Originally Posted by Marc Barnette
Idea guy,

How do large business owners buy out small businesses?

How does the Government take over and close small and large businesses?

How do actors do crappy movies but still command extrodinary money?

How do mediocre football, baseball and basketball players make more money a year than half the people in this country? Only to wash out in the majors after a year and the only time you hear about them is ten years later when the "where are they now" segment features the bridge they live under?

Because the marketplace they are in lets them.

Look at each person and song you named. What songs did they have before? How much money have they brought their respective companies?

I once asked Jim McBridge, "How did you get the rhymes "Way down yonder on the Chattahoochie, it get's hotter than a hoochie coochie?" he said "My Wife said the same thing." We thought it would be changed by the record company. It wasn't.

Always look around your house at the connections you have. How many hit lawyers, producers, artists, managers, record labels, fans, do you have either in your living room, on your phone call list, your computer addresses or in your front yard trying to get to you and your songs? Then check your royalty statement on the performance of the last big hit song you had.

When the answer to the first question is "Too many to count." And the second is "I am driving the results of that" you can say do anything you want, in any way you want to. Up until then, you should be trying to find a way to say it BETTER than those.

MAB


I agree Mark, another aspect is that there are other VERY well-written, interesting parts of these songs that carry them... I think we too often try to look at 'rules' as black and whites. It's easier to do what you do if you know exactly how to do it.... but it really does NO good to just throw examples up of how this or that song broke the rule and that's why it isn't a rule. The great songs are usually great because they follow the rules somewhere around 75-95% of the time. But when they break the 'rules' they are broken for very good reasons, are very interesting and are employed to great effect. AND they wouldn't stand out as glaring examples of 'rule-breaking' if most of the other parts of the song didn't stay within familiar boundaries... It's hard to say this clearly except to say that all of the 'rules' are there for a reason it is best to try to follow them as much as possible but don't merely break them out of laziness, break them because they NEED to be broken in order to accomplish something in your song.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it!

Greg

http://www.soundclick.com/gregswartzentruber
http://www.myspace.com/gregswartzentruber
http://www.youtube.com/user/unshyguy1