Artist Development Network » lyrics

Milking the Demographics in Country Music

David Harper, A&R — Mon, 04 Jan 2010 22:35:03 +0000

Country music has taken on a new direction over the last decade. I’m sure you’ve noticed. It’s rock. Get the right guitar tones mixed in with hard hittin’ drummers and you’ve got a great start on a modern day “country” song. I’m no traditionalist. I’m all for it. Crank it the $%^& up! I love every bar and measure of new “country music.”

But there’s one thing that absolutely doesn’t work for me within the mix, and that is demographically correct lyrics. You see… astute local songwriters have been figuring a lot of stuff out. In particular, they’ve learned that two important things make music profitable right now. One is the mention of brand names, like Chevrolet, Ford, Coke, Jack Daniels etc. And the other, which chaps my hide, is they now know who they’re singing to. Contemporary Country music lyrics are designed from the first pen stroke to appeal to women under the age of 30… the ones still clinging tightly to the prince and the princess fairytale stuff, bless their hearts.

It’s gotten so bad that I’m actually starting to favor and miss those old cheatin’ and drinkin’ songs. Country Music Radio isn’t speaking to men these days. And more importantly, these new lyrics absolutely don’t work with the rock & roll music beds. If you recall, rock and roll didn’t exactly need demographically correct lyrics to make those guitar tones strike a nerve. Jumpin’ Jack Flash, You Ain’t Nothing But A Hound Dog, Walk This Way, Get Back, Honkey Tonk Woman and the like didn’t need much more than a smokin’ hot band and a whole lot of attitude. Were lyrics a part of the deal? Yeah. But they were usually unisex and they made everybody smile.

I’m personally and professionally insulted listening to songs with contrived and manufactured lyrics. They piss me off. The lyrics I hear on today’s country radio about some man drawing his woman a bubble bath after a hard day in the workforce make me nauseous. Ladies, let’s take a survey! How many of your husbands walk the walk and do the things these well-carved modern day country heroes sing about? Come on… truth or dare!

I say contemporary country songs are basically little more than romance novels rolled into four-minute songs. And candidly… the lyrics represent the everyday US male as well as Playboy Foldouts represent the everyday American woman. Now… I know what you’re thinking ladies. You’re probably thinking… men have had their foldouts, porn, and whatnot for a long time now! Maybe it’s your time? Well, I’ll roll with that. It definitely is your time on American country radio. You’re certainly being played.

I know my fellow songwriters here in Nashville. They’ve got it in them to do much better. And in their defense, it’s not that they’re selling out. They’re just trying to pay the bills. But I’m just hoping we can get past this contrived stuff and on to lyrics that appeal to both men and women.

Only time will tell what will be on the heels of this milking the demographic era in country radio. I still tune in, mostly because I’m a songwriter and I have to know what’s up. But honestly, if I weren’t… I’d be glued to satellite radio looking for the stuff that’s off the grid.

Contact David Harper at:

musicbydavid@gmail.com

Fast Food and Songwriting

David Harper, A&R — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 00:35:38 +0000

I’ve noticed a new trend lately in American fast food restaurants. Value Meals are creeping up everywhere! Maybe it’s the recession. Maybe it’s just time. I guess we got tired of super-sizing and now we’ve moved on to anything under a buck.

God help us.

Lately my life has been so “in the office” that I’ve actually been frequenting drive through windows at fast food joints. It’s a shameful habit, I know. But not wanting to be left out, I decided I’d try a few of these “value” items. It’s a good time to be saving money, right? But are these decoratively wrapped .99-cent gems really a value? The answer to that depends on how much you respect your body. They’re usually pure fat and well below the already low nutritional standards for fast food.

And then I got to thinkin’… junk in, junk out, right? This must apply to the songs we write too. The same laws are all over the universe. We are a product of the lives we lead. Let’s see. What have I been writing about lately? Sure enough… after a careful lyric check, I’ve been writing mostly my moods and my environment to the T. When I’m in love, I write love songs. When I’m stressed, I write songs that sound like it. If I spend too much time thinking about commercial success, my songs sound like that too. I can listen to the song, and like a little snapshot of my history, I can tell you exactly what I was going through based on the lyrics and vibe of my chord progressions.

Food for thought. What do you want to represent in your writing? The truth is, you’d better live it. You can’t write fiction in songs. Well, actually, you can… but they don’t work very well. You have to write about what you really know or you come off lookin’ like a buffoon. Like when 15 year olds sing about relationships beyond puppy love… ew. Listening to one of those give me a “post value meal” kind of nausea. Or when middle class suburban kids sing rap songs. That’s another kind of feeling all together. No, man, you have to sing what you are. You have to write what you know and live. Anything else sounds no more sincere than a Hallmark card, chosen in haste.

I can’t tell you how to live your life or what you should write about. I can only bring it to your attention that your lyrics and musical moods will reflect the love, anger, resentment or compassion you harbor. So dwell on this a little, will ya? Think about your life and where you’re going. And if you can, step outside yourself and survey your life as objectively as possible. Is the life you lead today in line with the life you want to be remembered for 15 years from now? If not, know there will be no escaping your musical history.

Take steps to get your life in order. Often, we get so bogged down with the day-to-day business of living that we fail to realize that we’re probably on a wheel. Our little feet are running like crazy. But where are we going? This economy has, unfortunately, put most of in a place where we don’t’ have a lot of expendable income to busy ourselves beyond work. So why not use some of this broke-but-free time reflecting, and doing some soul searching? Your songs, your relationships and your life will be the better for it.

Contact David Harper at:

musicbydavid@gmail.com