JPF Home Page Forums General Messages General Message Forum Is Songwriting Dead?

DRS I think you're overlooking some of the facts...
You can't lump "people" into one huge group....anymore than you can generalize about different races, or classes of people.
and songs serve many purposes these days. (as if this was ever really different)

yes there are lots of as you call them "semi"-songs out there with kick-ass productions... and if I'm in a dancing mood...that's what I want too.... give me a rhythm I can roll with and I'm in heaven.
there's also a lot of that music that is mainly used as a background. folks aren't really listening to all the words... (may sing them rotely...automatically..but haven't really paid attention to them)
That's just not the purpose of those songs.

on the other hand if you go into a smaller venue.... and since her name was brought up... lets put Joanne Lurgio up at the mic... the audience is far different. they are most likely paying rapt attention... because she writes songs you can relate to...songs that make you laugh, cry, feel anger, joy...

there are venues like that all across the country...and in them good songwriting is alive and well. (okay...there's a lot of bad writing in some of these places too.) and people are buying it! downloading it! stealing it! all of that....

as others are saying.... it's all subjective...
you can share a melodic line or a piece of poetry and say it's incredible... and I'll say "it's junk! my dog could have written that!" or the opposite.
who is right? we both are and we both aren't
If a song moves you... it's done it's job. if it makes you think , it works.
and yes...we here are quite biased... and tend to notice the good ones more)
there was a clasic song that my community group sang last spring. (Rogers and Hammerstein...I think) and at the end of one of the lines was a clever twist of a rhyme from the previous line. (don't recall it now) most of the group stumbled over it each time trying to learn it. By the second time through... I had it...and was saying to the others "what a great rhyme!" yeah...we notice... and appreciate....
BUT..... we are not the only ones... I think you underestimate the value of a good song these days... (or maybe you've spent too much time talking to those who don't)

or so I think