That's my thought of the day.
Good songs are dangerous.
Actually, it's my thought of yesterday because I was watching acoustic guitar demos on YouTube last night. Most of these videos were between five and ten years old ... so the artists haven't become famous.
Yeah, struggling singer/songwriters ... 'I suppose they were pretty bad, eh?' No. They were pretty good. 'Oh.' Quite a few of them could perform better than me and Lennon and McCartney. 'What about the songs then, boss?' Ah ...
What about the songs? I've said it before, man. 'The songs were terrible, yeah?' No. The songs were pretty good. 'Jesus! What's wrong with the music business, Mikey?!' Nothing, Voice.
Nothing is wrong with the music business.
Harsh but true. Maybe not fair.
I'll say it again ...
GOOD SONGS ARE DANGEROUS - !!!
'But why?!'
They give you a false sense of achievement.
'Oh, I see. Yes.'
Consider this scenario: An unknown singer/songwriter writes a few good songs. He or she thinks ... "Wow! These songs are good enough to be on an album by ..." Well, by whoever. Their favourite artist, you dig?
But you're not going to get a deal like that. 'Some people get lucky, boss.' That's right, Voice. A few artists get lucky for awhile until they lose their deal.
...
So, my advice to anyone "musical" is ... ?
LISTEN - !!!
You need to write great songs, man. / Maybe just one great song, for starters. Spend a year working on it - if you have to. Become obsessed. Force yourself!
David Gray would be lost without his Babylon song. And it's not even a world-beater. It's just a great song.
But, uh ...
'Do you really want people following this advice, Mikey? Be honest.'
Uh. Mixed feelings, Voice
I mean, I don't like competition, do I?
'Most artists won't read this post until you're famous anyway.'
That's a good point!
Well, okay. Whatever makes anyone happy. I don't care.
...
Right. Now I'm going to play a few great songs that aren't world-beaters ...
Babylon. David Gray.
Wild World. Cat Stevens.
Rehab. Amy Winehouse.
Do you get the idea?
'Play a world-beater! Just one.'
Okay. My favourite one.
Angels. Robbie Williams. / 4.27. Not the radio or video edit.
And, no ... I don't think he's "cool" or anything, all right?
'Yeah, yeah.'
Later(s), rocker(s), roller(s), and, uh ... popper(s)!
One more thing: If you want to test how great a song of yours is ... yes, compare it to other great songs, BUT(!) ... don't compare it to the original recordings. I mean, you're probably just using an acoustic guitar, so compare your demo to an acoustic cover on YouTube. Look at this guy playing Angels - ! And think ... If this were an original song of his, would any major record company or music publisher refuse him a deal?
