I'd like to take this opportunity to announce the subject and genre for April 2013's songs!
Genre: Alt-Country
Subject: Robots
Alt-country is a pretty wide ranging genre to use. Basically, it is any country style music that deviates from mainstream country music. So in other words, GOOD country music. You can incorporate influences from many other genres, rock and roll, bluegrass, even punk rock!
Also, how is that robot playing guitar with his cold metal claws?! The world may never know... Good luck everyone!
In what I considered a pretty awesome month of songs, there was a clear winner that nabbed up a majority of the votes. The winning song was Swamp Grass by Mark Maze, Nate Mahaffey, Graham Mahffey, and Steve Cummings! Great work, guys! The song was truly top notch, I really enjoyed it!
As first time participants, they were unaware of the amazing riches and prizes that awaited them as winners! What a surprise it must have been to win such a wonderful prize!
It's a grabber thing to get the last pickle out of the jar! Wowza! I wish I had won this month!
Also, don't forget about your songs for March! Soon the April song announcement will come out as well.
February has come and gone and with it came some great songs! As you may remember, the style (not genre) was All-Acoustic and the subject was "Craziness is like Heaven" which is part of a Jimi Hendrix quote. I thought the quote was interesting and unique enough to make for an interesting addition to a song. Basically I was just looking for that one line, or some variation of it, to be a lyric in the song.
So here are the songs for the month. Have a listen and don't forget to vote for your favorite below!
Jack Eggleston - Pistolero
My comments: A few days ago I asked Jack how his song was coming along and he said he wasn't happy with it but would still turn it in. I don't know what happened, but I would be thrilled to write a song this good! There is a lot of great stuff going on here both musically and lyrically. I think Jack's songs have only gotten better! So I guess what I am saying is, Jack is a liar.
Danny Imig - It's All Easy Stuff When You're a God
My comments: This is the first song Danny has turned in for the game and I am always excited to have new participants! His song fits the style (all acoustic) but doesn't take the subject into consideration since it was written a few years ago. That's okay though. It's got a great Neal Young feel to it, both with the vocals and the guitars. Great job, Danny! I hope to hear more from you in the future!
Kayce Kelly - Squirrel World
My comments: I knew I would get some good diversity in the songs with the subject, but I never expected to get one so cute. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a squirrel love song. They DO exist! This song is great in it's simplicity and content. Good job, Kayce, you adorable bastard!
Mark Maze and Friends - Swamp Grass
My comments: Mark (mandolin and vocals) teamed up with his friends Graham Mahaffey (banjo), Nate Mahaffey (guitar) and Steve Cummings (guitar) to write this great blue grass song. Did I mention that I loved the diversity this month has brought? This is the first song Mark has turned in and I just love it, right down to the bong rip at the beginning. Bongs are acoustic instruments too, right?
Brian Salapek - Ballad of the Trashcan Man
My comments: I am currently reading The Stand by Stephen King and the Trashcan Man is a character in the book. He is a schizophrenic pyromaniac and I thought he would be great to write about. The lyrics of this song for the most part are taken from one of his chapters of the book. I tried to make a brooding and anxious building in the song that dissolves into a chaos at the end ("...and soon the day will burn"). I am very happy with the result!
Rene Zansman - Craziness is like Heaven
My comments: Like so many of his before, Rene's song this month is straight up pop punk. He said that he had issues with his microphone so it sounds like an early Woody Guthrie recording without the talent and if he tried to sing like Ben Weasel. I don't agree with the lack of talent because I think this is one of Rene's better songs. I am a sucker for pop punk and like this one.
I am probably a couple days late with announcing this but that's okay. I've decided on the song for March!
Style: Cultural Music
Subject: An Epic Journey (after a night of drinking)
Cultural Music? Basically, try to emulate traditional music from a specific culture, or country. There are a lot of possibilities here. I am going to go for Russian/Gypsy sounding music myself.
Thanks to Danny Sleeve, who suggested Indian music, for giving me the idea for the style, and thanks to Kraig Kelly for the idea on the subject!
Also, I hope everyone's acoustic songs are coming together, there are only a few days to turn them in!
Jared Griffin wins the best song for January 2013! Jared wins on a few other levels too. He wins for the raunchiest and funniest song too! Great job Jared!
Look at Jared, or Jyrell, with his new bling bling! What a prize! He sure deserves it!
For those of you who didn't know, Jared's wife, Grey DeLisle, posted about the song writing game on her tumblr account, which added over 50 new likes on Facebook and made a HUGE spike in visitors to the blog. I am excited to have all the new fans. Hopefully a few of you are song writers or musicians.
