10 Cool Things About ‘Refugee’ by Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers
Refugee (Tom Petty/Mike Campbell) In no particular order: 1) Extremely economical songwriting – The Verse…
The Song & The Songwriter’s Emotional Attachment To It: Two Different Things
Many if not most songs start with the writer having a strong emotional connection to…
‘Maybe I’m The Only One Who Feels This Way…’
‘Maybe I’m the only one who feels this… or thinks like this… or sees it…
Listening (Not Going) To ‘Rehab’
Listening again recently to Amy Winehouse’s really good song ‘Rehab’, I was struck by several…
“Shame isn’t for writers. You have to be shameless.” – Philip Roth
The great Philip Roth was talking about being shameless in the writing, not in one’s…
Get the Throat Clearing Done Before The Song Starts!
One of the most common problems/mistakes I run into – in my own songwriting and…
Song Structure: A Way To Express What Is More – Or Less – Important In Your Song
Good structure in a song takes your attention to where the writer wants it to…
The Songwriting Channel – Tune In
Guess what? The Songwriting Channel is on – it’s playing your shows, it’s ‘friending’ you,…
There’s Always A Good Reason To NOT Write
There’s always a good reason to not write. Some of them: To respond to the…
The Most Common Songwriting Mistakes – Part 1 (Titles)
Titles are important because the way we hear a song is organized around the phrase…
Where Do Songs Come From? How Do You Start A Song?
The beginnings of songs are varied and often mysterious. In this blogpost I’ll go through…
Lyrics: Connecting The Dots – Part 3 (David Byrne)
Continuing to think about the many different ways songwriters connect the dots in their lyrics,…
Lyrics: Connecting The Dots – Part 2 (Frank Ocean)
Super Rich Kids by Frank Ocean has been my favorite for a few months now. …
The ‘Problem’ Is Not Really A Problem
When I’m working on a song, I try to write down everything that comes to…
What A Difference A Note Makes
Recently I was listening to the great film composer Nino Rota’s music from The Godfather…
The ‘List’ Song – Part 1
The ‘List Song” – not quite as ubiquitous as it used it to be, but…
You Don’t Need An ‘Idea’ To Start A Song
I’ve worked with many songwriters who’ve said to me, “I’m not writing because I just…
On Christmas Songs – It’s That Time Of Year
This time of year, it’s amazing to me that everywhere I hear mostly the same…
Lyrics: Connecting The Dots – part 1
With a lyric, you can’t fit everything in. Where would you put it? You’ve usually…
The March of Time… Signatures – and Changing Them
Lately I’ve been exporing the idea of changing the presentation of songs already written. I’ve…
Watch the ‘Ask Tony’ Videos
