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  #1  
Old 07-17-2020, 02:50 PM
3notes 3notes is offline
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Default Curious Question

We are living in tough times. Corona. Riots. Haters. Statues are coming down. Sex abuse in the catholic church, and others I'm sure. And so many other problems in peoples lives. Drug addiction. Depression. On and on.....

Jackson Browne wrote about nukes. No Nukes album. Bob Dylan.... The Times They Are A Changing. Richie Havens.... Freedom. And many, many others.

Who here is writing originals about these tough times all across the globe.?? And here at home, in America.

As I go down my list of 22 originals I find 6 that I named because of the times we were in, at that time. I only play original instrumentals. I sometimes write lyrics but I have only 2 with guitar parts. The names of those 6 tunes are....

Katrina.(2005)
Domestic Violence.(2007)
Otto.(2017)
Shield.(2017)
Deep State.(2019)
Riot.(2020)

Anyone else out there that sometimes takes this approach to your playing/song writing.??
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Last edited by Kerbie; 07-17-2020 at 02:57 PM. Reason: Removed topic.
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  #2  
Old 07-18-2020, 08:25 AM
JBF_AR JBF_AR is offline
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As far as Big time artists---

There are many protest songs showing up on You Tube by some fantastic artists. Molly Tuttle has new music that is not bluegrass/country; Ice-T has some biting rhymes, etc. You just can't hear anything worthwhile on commercial radio. Dylan, Neil Young, Jackson Browne, James Taylor have new music but "the Man" seems to control the airwaves and there are no record stores to go to.
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Old 07-18-2020, 12:51 PM
NormanKliman NormanKliman is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JBF_AR View Post
..."the Man" seems to control the airwaves and there are no record stores to go to.
There you go.
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  #4  
Old 07-18-2020, 03:13 PM
DukeX DukeX is offline
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I don't write social/political/protest songs, but forty years ago (mid 1980's) I wrote a couple:

1. The Nuclear Storm
2. Modern Man
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  #5  
Old 07-18-2020, 03:38 PM
Headless Folkie Headless Folkie is offline
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Both of my last two songs were of that nature;
-Let's Stay Apart Together:A COVID-19 Waltz
-Tulsa, Trump, and Testing

Back when I wrote on a more regular basis, I rarely played in the 'topical' sandbox, but both of these arose from ideas that nagged and poked at me until I wrote them down and recorded them in order to get them out of my system.

Perhaps if I had been busier with other things and the news wasn't so repetitive given the current situation, they would have just faded from my mind on their own.
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  #6  
Old 07-19-2020, 09:43 PM
Rudy4 Rudy4 is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 3notes View Post
We are living in tough times. Corona. Riots. Haters. Statues are coming down. Sex abuse in the catholic church, and others I'm sure. And so many other problems in peoples lives. Drug addiction. Depression. On and on.....

Jackson Browne wrote about nukes. No Nukes album. Bob Dylan.... The Times They Are A Changing. Richie Havens.... Freedom. And many, many others.

Who here is writing originals about these tough times all across the globe.?? And here at home, in America.

As I go down my list of 22 originals I find 6 that I named because of the times we were in, at that time. I only play original instrumentals. I sometimes write lyrics but I have only 2 with guitar parts. The names of those 6 tunes are....

Katrina.(2005)
Domestic Violence.(2007)
Otto.(2017)
Shield.(2017)
Deep State.(2019)
Riot.(2020)

Anyone else out there that sometimes takes this approach to your playing/song writing.??
I'd think most everyone writes that way to a lesser or greater extent.

I think that songs that come from real world situations often kind of write themselves. I also compose tunes, and those usually come from a more personal level, since it's usually an emotion or feeling that frames the tune, rather than the story that develops in a song.

Two of my songs that resulted directly from world events:

Bernie Made Off With The Money"

"The Tale Of Stormy Monday"
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Old 07-20-2020, 10:30 PM
3notes 3notes is offline
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OP here reporting back. Interesting replies and I found this out.... I'm not alone. I like seeing the titles. Thanks everyone.
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Old 07-22-2020, 01:20 PM
mlazare mlazare is offline
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I wrote several songs during these crazy times. Songwriting has replaced social media for me. I don't play these outside of my own home for not wanting to offend anyone.

Impeachment Blues
Angry Man
Welfare Queen
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  #9  
Old 07-23-2020, 05:47 AM
David Rock David Rock is offline
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Interesting...and appropriate question.

I hope I am influenced by what goes on around me, and am inspired to appreciate, record, and share my thoughts. I am an instrumentalist only so what I communicate is all about perspective...

I wrote this on 9/11/01. Ugh. What a day.



Yes these are the times we live in and hope I can accept the things I cannot change. I have Hope!
D

P.S. The Dali Lama said about Covid 19. (sic) "If there can be a cure, there is nothing to worry about. If it cannot be cured, there is nothing to worry about."
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  #10  
Old 07-23-2020, 07:43 AM
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Lkristians Lkristians is offline
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Hi, folks. While we encourage creativity on the AGF, please be mindful that topics like politics, even in song titles, can lead to more flammable posts.
Thanks in advance.
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  #11  
Old 07-23-2020, 08:38 AM
ishtar ishtar is offline
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Kind of a related, but a thread ‘aside’,... I was at a Bill Frisell show in Chicago many years ago, and the US and allies had just invaded Iraq. As he was going to do an encore, Frisell went to the mic on stage and said, “we’d like to do a protest song.”

The band then played Burt Bacharach’s ‘What the World Needs Now Is Love‘.

He played it again the other day -

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  #12  
Old 07-24-2020, 10:55 AM
JonPR JonPR is offline
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I've always loved Bill Frisell, and that's just another reason.
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Old 07-26-2020, 07:25 PM
The Bard Rocks The Bard Rocks is offline
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I have written a few topical songs and my notion of them is that many are what i call "throwaways". After the subject is no longer current, no one much wants to hear them. The best have themes which are enduring.
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Old 07-27-2020, 07:53 AM
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KevWind KevWind is offline
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For me the true test of good songwriting (even if about specific event, or point in time) is being timeless

Dylans "The Times They Are A-Changing" being a good example

It's almost scary and depressing how current and profound Still's "For What It's Worth" Is...................

This is an original I wrote , not a protest per se, more a simple observation about human perspective, with the chorus lyric "Or to justify the means " being unfortunately, still current

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  #15  
Old 07-27-2020, 08:23 AM
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My instrumental, "A Hymn for Change" from April '20 is related to the COVID-19 virus. I think that's the first one I've done which relates to current world affairs.
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