General Music Chat

The introspection is great. But never be ashamed of your lyrics.
Most everything I have written has been edited to some extent by Ray before going into final production with the Band.
My poor singing is not the only reason that "keep the mic away from George" is an inside joke with the Band.

Debbie,

I didnt mean for you to take your song down.

I think from an artistic side you have to keep these things in play, even if they are dark. But, from things in my life recently it came across as depressing, just my 2 cents.

Debbie,

I didnt mean for you to take your song down.

I think from an artistic side you have to keep these things in play, even if they are dark. But, from things in my life recently it came across as depressing, just my 2 cents.

No...I take critiques seriously...the song was far too dark..and negative critiques are always beneficial for a writer...that's how we learn, as writers, to take the advice and critiques that are given to us, and learn from them. The song needed to come down; it wasn't what Ratsass wanted and I'm writing it for him...so..if he wasn't pleased, I'm not pleased.

I will certainly keep the lyrics because, as twisted as it was, I liked how I was able to put that shock factor in there. Not that I liked so much the message it portrayed, but my ability to twist the words like that....and cause a very big emotional response from those who read and heard the song....I did what every writer seeks...to bring out an emotional response...positive or negative...I did that. So...it's bitter/sweet....I accomplished one aspect by writing a song that caused an emotional response....but the response was far too negative...I'm better than that and I can improve the lyrics to suit who I am writing it for.

Keeping in mind, I'm writing only from a title; no emotional connection at all...that is sometimes a very hard thing to do...I call it "writing outside the box".....but I love the challenge of it.

It's all good...If I honestly thought the song was suitable...I wouldn't compromise, but I see that it isn't, so it's in my personal collection.

Some famous painter did scenes from hell - did it influence ppl to go to hell? I dunno, & I really don't care.

Look, art is supposed to imitate life, or to expand upon it & go beyond it. There's good stuff, & there's bad. Nothing wrong with sending a negative message, as long as you can do more than that.

I try to write in as many of human emotions as I can. I've written about love, joy, anguish, pain, depression, glee, hate, everything I can think of. It's ART, ppl! If some numbnuts goes off the deep end, & claims that you're responsible for his thoughts, that's like ol' Charlie Manson doing that "the Beatles made me do it" sh*t. How ridiculous!

A song is just that - a song. It isn't a call to action. It isn't supposed to do anything other than to mirror life's emotions, situations, & experiences. If the idjits out there think you wrote & recorded that thing after you committed suicide, & that the best way to handle things is to follow in your footsteps, it is NOT your responsibility!

It's way past time for artists of every medium to quit feeling responsible for the actions of stupid ppl. Leave that to Darwin, God, & the psychological community. If you're stupid enough to do stupid things, it isn't my frikken fault.

It's strange Phil. How much I totally agree with the "not responsable for stupid people" point. And still hold my opinion that holding up suicide as an condonable act is just wrong.
I could write a song condoning and glorifying rape. It would not make me responsable for rape. It would just make me responsable for an irresponsable song.

I don't think she was "condoning" suicide, rather just telling a story, sans. There was no glorification involved. It was the poor choice of the protagonist, plain & simple, & it ended there, as it should, cuz there's no going back from that. I quite liked it, myself, even if it was a bit of a downer.

Yes sir, as a wiseman once said. Opinions vary.
She writes quite well, no sense in my belaboring the point any further.

Wow, Debbie. We got a lot of opinions on this thread didn't we. To tell the truth, I was just looking at it as you having fun and testing yourself on your ability to write songs for other people based on the title. There's no right or wrong here. Like I said, I'd probably never use this song anyway as it's not my style, even the way I was looking at it as being written. You may be able to run with it and come up with a song that may sell to a country artist, but I don't think they'd go for the abrupt suicide angle. I wasn't looking at you writing the song FOR me as much as just to show that you could. And I've seen from your other songs that you are a good writer. Whatever you write is yours to do with as you want. If it made a million dollars for you, I wouldn't feel entitled to a red cent for just coming up with a title.
As far as writing about suicide, I had a song on here called "Nevermore" a while back. It was about a guy having an acid flashback nightmare. Then the last verse everything was fine...and then it started all over and he couldn't take it. One of the lines was, "My razor is laughing, my wrists are both crying, their tears are a river 'cross my bathroom floor." I wasn't writing that from personal experience, it just came with the song. But when my friends heard it and read the lyrics, they were like, "Jeff, is there something you need to talk about?" I told them, "No, it's all purely fictional."

Wow, Debbie. We got a lot of opinions on this thread didn't we. To tell the truth, I was just looking at it as you having fun and testing yourself on your ability to write songs for other people based on the title. There's no right or wrong here. Like I said, I'd probably never use this song anyway as it's not my style, even the way I was looking at it as being written. You may be able to run with it and come up with a song that may sell to a country artist, but I don't think they'd go for the abrupt suicide angle. I wasn't looking at you writing the song FOR me as much as just to show that you could. And I've seen from your other songs that you are a good writer. Whatever you write is yours to do with as you want. If it made a million dollars for you, I wouldn't feel entitled to a red cent for just coming up with a title.
As far as writing about suicide, I had a song on here called "Nevermore" a while back. It was about a guy having an acid flashback nightmare. Then the last verse everything was fine...and then it started all over and he couldn't take it. One of the lines was, "My razor is laughing, my wrists are both crying, their tears are a river 'cross my bathroom floor." I wasn't writing that from personal experience, it just came with the song. But when my friends heard it and read the lyrics, they were like, "Jeff, is there something you need to talk about?" I told them, "No, it's all purely fictional."

Yes, we did get some good responses to this song...all valid opinions that hold in high respect. But the fact is, I am writing a song based on an idea you had...it's fun for me...I like that challenge and I really don't mind, care, or give a second thought that if you used it, recorded it, and it sold, that I would want anything more than my name on the title as "written by Debbie Strange".....

I'm gonna get philosophical here...cause I'm old, and somewhat wise...and that's just what I do....anyways....I write because I love it...I love words...how they can be manipulated in ways that make people go..."WTF"...the song I posted got that response...it wasn't a positive "wtf" but none the less..an emotional response to words I manipulated. I wouldn't turn down a writing contract...but for all my life, the joy of it has been taking on the challenge of writing songs in a way that nobody else has written them. Taking typical phrases and rewording them that catches the ears of the listener. One of my most favorite lines in a song that I've ever written is "how can you see the light at the end of the tunnel when you're blind"....I've never heard it used before...but when you read that line you know what I'm trying to say.

Damn...I'm rambling...one thing I need to know...WTF is your real name because I feel really bad calling you "ratsass"....LOL

Rat Sass is the band name I came up with and have been using for years, so I really don't mind being called that.
My real name, though, is Jeff Coley.

Rat Sass is the band name I came up with and have been using for years, so I really don't mind being called that.
My real name, though, is Jeff Coley.

Nice to meet you Jeff....

I've written suicidal songs before. It's no big deal to me. Sans doesn't sound like much of a Marilyn Manson fan.. Hahaha.

I think I've said before that I hold music in the same regard as Movies, paintings, and basically any kind of art. Whether it's words, sounds, images or whatever else, it's expression.

Marilyn Manson, Frank Zappa and Ice T are the first people that come to my mind when it comes to this issue as far as famous people who have had to deal with it.

Oddly enough Philbymon has the same stance as MM when it comes to this. And I agree as well. MM was being called a catalyst to the Columbine murders remember? But his stance was that it was the parents who were the main catalyst for not watching the actions of their children properly.