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Have fun! Sure wish there was a jam going on around here.  Too cold to go fishing today so I watched some college basketball earlier and just finished up a song I've been writing.  Overall its been a pretty boring day.

DE

Sorry Zurf, I forgot that you forget .......................

Hmmmm that might be a good hook for a song.

DE

Good job Zurf.  Now if you can use "day glo" ink to print the words so you don't need a flashlight when campfire pickin .....................

I know where you're coming from daddycool.  Hearing songs on the radio seems to ingrain them in my brain, but for some reason just writing and playing them doesn't "stick".  I've got about 50 of my songs recorded on CDs.  If I pop one of them into the CD player in my car and listen to 'em when I'm on my way to an open mic etc, I can usually remember the words to the songs when I get there.  I've also figured out that songs I've written while "under the influence" can't be remembered when sober.  Its the excuse I use for consuming so many adult beverages around a campfire ..........................

DE

Thanks Casper.  Hope your 2011 is a good'un.

DE

Why do I expect to see some new "campfire bomb" segments on the "1000 Ways to Die" TV show?

Per music copyright laws, the moment you put your song in a "fixed" form like on paper or a recording, you have a copyright of your song.  To protect your rights you can register your song with the Library of Congress. I know several amateur songwriters that sign and date their lyrics & chords then seal them in an envelope and mail them to themselves, keeping the unopened letter as "proof" of when the song was written. When I belonged to an NSAI (Nashville Songwriters Association International)group  in Cincinnati, the group did  "critiques" of each other's songs. Keeping a copy of dated attendance sheets with the song names/writers would also provide proof of when your song was written. Not sure how these methods would stand up in court though.  I figure there's not much chance of anyone thinking my songs are good enough to steal, so I don't consider the copyright issue to be a problem.

DE

Checked my 2011 shift calendar and I'm off work July 15-20.  If "She who must be obeyed"  doesn't have plans, I may be heading east with yaks on roof and guitar and camping gear in back of the Subaru.

DE

Just got home from doing three 12.5 hour day shifts (14 hours each day if you include the drive to and from work) so my brain is a little foggy, but I believe your comment about "Desperado" is correct Artless.  The story is about another person but you can tell that it is being told by the singer/songwriter.  After a little thought, "Gospel According to Luke" and "Never Leave Harlan Alive" would fall in the same category.  I think "Sam Stone" would make the cut though (if I remember all the lyrics correctly). Since its the Christmas season, maybe "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer" should be considered too.

Then I began to think about songs that don't specifically use "I" but it is implied that the singer/songwriter is telling the story.  "Jack and Diane" begins and ends with the phrase "little ditty about Jack and Diane" which implies that the singer either wrote or heard the "ditty" and wants to pass it on.  In "Eleanor Rigby", the song implores you to "look at all the lonely people" - is it the singer writer that is asking you to do that?

Then I stretched it further and wondered about songs that use "I" but the lyrics don't seem to be referring to the writer, such as the "The Eagle and the Hawk" by John Denver which starts with "I am the eagle and live in high country" or maybe "I Am the Walrus" by the Beatles.

Anyway, all this thinking is giving me a headache.  I probably won't be able to sleep tonight because of it and will be tired when I begin my 12.5 hour night shifts tomorrow evening after just a 20-hour turn around.  I'll probably get drowsy on the drive to work, doze off and go left of center, hitting another car and killing innocent people.  Then I'll be sent to prison for 20 years for vehicular homicide, get raped by my cell mate "Bubba", catch AIDS and die............... all of this because you started this thread Artless.

You'll be hearing from my estate's lawyer after my funeral ...............................

lol,

DE

Interesting question.  My first reaction was that I haven't written very many.  Then I looked at songs I've recorded on CDs and was surprised that out of 50 songs I've recorded, 16 of them are in the 3rd person or "neutral" (about rivers, sunrises, etc). None, however were from the opposite sex's point of view.

I used to attend a songwriters group.  One of the interesting exercises we would do was read an article in the newspaper and then write about what happened from different points of view.  For instance, there might be a story about a teenage couple being in a car wreck.  Each writer had to write a song from the view of a different person, such as the girl or boys mother or father, the police officer that arrived first on the scene, a witness to the accident, the hairdresser that liked to spread gossip, a fellow student, etc.  It forced you to look at a situation from a different perspective and sometimes resulted in some interesting lyrics.

DE

I don't care how high I go ........as long as I can keep one foot on the ground.

Nice song Bob.  I agree with your sentiments.  Most of the country music fans I work with have stopped listening to the genre because its no longer the country we knew.  I suppose the old time country fans thought that the "outlaws" like Willie and Waylon ruined back in the day too. As Phil said, times change - but that don't mean I have to like it.

DE

Hey Zurf, I talked Bo today and he plans on trying to make it.  I'm guessing Philly Ray will show up too. Sounds like the party is ON! I'm hoping to get Englishman John to make an appearance also.

DE