Author: lowercoast

I think it was the French poet Paul Vallery who said there are no new ideas, only variations of old ones. I wonder if he was thinking of his own poetry when he said that.

It’s hard to imagine The Beatles’ Let it Be being a variation of an old theme, or the intro to The Moody Blues’ Nights in White Satin being music we have heard before, but the same and different in subtle ways from other compositions.

This is difficult to argue against for me as I am often inspired to write lyrics after having listened to a song. I can imagine I am not alone in doing so. In fact, I once got a tip from someone I consider to be a premier songwriter, a person whom I give my highest respect. He said, when writing lyrics, put a melody in your head from a song similar to your idea, and then compose the music different from the melody you used as a model.

A novel idea, one I have used from time to time. Now, of course, I am not the one composing the music, but it works just the same.

When I first started writing songs, they were quirky, original, but lacked rhythm. My songwriting partner, Ed, didn’t notice or care. He would occasionally change something to make it fall into place better, and had the green light to do so. I swear, Ed amazes me how he comes up with melodies.

Then I got to know John Delk. If you don’t know his work, check him out on Sound Cloud (link below).

We occasionally write songs together, and whenever I am stuck I call upon him. He is always a joy to work with, and a real gentleman.

John writes these wonderfully rhythmic lyrics. When listening to one of John’s songs I have great expectation what the next line will be, the next rhyme, and his choruses are always spot on. Just wonderfully melodic.

Give a listen to Broke Down in Tupelo, Coupe deVille and A Gallon at a Time, or any of his songs. I aspire to write lyrics as beautifully rhythmic and melodic as these.

John Delk on Sound Cloud

But if you listen to Monsieur Vallery, all of John’s songs have been done before, kinda sorta.

Nah…no way!!!

I recently had to fill out a questionnaire for an online magazine called Sing Out! They wanted to feature Paul McCartney, but he wasn’t available…so they chose me instead.

(http://singout.org/folkfinds)

One of the questions got me thinking. They wanted to know who influenced me, musically, lyrically. And I had to do it in 500 words. I must be about 50 words or so into this missive, so 500 words on who influenced me….

Hmmmmmmm….

It took me longer to find the right 500 words for who influenced me than it takes a debutante to dress for her coming out party. I would like to think I have been influenced by every person I have gotten to know. Not just famous writers and musicians.

Such a question is tantamount to giving a small boy a dollar and sending him into the Russell Stover store and telling him he can buy any candy he wants.

Why…I fretted over that question considerable!

A couple of times I got concerned that my browser was going time out on me. I ate a ham sandwich with mayo , horseradish, and a thick slice of ripe tomato fresh from my garden, while thinking. Then, drank two glasses of tea and picked the ham out of my teeth with a toothpick…

But… I digress….

So, in the process, I over-engineered my thinking and left out one of my greatest influences.

Ahem…more on that dood later….

Influence. It’s a big word. Three syllables. I could bore you with the Old English Dictionary’s entry on the word, or I could tell you what it means to me.

I like influence. It’s a handy thing to have. You can make a snorting bull clear the path for you with the right influence. Without influence, he can use his considerable influence to remove you from the path.

Too many adult beverages will have you under the influence when driving home from a strip joint.

So, it moves things. Not just physically. But…Mentally. Emotionally. Lyrically. Musically. Well, you get the picture even though I am writing like a house painter wearing boxing gloves.

I try to influence my son all the time. Try to get him to focus on something productive, working toward a future. I try to influence my little dog to not crap on the floor. I try to influence a friend of mine not to put dobro on certain songs. Kalimba, maybe…dobro…no. AND DEFINITLY NOT HIS VIOLIN.

So, influence is one of the most critical elements for our existence. To say who influenced you in 500 words is like asking Hans Brinker’s Dutch boy to plug the leak in the dam with a Milkdud.

But…when you are given homage for some of your work, it is proper to give props to those who influenced you.

And I left out a great influence in my lyric writing and critical thinking. Little Eddie…Ed…XXXXXXX (the dubious 7-letter name on a file I have of his work on my computer desktop)…finally, he also goes by the curious moniker of…edro.

Thanks bro, for inspiring me to be better.

And thanks for telling Kyo to take that damn dobro off the song!!!

Like most in my generation I can trace my love for music back to the Beatles. It was 1964 and we were all anticipating the U.S. debut of the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show.

Watching these shaggy haired Brits perform, we had no idea we were watching popular music change. We just knew we loved what we heard, and of course we all wanted shaggy haircuts and Beatle Boots.

On the playground at school we would twirl around the merry-go-round singing “close your eyes and I’ll kiss you, tomorrow I’ll miss you….” I got some mustard colored stove-pipe pants, a wide belt, and Beatle Boots.  

Gone were the nursery rhymes and the musical stories my parents played on our Hi-Fi record player for us kids. I got my first Beatles album on my birthday — July 6, 1964: Yesterday and Today; it is still my favorite album of all time. It got played til the grooves were gone. Favorite songs – “Yesterday” and “Nowhere Man.” 

I still have the album…it looks like it has been in a cat fight. 

But that is where the Beatles and I parted ways. They went on to fame and fortune, and I went on to…well, you know…. 

But, I never stopped listening to their music. 

It wasn’t until I was more intellectually mature did I realize the impact The Fab Five had on popular music. As an 8-year old in 1964, I didn’t notice the change…the difference in popular music. But it happened that very night. 

If the day the music died was when Buddy Holly’s plane crashed, it changed with the Beatles’ smoother landing on Sullivan’s show. 

On late night TV one night, Bob Costas was interviewing Del Shannon, whose hard-driving song “Runaway” was once the rage, and he asked him about the Beatles. Shannon said he was stage right that night on Sullivan’s show and as soon as he heard them he knew his days were numbered in the business. 

In essence, they became larger than life. Icons. Not just musical icons, but world icons. 

In London during the time of the Beatles, there were a number of successful bands, all enjoying the music scene there. They performed on many of London’s stages, went clubbing, there was a very communal atmosphere – young, talented musicians, making money, or not, but doing what they loved. 

One of those bright-eyed young men was Justin Hayward, the lead singer and guitarist of the Moody Blues, who were making a go of their own coronation as a band to be reckoned with in the mid-60s. They were particularly big in the U.S., where the early FM radio stations favored their moody electronic music and dreamy lyrics. 

They were an extremely viable band at this time, yet Hayward said all the bands looked up to the Beatles. They were the big brothers. Without the Beatles, there would be no “them.” There was no jealousy. Brilliance was recognized. 

So they all tipped their caps. 

Nothing has changed today. All Paul McCartney has to do is ask, and the biggest names in the music business – icons in their own right – says yes, without checking their schedules. Why? 

He’s a Beatle. 

I will never forget Bruce Springsteen giggling like a school girl when being asked by Sir Paul to join him in one of those collaborative benefit gigs. This is THE BOSS…Bruce Freaking Springsteen…and he is acting like the school geek being asked to the prom by the starting quarterback. 

He’s a Beatle…nuff said.