For the Rest of Your Life...

As songwriters, we never know exactly which song will become known as the song that people expect you to play. I've been taking that into consideration during co-writes, being sure to only write songs I wouldn't be ashamed of or get tired of playing every Bluebird Cafe show I play for the rest of my life.

Keep writing,

Ben

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

"Mama Ain't Talkin'" (Eric Paslay/Ben Cooper)

Here's a song I wrote with the extremely talented Eric Paslay (he's singing).

 

MAMA AIN’T TALKIN’                                                                               9-28-10

(COOPER/PASLAY)

MOON THROUGH THE TREES, QUIET AS A MOUSE

TWO WILD DREAMERS RUNNING SOUTH

CAREFUL AS CAN BE NOT TO LEAVE A TRACE

BACK ROAD NOBODY SEES THE GET AWAY

DON’T YOU KNOW OIL AND WATER DON’T MIX

THE BOY’S AS TOUGH AS NAILS BUT NOT HER DADDY’S PICK

HE SAID, NO YOU WON’T, SHE SAID YES, I WILL

SHE JUST FLEW THE COUP IN A COUPE DEVILLE

DADDY’S GONNA TURN THIS LITTLE TOWN UPSIDE DOWN

EVERY INCH AND MILE UNTIL HIS DAUGHTER’S FOUND

HE’S ASKING EVERYBODY, NOBODY HEARD A SOUND

SOMEBODY KNOWS THE TRUTH BUT MAMA AIN’T TALKIN’

FROWN ON HIS FACE, BADGE IN HIS HAND

GLEAM IN HIS EYE ‘CAUSE HE THINKS HE’S THE MAN

TELLS HIS WIFE WHAT TO DO, TELLS HIS DAUGHTER WHAT TO BE

THEY’RE FINALLY MAKING A STAND AND HE CAN’T EVEN SEE

OH, MAMA WAKES UP EVERY MORNING

WITH A BIG SMILE ON HER FACE

SHE KNOWS HER DAUGHTER’S HAPPY

JUST NINETY-TWO MILES AWAY

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Would you or someone you know like to go on a songwriting retreat with industry professionals? Visit SongbirdCamp.com for more details!

Rules, Schmules

There are plenty of rules that can be helpful when writing a song, but only if they are viewed as guidelines. Instead of using the rules as tools to build the skeleton of the song, The strongest lyric will share a lot of these common characteristics.

There is no concrete rule when it comes to songwriting, because you can find a great example that breaks every rule. It’s helpful to understand rules and guidelines as road signs, but it doesn’t mean you have to follow exactly where the map tells you to go. You can take a more scenic route and still end up at the finish line. It's often easiest to take the fastest, most direct route, but the path less traveled should always be a viable option.

A lot of times when I learn something new about songwriting, one of the first emotions that rises to the surface is a sense of lost time...a sort of regret that I may have been doing it "wrong" for so long. But as I mentioned earlier, it's important to view songs more as stepping-stones rather than the other shore (a means to an end rather than the end itself).

“There is no right way to paint...so just paint.” (Nashville's Helen King to her art students)

I would echo that by saying that there's no right way to write songs, so just write.

Keep writing,

Ben

Song - "People Like You" (Ben Cooper/Georgia Middleman)

Here's a song I wrote with Georgia Middleman. We grabbed an entire five day week to write together last fall, and here's one of the songs we came up with. I included this chart on a recent post, so I figured I'd let you hear the song! Please leave any feedback if you'd like.

PEOPLE LIKE YOU                                                                             11-2-10

(COOPER/MIDDLEMAN)

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU MAKE ME FEEL LIKE I CAN DO ANYTHING

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU TELL ME HOW I’M THE APPLE OF YOUR EYE

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU NEVER LEAVE ME HANGING WHEN I’M ON THE EDGE

YOU ALWAYS HAVE MY BACK
WHAT I’M TRYING TO SAY IS THAT

PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE GOOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME

OUT OF ALL OF THE FISHES IN THE DEEP BLUE SEA

I FOUND SOMEBODY WHO MAKES ME AS HAPPY AS CAN BE

YEAH, PEOPLE LIKE YOU ARE GOOD FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU LET ME HIT THE SNOOZE BUTTON A DOZEN TIMES

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU TELL A JOKE AND YOU DON’T EVEN CRACK A SMILE

MAYBE IT’S THE WAY YOU UNDERSTAND I DON’T LIKE MY EGGS RUNNY

NONE OF MY IDIOSYNCRASIES FRIGHTEN YOU

AND THAT SAYS TO ME

WHAT DID I DO

BEFORE THERE WAS YOU

I CAN’T EVEN GO BACK THAT FAR

IF LOVE IS THE SONG

THEN YOU ARE THE DRUM
IN PERFECT SYNC WITH EVERY SINGLE BEAT OF MY HEART

Song = Fire

I love staring at a flame, especially when camping. It's mysterious. It seems like you should be able to capture it somehow to experience it more thoroughly. But it's always moving and changing and a photo doesn't quite do it justice.

In a wonderful documentary I found on Netflix (Music Instinct: Science and Song), pianist and conductor Daniel Borenboim observes, "Every note is a lifetime for itself."

Music is bittersweet because it is so beautiful yet impossible to capture. It is only experienced through passing time. And doesn't life feel that way sometimes? We can never truly hit the "pause" button and sit in any moment, good or bad.

Sheet music is to a song what a photograph of a flame is to a fire. The experience is passing, fleeting. But as songwriters, sometimes a song comes along that makes time feel like it stops. And for those moments, life feels a little more sweet than bitter.

Keep writing,

Ben

What Not to Do

By Paul Zollo, as seen in American Songwriter

"I don't know how to write songs. But I know what not to do. So I just cut out everything that sucks."

- Lou Reed


The path to writing a great song is undefined. The journey is beautiful, exciting, scary and comforting at the same time.

Be suspicious of anyone who claims there are only six steps to songwriting success.

In Paul Zollo's book, Songwriters on Songwriting, I was fascinated that the actual writing process is described so vaguely by so many writers.  And he interviewed some of the most legendary songwriters of all time.

Keep writing,

Ben

Identify

Songs either connect with the listener or they don't. When two people hear the same song, what makes one skip to the next track, and another drop what they're doing? And what could the songwriter do to affect this situation? Identify.

When I think of the songs that I truly enjoy listening to, I realize that the reason I love them so much is because they identify with me. They speak into my life, my situation, my relationships. They are the lens through which life makes more sense. We all want to go through every day with a soundtrack playing in the background. And we as songwriters have the honor of writing these songs for those around us.

So how do I identify while writing a song? Keep the listener in mind. It's as if the initial time a listener hears the song, they are going on a "first date" with the melody and lyric. If the song only talks about itself without asking the listener any questions, do you think they'd look forward to a second date?

Keep writing,

Ben