JPF Home Page Forums General Messages Songwriter Message Forum Any man brave enough?

Some songs about social problems should be recorded and played, but it takes a brave man to tackle some issues.Is there anyone brave enough to record this song
No man has the right.
http://www.soundclick.com/util/getplayer.m3u?id=3717862&q=lo

are there radio stations that would play it? We know this issue is a problem and it should be tackled but most men shy away from it.Maybe a woman would be brave enough to try it,less chance that a woman would be punched in the mouth in a club, than a man.

I could only hear 10 secends of the song of which was a bit hard to understand. Some social issue songs have made it but for the most part I don't think people want to hear them. I have heard that there were tons of O.J. songs written and pitched but I don't think any of them were recorded. I passed on trying to write one. Maybe in a hundred years.

Social issues have been a part of music since music began. Old folk songs like "Banks of the Ohio", "Little Sadie" etc. were called murder ballads but the main crux was spousial abuse. Newer songs like Garth Brooks' "Thunder Rose" and "Luka" (sic) speak of domestic abuse in a more artistic way. Personally I would rather entertain. I may be wrong but I think if someone played this song in a bar I don't think they would be punched in the mouth but you would see even the drunk abusers saying "Amen brother" because they would not believe that the song was about them. It would be a pathetic sight. Ben

http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandid=400209

http://cdbaby.com/cd/benwillis

You're talking to the man who wrote and recorded "Hillbilly Fag Bar", "Hip-Hop-Ho-Down" and "Music and P----", so no, I would not shy away from it! www.bobcushing.com www.cdbaby.com/cd/bobcushing3 www.myspace.com/bobcushing

Are we assuming that domestic abuse is still a controversial enough matter to get a singer blacklisted?

This reminds me of a little joke Tom Lehrer told. "The folk song of protest. You have to admire people who sing these songs, because it takes a certain amount of courage to stand up in a coffeehouse or a college auditorium and come out in favor of the things that everyone else in the audience is against, like peace and justice and brotherhood and so on...."

I have Bus To Anywhere ans She Had The Gun, and haven't been knocked over with offers to record them but they are out ther doing the best I can do with them, and Bus very nearly made it to top spot in one lyrics competition.
Failed because one judge couldn't figure how it would sing without work.
Might try it as a song next time.
Don't know whyn a man wouldn't want to sing songs of this nature, as it would go well withmost ladies, and they, I am told buy more records than blokes.
Graham

I think any subject is fair game. If it's a human problem, then it can be expressed in music, which is at basis a reflection of the human condition. The trick (my opinion) is to express it in a form people will listen to.

The Artist Formerly Known as Moonless Joe

Seems to me the mainstream fans (at least right now) prefer songs that reassure. Good ol' hard-drinkin', no-BS, my-way-or-the-highway behavior is the post-9/11 ethic. You don't want to tell Bubba he needs changin'.

If you don't care about the mainstream (and it's hard to anymore), then anything is possible.

have to smirk at that, because that was my very response after hearing this song. What does the writer think? Somebody is going to argue with "don't beat women, don't abuse them mentally or physically?"

C'mon, folks... you want to show courage, come up with an angle for a song that takes sides with the wife-beater's point of view and convinces the audience he was justified!

As the old maxim goes: dog bites man, no news... man bites dog, now THAT'S news!

Hi Everett,

Songs speaking to this, and a lot of other issues have been out for years. The most successful ones have been story songs describing abuse. Martina Mac Brides "Let Freedom Ring" and "Broken Wing" are 2 very good examples. We are, mostly, a socially aware society. Songs like this will sell if presented properly. Good luck with this one.

Have a goodun,

John

"Goodbye Earl" was all about domestic abuse... and its payback. It was controversial for different reasons, but very entertaining.

I think blatant messages in lyrics just aren't very entertaining, for the most part. It's as if someone thinks they're telling an interesting fable by starting with "... and the moral of the story is..."

First you have to get the audience to identify with the characters in the story, to empathize with them and recognize them as allegories for themselves or people they know, then to hear the message related to the characters. This has been the pattern for thousands of years - ask Aesop.

If this whole song was boiled down to four lines in the bridge of a song that had us connecting with an abused woman, a lot more people would be touched by the message, in my opinion.

Most of the songs recorded about spousal abuse are sung by women, why is this,is it because women are the ones mostly abused,are women the only ones concerned about this abuse,are women the only ones brave enough to confront men and society and point out this problem?

No, I think it's because the story "tells" better from a woman's point of view.

If the lyric were a song by a man about "That's the last time I raise my hand to you", I think it would have more appeal and more potential to connect with an audience.

Maybe we're talking at cross purposes here. You're asking if there's someone brave enough to record this, but I don't think bravery's the issue. The question is, does the song connect with people and make them think about abuse in a different way, or does it just tell them that it's wrong? I'd say it falls into the second category.