Honest not Earnest
Butch Ross
http://butchross.comFollow @ihelpmusicians
I was listening to the CD of a songwriter friend of mine. The single was a co-write with well-known, and very good, songwriter. I was a truly great song, a good idea with real emotional weight and universality and well executed. But his vocal take on it was a lesson in over-earnestness: trying to squeeze every affectation of emotion he could get out of it.
I had to turn it off.
He blew it. He didn’t need to sell the song it sold itself.
I’m not pointing a judgmental finger at my friend*; I myself have been very guilty of this too. How easy is it to convince yourself that the song needs to enflame the passions you felt during the event itself, or the way that you felt when you wrote it? Certainly the Myth of Rock-n-Roll tells us that that’s how we’re all supposed to feel. But how many great songwriters really do? And who has that kind of emotional stamina? You’d have to be a basket case.**
The truth is this: nobody cares about what you feel; they only care about what they feel. Like the old journalist’s creed of “show, don’t tell.” If it’s a good song, it’s likely good because it’s honest or true. And if it is, the truth of the song will resonate. Regardless of whether or not the listener can relate to the experience***, and regardless of whether or not the artist pantomimes the emotion like some hideous singing mime. And anyway, some of our greatest writers are notoriously bad presenters.
I guess I should probably define “truth” here, I’m sure Bob Dylan didn’t do all the things he said he did in Tangled Up in Blue, and certainly not in that order. But he did draw from the emotions of real experiences, to create something that resonates. And he sure as hell didn’t oversell it.
An honest song will resonate to people, you don’t have to emote it, if it’s honest that will come through in your delivery. You won’t be able to fake that.
*Yes I am.
**Of course, some of us are, so there’s that.
***For example Kanye West’s “all of the lights” kills me, even though I am neither a father, an African-American, a parolee, nor even a particular fan of Borders.
Though your point is taken, it seems to me this is a very subjective thing. For example, a listener’s affinity for and identification with the subject matter of the lyrics, or tolerance for the words actually used, would be a factor. Some words or stories are just plain irritating for me to hear, but others might love it.
The perceived honesty of the vocalist’s delivery would also affect the listener. Is it a genuine thing, or is it emoted like a paint by numbers? Melody and phrasing alone can be enough to make a person feel the emotion, but it takes years or a born knack for those aspects to be mastered well enough to enrapture an audience. And even the volume, EQ, or compression on a vocal can make a difference in turning someone off.
Since I haven’t heard the song you’re referring to, maybe you could provide well known songs that illustrate your point? For me, a lot of the stuff these days is oversung – as in, Dude, I get it, you’re upset with her (now go write it in your journal). On the other hand, my favorite album of all time is Roger Waters “Amused to Death” and his vocals run the gamut.
That being said, many factors, to include the style or genre of the song, or the mood the listener is in, contributes to whether a listener feels it’s being overdone, or not done enough.
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A Megadeth song that inspired a deranged gunman who opened fire at a Montreal community college has been reworked as a duet and will be the first single off the metal bands new album despite the controversy that surrounds it says front man Dave Mustaine. The song doesnt belong to the killer Mustaine insisted recently in a wide-ranging interview that touched on politics religion and his relationship with longstanding rival Metallica. College killer Kimveer Gill singled out A Tout Le Monde as one of his favourites in hate-filled online posts that immediately preceded the rampage Sept.
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