Okay, I guess I’m stuck in the 70’s because I recently listened to a bunch of songs on Billboard’s Top 100 and could not for the life of me understand (other than by guessing) what the #1 Billboard song, “Like A G6” was about. But here’s somebody who knows a little more than I do:
Well, so okay it’s about getting drunk and partying. It’s just that they call it something else now :-).
IJ
Here is a news article copied from Reuters Canada:
“I feel sorry for Lady Gaga — she’s just a plastic doll generated by the music money marketing machine,” Apps states in a release. “This contest gives people a chance to choose which they prefer — plastic or real.”The competition would take place at New York‘s Madison Square Garden or London’s O2 Arena, with each singer performing a series of songs.
Lady Gaga has not responded to the challenge thus far.
Apps has yet to release her debut album, but a clip of the singer performing the track “How Do I Make Right” has earned 1.2 million views on YouTube.
Here is the problem with the challenge. Lady GaGa, in spite of her “plastic” and silly make-up and costumes, is actually a talented artist. I haven’t heard Alisa Apps (and I won’t because that’s exactly what she’s looking for!), but she’s actually put herself in a pretty bad light. You don’t bad mouth in order to make yourself look better. I’m not a huge Lady GaGa fan, but I see her talent and so do many others.
What do you think?
IJ
PS… Ah, perhaps Alisa Apps thought GaGa was lip-synching, when, as it turns out, she wasn’t
The examples of songs I’m going to present in this article simply jump out of the mold, so to speak, and do things that aren’t conventional, but still work. In some cases, they are subtle, in others, not so.
My first example is of a song that breaks out of the song form mold. It’s a song by Sheryl Crow called Soak Up The Sun. Here is a rather standard song form, where “A” is the verse, “B” is the chorus and “C” is the bridge:
A A B A B C B
There are many variations of course, but while Sheryl’s song starts out pretty standard, with an intro, verse, chorus and then another verse, but she changes it around and instead of repeating the chorus, she throws in a bridge first. She goes back to the chorus and then another verse, but throws in the bridge again before the next chorus. So her song form looks something like this:
A A B A C B A C B
Below this article is a player where you can have a listen, it’s a great song worth listening to anyway.
The Beatles were notorious for breaking all kinds of “rules” and still having huge hits. They loved to throw in an odd chord change or time signature change, and their lyrics were often off the beaten track. I’m sure the haze of drugs had something to do with that :-). As an example, here is All You Need Is Love. Have a listen below and just try counting the time signature and you’ll see what I mean.
These are only three examples where breaking out of the mold works very successfully, and I’m sure you can think of some others on your own. If you do, post them here!
And, remember, you don’t have to write like anybody else 🙂