Question for song writers

[Caddo]

Hello,
I don't write songs myself. I sometimes think about giving it a try. While I was thinking about it I had some questions

For those of you that write songs. Do you have favorites of the songs you write? Are your favorite songs the favorites of your audiences? Are you sometimes surprised at the audience particularly liking a song you weren't so sure about?

Hopefully these aren't dumb questions.

Cheers
Dennis

[enalnitram]

No they're not dumb questions, not at all. but there is a thread of favorite self-written songs you might be interested in taking a look at.

I'm sure everybody has their favorite children, and that tastes differ.

[Fliss]

For me, yes I have favourites of the songs I write. Ones that I feel work best, in terms of saying what I want to say, ones that I am particularly pleased with the guitar part on, or ones that I particularly enjoy singing. To some extent, my choice is influenced by the audience reactions - if it gets a good response, I generally like it better, but they're not always the same! There is one of mine in particular that I wasn't at all sure about when I wrote it - I thought it might be a bit too simple and predictable. But it gets a really good response from the audience, so I'm keeping it in my repertoire

Fliss

[Ranger1964]

I would say that 2/3 of my songs are my "favorites" in some way. I don't play out so I can only go by reactions in my posts here. Some generate more comments and responses than others.

[Bob1131]

Originally Posted by Caddo

Hello,
I don't write songs myself. I sometimes think about giving it a try. While I was thinking about it I had some questions

For those of you that write songs. Do you have favorites of the songs you write? Are your favorite songs the favorites of your audiences? Are you sometimes surprised at the audience particularly liking a song you weren't so sure about?

Hopefully these aren't dumb questions.

Cheers
Dennis

Yes, I have some self-written and performed favorites, but none of my songs are favorites of my audience.....come to think of it, I don't think I'm a favorite at all with my audience!

[markcrawford]

mine tend to be the ones I have written most recently....I think it is because they are the freshest on my mind. I think you generally know when a song comes together that is what you want to say, how you want to say it, and is recieved the way you want it to be recieved. I will say that I have had some tunes that fell by the wayside and then as I played them years later, they really appealed to me again possibly for different reasons. I am not sure if my mind changed or if I was just taken back to the place I was when I first wrote them. Still, over time, I think the best songs seem to sort of stay with you and continue to be apreciated by live audiences that are listening and.....do not know who you are. I have lots of songs that were unfinished becaue I just knew they were not what I wanted to say or the way I wanted to say it. I give as an example mylatest cd. I had more than 13 songs written...probably jore like 20 or so. But in the end, the 13 that I put on the recording seemed to stay with me through the year in live settings and seemed to not be "missing anything" over time...at least in my opinio. And at some point, you have to put the pencil down. I have friends that will re-write a song for craft sake forever...no one has heard them yet.

Also, the guy who mastered my last project put it this way..a song is a photograph of a place in time..a moment, a thought, etc... it does not have to be perfect..just needs to be what you wanted to take a picture of. If mine meet this chriteria, it's a go.

[noledog]

Originally Posted by Caddo

Hello,
I don't write songs myself. I sometimes think about giving it a try. While I was thinking about it I had some questions

For those of you that write songs. Do you have favorites of the songs you write? Are your favorite songs the favorites of your audiences? Are you sometimes surprised at the audience particularly liking a song you weren't so sure about?

Hopefully these aren't dumb questions.

Cheers
Dennis

Not dumb questions at all Dennis. For me my personal favs without sounding cliche come quickly and if I don't pencil or now record 'em on my laptop right then I usually lose it. I got sticky notes everywhere! I have songs that have been sittin' on my laptop forever that I just can't seem to fully put my arms around yet. Some have lyrics that I am stuck on, others are instrumentals that I just can't resolve. Many are personal especially from the 70's, other current ones are favs that I am currently puttin' out there. What sucks is that I get comfy in bed in that perfect fall asleep spot and BAMM an idea pops in my head and I'm writing or else I lose it. As far as the audience, I have been surprised that they liked ones I thought were real personal being not sure that they get it cuz they are not in my goofy head. One comes to mind back in the eighties I had a single out called "Written Yesterday" I wrote as a solo acoustic tune that turned into a full band song that made it to a local album and got a little airplay and a bunch of requests to my surprise in the clubs. I can't even sing the bridge to it now, too high for my "older" voice now oh well, thank God for capos Anyway, sorry to ramble but I guess its different for everyone. I would encourage you to try, put your heart in your hands and just go with it. Play it for yourself. If you wanna put it out there, play it for a trusted friend or family member first; but not your mom cuz they always say its good! Don't worry about failing, I've written some duds and some that are decent. I'm not a full time musician like I was, but hope to get back to once I get my family in the "coast" mode. There are some really good writers on this forum like Mark Crawford who posted above but I think you'll find many differing answers. Take it all in friend, then take a leap of faith and do it!

