Comments on: Don’t Let The Listener Get Ahead Of Your Song https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/ Songwriter, Producer, and Coach, based in New York City. Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:23:46 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 By: Tony Conniff https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7476 Tue, 06 Nov 2018 23:23:46 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7476 In reply to Todd.

Awesome, Todd!!
Tony

]]> By: Todd https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7475 Mon, 29 Oct 2018 07:23:50 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7475 ?]]> Your quiet ways thrill
Push me up and over the hill
Your smile makes me smile
And like a child can’t wait until
we rise up in love

trees rustle and sway
windswept at the break of a new day
birds up and fly away
with a song in their heart high high above
I’m gonna rise up to your love

should
ghosts
lay low in the past,
should
questions linger
remain unasked,
inhibitions bind me,
find me
unable to rise above,
unable to rise above,

be soft,
be caring,
for it’s not oft
I welcome the sharing
but I do,
I do,
welcome the sharing …

I want to rise up to your love,
I want to rise up to your love.

****

Hey Tony??
thanks for sharing your song in progress
thinking and process.
I enjoy reading these small,
but impactful, details
as I too reflect upon them
in the crafting.

vibing and reacting off your words
this would be my first run variation. (above)

for me
in my process
i have a word sketch
now I will come back to it
at some point
for a second run
to see if a chord progression or melody
seems to naturally anchor in

and if so
I will roll through the song structure
to ascertain whether it rolls through
too predictably
I am a big fan
of keeping the listener guessing.

post your final lyric
and chord progression

thanks for helping me start a new song ✨?

]]> By: Tony Conniff https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7474 Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:22:21 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7474 In reply to Chris Gansky.

Chris,
Thanks for the comment… but I really can’t agree that wild ways are the only ones that can thrill you! Quiet, depending on the person, can work quite well. And imho the juxtaposition (‘quiet’ as opposed to ‘wild’, against ‘thrill me’) makes for a more interesting lyric (matter of opinion, I know).
Thanks,
TC

]]> By: Tony Conniff https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7473 Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:18:19 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7473 In reply to steve notice.

Steve,
Thanks for reading and commenting. I think you may be underestimating the impact of a lyric in this type of song (broadly speaking), but I appreciate your point.
Best wishes,
Tony

]]> By: Tony Conniff https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7472 Tue, 02 Oct 2018 21:16:24 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7472 In reply to Rob Dimit.

Rob,
That’s great! Steve has written some fantastic songs.
Best wishes,
Tony

]]> By: Chris Gansky https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7471 Mon, 24 Sep 2018 22:11:42 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7471 Sorry, Tony. If I had a better line for “got me in a daze,” I’d use it in one of my songs. But since I’d still like to help, how would “quiet ways” thrill you or make you crazy? Might I suggest “wild ways”? Wild can be pronounced with two syllables (wi-uld) and it adds alliteration.

]]> By: steve notice https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7470 Fri, 21 Sep 2018 15:28:02 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7470 In this type of standard love song it doesn’t matter that much. The lyrics are secondary to the music unless you’re going for something really clever or poignant. If the listener gets involved and drawn into the melody it might even be good to give a lyric they don’t have to think about. Better to use something that fits sonically and doesn’t take the listener’s mind off the music.

]]> By: Rob Dimit https://tonyconniff.com/dont-let-the-listener-get-ahead-of-your-song/#comment-7469 Fri, 21 Sep 2018 14:00:00 +0000 http://tonyconniff.com/?p=3928#comment-7469 In his song “Lost,” Steve Forbert sings:

“Is she poison – man I just can’t tell
I’m in heaven but….”

We’re ready for him to finish the couplet with the obvious “hell.” Instead, we get this:

“I’m in heaven but I don’t feel well.”

That’s smart songwriting, IMHO.

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