Thanks Bill, good to see you.

You came to one of my dinners. The point of that as you saw is to get people together,share ideas and perspective. And you heard the way I try to critique songs from a variety of perspectives outside of just "Is this song written well?"
What you experienced is pretty typical. Songwriters get what I call "Songwriters tunnel vision." That is that THEY get EXACTLY what they are saying, have the mini movie running through their head, and are totally tied into the song. But a person listening to it on a writers night, open mic, in the back ground, on the radio, etc. might not have the same impressions.
Sometimes people do things they don't even see. They change characters in the song or the tense. It goes from Me and Us, to you and them and there is no explination of when the characters changed. They leave out small pieces of information that relate to the song and unless you have a lyric sheet and can go back and look, you miss it. They get into "She said, He Said, I said" implied information, that are confusing to the listener, while the writer knows exactly who is saying what because in some cases, the lived through it.
When I do my "tours" I listen to a Lot of songs. Sometimes up to fifteen to twenty. What I am looking at, and what most publishers look at are patterns in writing. Some writers will write the same songs over and over, without realizing they are doing it. They often write too long, saying the same things in four or five verses, they could say in three and a bridge, get too redundant in musical patterns, etc.
On a reverse note, I myself have had critiques (yes, I pay sometimes too) that someone would point out something I didn't even see, just because I missed it. Has helped me at times in
the studio before I made what could be a very costly mistake.
Sometimes we have melodies that are part of very famous songs or titles that we didn't realize. I think that outright song theft is a myth, but it is easy to cop on a melody without realizing it. So getting an informed opinion on those aspects can sometimes save a LOT of money by spending a little up front.
Look, I am not trying to promote my business, or those of other people on this subject. Critiques are only a small part of what I personally do. But a lot of times people get in forums like these and paint things with a broader brush than need to be. There are less than savory characters in any field of endevor. But insinuating that getting critiques for money is a some shady endevor is simply wrong. It is a tool that some peole find useful and others don't. That should be a personal decision.
But just like the conversations on Song pluggers, i ask that everyone keep some open minds on things and do a little research before they start saying "This is crap or that is crap." There are people who just want to make a fast buck off of people. That is a human trait I sure could do without. But there are some of us, primarily on threads like these, that really have their hearts in the right place and are genuially trying to help. Because some of us get paid for those services does not denigrate our character or intentions.
I'm always around for any of you that need me.

MAB