Song Poems











The full story is here. But, in short: amateur lyrics put to music for money by studio musician hacks.
     Posted By: Paul - Mon May 06, 2013
     Category: Business | Ineptness, Crudity, Talentlessness, Kitsch, and Bad Art | Twentieth Century





Comments
Someone should try putting the old "roses are red" thing to music some time.

Roses are red,
Violet are blue,
Sugar is sweet,
Buy not as sweet as you!
Posted by Expat47 in Athens, Greece on 05/06/13 at 10:30 AM
If you want to hear amateur music ranging from bad to sometimes really good, check a website titled "Song Fight."

The premise used is a song title is proposed, like "Spalding Grey Is Dead" or "My Baby Left Town With My Duck", and the participants have a week to send in their efforts to be voted on. No prizes are given and the results are uneven as to quality.
Posted by KDP on 05/06/13 at 05:00 PM
I have a couple of CDs of song poems, and they're not by hacks. "Little Rug Bug" shows true tenderness towards a newborn baby, and "Beat of the Traps" is energetically done by guys who got in this crappy end of the music business, but sometimes love it. However...

When they get garbage for material, they just treat it like garbage. That disco song that they do in a 1950s lounge singer style? Why wouldn't they, as it's the only disco song ever written that tries to rhyme everything with disco? If you're wondering, yes, the songwriter's second line is "I'm going to buy some Crisco." And there's the song about a guy who I guess is sprayed by a skunk (he's not sure if it was: "If you know what happened, send me a letter"). "I couldn't see 3 days worth a wink/All I could do was feel around and STINK!" Awesome stuff--mainly you laugh, but sometimes, you see some 1960s housewife who just loves her new born baby, or a teenager who loves to pound his drum set.
Posted by Bill the Splut on 05/06/13 at 08:49 PM
Bill--you make a very valid distinction: the musicians had a certain skill level they applied to whatever stuff they got, of varying degrees of looniness.
Posted by Paul on 05/06/13 at 09:01 PM
Aren't all songs a sort of poetry?
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/06/13 at 09:43 PM
True enough, patty. You may find this funny, but spoken poetry usually doesn't do a thing for me. A song, however, can stir my emotions. I've thought about the why for years and haven't come up with an answer.
Posted by KDP on 05/07/13 at 10:20 AM
Penn Gillette talks about having a very large collection of these records
Posted by Kirk Schobert on 05/07/13 at 05:21 PM
I just remembered this: An artist wrote the weirdest poem he could, and submitted it to see the Song Poem company would put anything to music for money.

Yes, they did. Blind Man's Penis.
Posted by Bill the Splut on 05/07/13 at 09:05 PM
Other musicians? nah, I can ruin my songs all by myself. LOL!!
Posted by EvilSpaceLordMang on 05/08/13 at 02:59 AM
KDP, music moves us, and the combination of beautiful music and words, especially if those words touch something near and dear to us, can draw on our emotions even more. I remember the first time I heard the song 'In The Living Years' By Mike and the Mechanics. It is about a man loosing his father, I sobbed like a baby. I still tear up when I hear it. So you are not the only one my friend.
Posted by Patty in Ohio, USA on 05/09/13 at 08:55 PM
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