Cliche Music

In a video series put on by Barnes & Noble (find it on YouTube here), Paul Simon made a comment that stuck with me. He said that music can be cliche. For some reason, I had only considered words and phrases to be potentially overused. But when he made the comment, I realized that I have certain paths that I default to in my creativity. "In this situation, do that..." and "In that situation, do this."

Basically, it's okay to use a cliche, music or otherwise, as long as it's put in a new light. Using a common chord progression, the lyric must be extraordinary, and vice versa.

Be careful of the chords, melodies and lyrics that could be seen as "overused." Simon believes that when we use overused elements in our art, people tune out. And as a songwriter, that sort of defeats the purpose.

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!

Quote of the Day - Paul Simon

"A songwriter's supreme challenge is being complex and simple at the same time"

- Paul Simon

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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!

"You Learned to Play Guitar on Which Song?"

Never underestimate the power of a song. I've always loved Paul Simon's music, but here is a great gesture from a great songwriter:



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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!

"Still Crazy After All These Years" by Paul Simon

A couple weeks ago I came across this song in my iTunes library. I couldn't help but put it on repeat while I put some clean laundry away. I think the song resonates with me because of the combination of how reminiscent the chord changes feel and the rolling conversational lyric. Without compromising the story, he manages to fill the song with some great rhymes (pay attention to the ways he sets up rhyme for "years" in the song title every time).

At least he's singing in English...



Keep writing,

Ben