| re: NJC The art and craft of...Desmond Child | |
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Posted by: |
Rob 10:57 pm UTC 08/05/07 |
| In reply to: | re: NJC The art and craft of...Desmond Child - Bright_Eyes 10:06 pm UTC 08/05/07 |
> Very interesting article, I thank you much for posting > it. > > > Let the lyrics tell the story > > > > Though many writers like to get their tracks or melodies > > down before working on the lyrics, Child feel that the > > lyrics are essential to finding a song's musical center. > > "You get a thought in your mind, and that thought turns > > into words," he explains. "And then you open your mouth > > and you express yourself. And then you sing the words. If > > you just open your mouth to say nothing, it's pretty > > silly. So the logical progression of singing is that it's > > a communication, but it has to communicate something." > > I think this section might have something to do with the > reasons why Child does not achieve Steinman's level > artistically. Some writers, like Steinman, write songs > where the music alone makes a strong impression. I find > that usually not to be the case on a Desmond song. > Interesting stuff indeed. I'm not sure how much it matters whether the lyrics or the music come first. Jim often seems to have a title in his mind before he even starts writing a song and there are many great songwriters who compose lyrics before music - Elton John & Bernie Taupin spring to mind. Saying that, there does seem to be something very clinical about Desmond's approach to songwriting in that article, almost as if he views it as a 'job' rather than a creative process. He strikes me as a bit of a chameleon, writing songs to order with or for other musicians, and adapting his style almost totally to fit them. I think that's a major difference - with Jim's work, the artists tend to have adapt to suit him. | |
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