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Just wondering?
There are a lot of bad moods on line these days, not just here either. So does it? You've yet to hear my lyrics but suffice to say my stuff will be topical, is yours and if not why not?

Mark, the problem with writing topical lyrics is that over time they become old news. I've written songs about apartheid, the Iraq war and other issues that at the time were relevant. Years later they're just trivial. So I guess to answer the question, make the lyrics non-specific yet applicable if that makes sense.

Chippy any original song I write just reflects where my head was at the time it was written. Ive recently put all the songs I have recorded on a couple of cds to listen to when Im on the road and it cracks me up to listen to some and relive what I was thinking at that time. I decided a long long time ago as far as my own stuff its mainly for me, not worried about anyone liking it or disliking it. In reference to another thread on here, Santos compared an artist with a musician. I guess my originals lean toward my artist side, and my cover band leans toward the musician side.

jimmydanger wrote:Mark, the problem with writing topical lyrics is that over time they become old news. I've written songs about apartheid, the Iraq war and other issues that at the time were relevant. Years later they're just trivial. So I guess to answer the question, make the lyrics non-specific yet applicable if that makes sense.

Something like renting a movie and hearing disco music?

Something like that SG. I suppose that's why 90% of songs are about love, it's a universal subject that never goes out of style. But I still like watching "Saturday Night Fever" every now and then.

When I write lyrics, I tend to write stuff that's really introspective. To me, it has more meaning and it's not dependent on the current time.

Musically, the stuff I write nowadays sounds a lot like current bands. I really like some of the modern rock, like Alter Bridge, 3 Days Grace, Chevelle, Creed, etc. And my stuff reflects that.

I'd love to get some of it recorded someday and post it for you guys to hear...

I don't know about that Jimmy?
There are bunches of songs relevant to a specific time that are classics now. You don't really hear the lyric sometimes though do you, just the beat riff, whatever?
You're a PG fan what about Biko by Gabriel for one?

jimmydanger wrote:Mark, the problem with writing topical lyrics is that over time they become old news. I've written songs about apartheid, the Iraq war and other issues that at the time were relevant. Years later they're just trivial. So I guess to answer the question, make the lyrics non-specific yet applicable if that makes sense.

Chippy wrote:I don't know about that Jimmy?
There are bunches of songs relevant to a specific time that are classics now. You don't really hear the lyric sometimes though do you, just the beat riff, whatever?
You're a PG fan what about Biko by Gabriel for one?

Personally, my solution is to write in metaphors or generalization.
The rule is war never changes, and love is a battlefield. Therefore, any metaphor can be applied to any war, if only truely written about the one at hand. These are common subjects among musicains because they never change.

Mark, I think that's a perfect example; Biko is a classic but is it relevant? Of course it was at the time, but is it now? "The Star Spangled Banner" is a classic but the lyrics are about a battle that would have been forgotten were it not for the tune. When you hear "Ohio" by CSN&Y and the lyrics "Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming" does it sound dated?

Thought you might think that
But what is wrong with it? What I'm doing is getting years of stuff off my chest really, I don't expect anyone will understand what I'm saying in any case LOL!

But to the point. Doesn't Biko remind you of anything, a time, does it make it dated or is it just a thoroughly well written topical song?

jimmydanger wrote:Mark, I think that's a perfect example; Biko is a classic but is it relevant? Of course it was at the time, but is it now? "The Star Spangled Banner" is a classic but the lyrics are about a battle that would have been forgotten were it not for the tune. When you hear "Ohio" by CSN&Y and the lyrics "Tin soldiers and Nixon's coming" does it sound dated?

Kinda off subject, but I always laugh when I listen to the Styx song, "Borrowed Time". I love the tune, but Dennis DeYoung starts out by saying "Don't look now, but here come the 80's!"
It also goes on to talk about his youth-back in 1965. Still, there are some lines in it that are still relevant: "Didn't give a damn about no gasoline..."