Last February, the songs were Drugged Fueled Lounge Music on the subject of "The Circle Encompasses the Square." Inspiration was taken from a very interesting letter to the editor from our local newspaper. My wife really enjoyed the letter and the songs that came from it and created this wonderful piece of art! I hope you enjoy!
There is a lot of inspiration taken from both the letter and the songs. Here is a copy of the letter:
Dear editor,
Warren rumbles from the cacophony in the chorus of the cries from its citizens. They rage "where is my representation (accountability)?" Puzzling (opaque) "nobody knows." When you don't know where your money is you don't have any currency (trust) which is about as far as you can throw their house (municipal building).
It is most transparent: The tripartite, the troika, or the power of three. Such outline forms an equilateral triangle. In the Greek: Delta; in English: change. Change was to remake the town to be a friendly face, instead, it's in your face.
In pretense a new city manager came about, who then brought in a new chief of police, the mayor, electorily challenged, prevailed, good change still is in the waiting; or a trend in motion continues until it ends. Unending is the grotesque attitude: the people don't (can't) count. So instead of uniting the community to grow, a division is brought about to stagnate; thus Worn.
Hard economic times finds the private sector deleveraging, not so in the public sector. The city manager took on an assistant, and gave out two tax hikes on residential/commercial real estate. The "chief" has not scaled back on the force, but gets a five percent increase in the budget. The mayor demands, "not to be interrogated," to answer to the people.
Don't insult by, put it in writing. That's been done, and face to face, multiple issues, multiple times, to no avail. When push comes to shove, the "shove" is, put it aside, or where the sun don't shine (on the dark side of the moon). Nope. The holy grail is not found here. Closest thing to holy water is the water closet -toilet water. So, for the "clowns to pack their vause(s) to leave the circus", include the chief of police.
The why of it, not transparent, an overt sign of inward operations: thus arrives a fourth dimension (side): who truly runs Warren? Therefore the triangle takes on the geometry of a square. The way of the why? In geometrical analysis: the square encompasses a circle, the squaring of the circle. These guys not only shoot themselves in the foot, when forming a firing squad the lineage folds into a circle.
Desire is for change. Be careful what one wishes for, you're liable to get your wish. Until the "fourth dimension" is no longer, no matter how much comes in the way of change, it will still be the time-worn town of pocket change.
So, to wish or not to wish?
Not much of a choice,
John L. Erickson
Warren
And here are the two songs from the month:
Joel Forsgren and Jonathon Baxter - When Squares Roam in Circles (Tripping Hazard)
I generally like to keep the Song Writing Game as clean and family friendly as possible. Some of these songs contain crude sexual jokes, which are pertinent to the subject, "Your Mom" jokes. If you find these jokes in bad taste, you probably will not like many of these songs.
With that out of the way, here are the songs for January! As you'll remember, the subject was "Your Mom" jokes and the genre was Electro-Pop.
Esban and Rene Zansman - Things Are Getting Hard
My comments: Esban and Rene worked together this month and made a nice collaboration. I think they really nailed the genre in an interesting way. It's not dance-y at all, which is different than most of the other songs this month. I especially Esban's parts during the chorus. I think these two working together, even when far apart, worked out well!
Jack Eggleston - Tomorrow / Christina, de mi Alma
My comments: After a long hiatus, Jack is back in the song writing game and with a truly great medley of two original songs! It clocks in at a little over seven minutes but the entire thing is worth your listen. It has a great 80's feel, capturing the genre perfectly. The words "your mom" are in the chorus of the first song, but he didn't take it to the level of crass jokes that it could have been.
Jared Griffin - Mom Bush
My comments: Oh my god. What can I say about Jared's song? This is probably the funniest song I have ever heard. It's like a weird radio-pop/hip hop hybrid and the most crude song we have here. Amazing job, Jared. Every time I hear it, I laugh out loud. Seriously.
Kayce and Kraig Kelly - I Popped Your Mom's Top 40
My comments: We have another medley here. Kayce and his brother Kraig took on a whole slew of popular songs from the last decade, all of which contain the exact same chord progression, and turned them into a string of "your mom" jokes. It is definitely one of the funnier songs I have had submitted. I especially like the end with Kayce yelling "Your mom's not pretty enough" randomly and super out of key. It's great.
Brian Salapek - Dear Kayce
My comments: Kayce is the who reason for this month's subject. He has been slinging these jokes for the last ten years, easily, so I decided to write my song about HIS mom. This song is written as a letter to Kayce about me loving his mom and all of her...features.