[kmgreensman]

I have to agree that my favs are sometimes the ones I have written most recently....but you really never know which ones will touch certain audiences. I had a friend come to see me play in Nashville at a writers night and said, "I know you are going to play....." and I was shocked because I didnt even know he knew it and I had NO idea how to even play it or remembered the lyrics. I had one lady come to me crying after a song I did called "The Truck Song" and said it was HER DAD's story and she missed him... SO, give it a try...Write what you FEEL. I will promise you others have felt the same way and will relate. I don't always play my favorites when I play out. I play the ones that get the most response. I guess those should be my favorites...

Curtis

[Battleman]

Originally Posted by Bob1131

Yes, I have some self-written and performed favorites, but none of my songs are favorites of my audience.....come to think of it, I don't think I'm a favorite at all with my audience!

Bob, im a big fan of your music and there are several others that i am fans of...Wish one of these days we could get together and record a few songs on the acoustics.......Solo

[ferg]

I definitely have favorites. Like others, I do tend to enjoy newer songs just because they are fresh and/or most closely attached what I'm feeling or doing *now*, but I also have a few that I never get tired of.

Sometimes it surprises me which ones the audience seems to like, or songs that I get particular requests for. I have a handful of "funny" songs, which always seem to go over well, but I almost don't want to play them, because I think it might overshadow some of what I consider to be better songwriting with novelty.

I have to say - performing originals can be a challenge. I've been a songwriter since I first picked up the guitar, but back in my band days, we played mostly covers with a few songs I'd written. I found that, for the most part, people didn't really pay attention to the originals, and, instead latched onto the covers, the songs with which they were familiar.

This time around, I decided to do it differently. Now I play 2+ hour gigs of all originals. I've spent a lot of time working on songs and trying to improve my performance. It's been rough sledding even getting gigs, and I find that it's occasionally hard to resist the urge to play some stuff that people can sing along with. However, I'm staying the course. My hope is that at some point, with a few repeat visitors, they'll be singing along with my stuff. For the most part, I'm loving it, and I find, even though the crowds are often small and quiet, what feedback I do get is more rewarding.

[BBWW]

Originally Posted by ferg

I definitely have favorites. Like others, I do tend to enjoy newer songs just because they are fresh and/or most closely attached what I'm feeling or doing *now*,

True that!

I'm lucky to be able to do about 95% original songs. I have favorites and the audience has favorites. A few cross over. I do find I always like my new songs the best. I'd rather do a bad new song that an old good one...this sometimes disappoints an audience.

The passion that you give your songs will show through. So for me it's very important that I connect with a song. If I don't expect no one else too.

I try to write universal not individual and work very hard not to preach. No one wants to hear about my kids learning how to ride a bicycle but we all learned how to ride one. If you can capture THAT then you might have a song that someone whats to hear. That's what I tried to do here. http://www.reverbnation.com/play_now/song_2473969

If I have social commentary I "Need" to do, I will compose a story song that demonstrates what I want to say. Every one likes a good story.

Just write...some could be stinkers some could be gems. Most importantly have fun. If that joy goes into your song, it will come out of your song and that's really what people want, is to share joy or passion.

[ferg]

I would echo what BBWW is saying...just write. Write a lot, and do your best to finish as many songs as you can, even if you know it's not that good. Everything else everyone does requires practice, yet, with writing (and this applies to all forms of writing), there seems to be a "you have it or you don't" mentality and a "it's there or it's not". I don't see it that way. It's a percentages game. If I write 1000 songs and end up with a dozen that I consider good - that's awesome.

As for the new vs old stuff - I don't just enjoy playing the new songs because they're fresh. I also think, as I continue to grow as a songwriter, they get better. Of course, we know this is not always the case (see: Aerosmith's "Pink" vs, say, "Sweet Emotion"). However, there are things in my newer songs that at least I can appreciate that I just didn't have my head around in the earlier ones. Then again, one of my larger crowd favorites is a song I wrote with a buddy of mine in the 11th grade.

[BBWW]

Originally Posted by ferg

I also think, as I continue to grow as a songwriter, they get better. However, there are things in my newer songs that at least I can appreciate that I just didn't have my head around in the earlier ones. .

Ferg has a good point there. Although in my case I often only THINK that.

Overtime we replace angst with craft. We have too. My early stuff was all angst and it worked (sort of). There is a craft to writing and you have to write to develop that craft. Fear is not an option. If I write a love song my wife knows not to ask. It's just a song...not a confession.

[BBWW]

Curt, Bob

Nice tunes by the way.

[BUDSTER]

Originally Posted by BBWW

Ferg has a good point there. Although in my case I often only THINK that.

Overtime we replace angst with craft. We have too. My early stuff was all angst and it worked (sort of). There is a craft to writing and you have to write to develop that craft. Fear is not an option. If I write a love song my wife knows not to ask. It's just a song...not a confession.

Had a listen to your songs on reverb and wow am I impressed with the music you write and the talent that you have !!!

Bud