I let it drop, BUT frankly, ANY Nitwit CAN write a "Filler Song" for a CD Project (remember, I WAS just critiquin' his LYRICS?)..& That's What I Saw There...Pro or NO Pro. (& I didn't really CARE that The Melody "sounded like U2"..)

Not even PROs always wanna hear An Honest Opinion on these Boards...

But it's Fun and Well-Deserved to Give EVABODY One who Posts Here...AND hope LOTS of Diamonds can come out of The Rough as "Practice-Makes-Perfect"...

Big Hugs & G'Nighty,
Ol' Stan