#515672 - 03/04/03 01:24 AM
d-d-dated
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Skip_dup1
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sorry for the bad pun on the Aerosmith song...
But what do you do? you write a great song, catchy melody, relavent topic, snappy chorus, or title that captures a moment perfectly-and it sits...and sits...maybe you get to play it live a few times, but by the time you can really do anything constructive with it, it`s...well, dated.
What do you do? rewrite it? play it anyway?
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#515673 - 03/04/03 12:45 PM
Re: d-d-dated
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JLsound
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Loc: Stratford,CT,UNITED STATES
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Good topic!
If you are pleased with the song leave it alone. If it seems dated, wait a few more years than play it again. Chances are it might sound more relevant to you then. Personally, I think that music communicates a particular feeling or emotion at any particular time for a listener, and can not be dated. However, commercially it could be. Still, I believe that if someone likes your song, it won't be dated to him/her. I am always going back and listening to songs or music that right now wouldn't be commercially viable or perhaps dated, but that particular music makes me feel something.
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#515674 - 03/05/03 10:52 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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Fender Bender_dup1
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A great riff is a great riff IMO
My only concern about time passing 'as a writer'
is that some other git comes up with something similar..
For instancce I had the idea to rock up
Cameo's Word Up ..long before Gun recorded
it..then what d'yi know..
Classic Rock is big businees now so does age matter?..As the poem says
....age will not weary them ...
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#515675 - 03/05/03 08:20 PM
Re: d-d-dated
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Skip_dup1
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well, that goes to one of the big problems in not having a big-money machine bankrolling your material. Bruce Springsteen writes a song about 9/11 and blam-it`s on a record somewhere in a few months. So yeah, I`m thinking at least partly in commercial terms. I mean, in the silly psuedo-ethos of marketing, the worst thing is to seem behind the times, unless it`s an updated take on something.
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#515676 - 03/06/03 09:19 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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Fender Bender_dup1
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Anything that comes from the heart will never be
'behind the times'..IMO ..because it comes from a pure source ...yourself.
While anything contrived or derivative will be...
the bands that ripped off Zep in the 70's , Van Halen in the 80's & Nirvana in the 90's ..are
mostly forgotten ..but the original artists
remain in the collective memory
I've heard Springsteens 'Rising' , its got a great pulsing bass and builds nicely...
Havent bought it myself I must add.
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#515678 - 03/07/03 11:02 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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Fender Bender_dup1
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Roots music is where its at
e.g Steve Earle , Black Crowes , blues.
So much derivative stuff going on
e.g
Audioslave = Creed
Drop D? is that the same as drop dead ?
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#515679 - 03/08/03 10:29 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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SolipsismX
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Registered: 02/15/01
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::I try to avoid sounding dated by proding "timelss" recordings: not too much verb, skip the latest fads (e.g. autotune), use real drums, etc. Some examples would be the Beatles, Bruce Springsteen, (maybe) Matchbox 20, Dave Mathews, etc. That way, your tune can stand the test of time. Learned this the hard way of cours--by sounding too dated a few years later ::
I agree with this a little, and disagree with it a little. There are some things in music now that are obviously fads. Orchestral hits in dance music like britney spears is one and the pseudo break beats in hip hop are another.
But I wouldn't recommend just sticking to what works simply because acts like The Beatles were fresh in their day This is because bands sticking to that sonic setup nowadays can seem tired. Most of the respected artists today are trying to do some stuff that sounds new, or explores areas in music that have only been touched on.
If anything, I'd just stick to what sounds good, but not stick to traditional rules. Some new things we hear in music are simply fads, but some newer ideas may stick around because they sound good.
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#515680 - 03/10/03 05:37 PM
Re: d-d-dated
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Patrick Walsh
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Registered: 03/10/03
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People seem to be talking about two different things here:
1) The underlying song
2) The production
It seems to me that a good song is a good song. How many permutations of a basic blues progression have been squeezed through the mold of umpteen million different bands and still come out sounding fresh? Tons.
If the song is good maybe you could freshen it up by exploring different production styles for it, different angles or instrumentation. Fads, fads, fads... fads this and that...  the way I see it, NOT DOING something because every one else is doing it is exactly the same thing as DOING something because of everyone else.
That being said, if all else fails just re-work it into a mid-tempo country pop song about love and it'll sell like hotcakes.
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#515682 - 03/16/03 08:05 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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SongCritic.com
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Registered: 03/16/03
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I mostly agree with "peugotpigeon".
I don't believe a song in itself can be "dated". The production is a different matter.
I really hate it when people simply use the buzzword "dated" to describe a tune. As we all know, most styles and techniques come back full circle at one time or another. I guess you just need to keep tweaking some parts to keep up with the times.
I agree that you want to keep your song as "real" as possible (ex: real drummer, guitar parts, piano, etc.).
I think the songs that get "dated" the most are the looped, appregiated, groovebox driven tunes. If you went back and listened to some of the 80's tunes, would they not be good tunes today, if re-recorded? I think some would still stand up.
IMO.
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#515684 - 03/17/03 02:48 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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Skip_dup1
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SongCritic-
A quote from Dave Mustaine may illustrate the problem with songs, though others have said the same thing: `If you write about topics it`s dated. If you write about emotions it`s timeless.`
Unfortunately, songs themselves can become dated. in fact, what prompted me to start this topic is a song of mine, which I recorded some time ago in a small studio. It`s a good song, it really deserves to be redone in a better environment, but there is, literally, one word in the title that I can`t seem to find a replacement for, that instantly says-screams, actually-`80s`. It shouldn`t matter but I sing it to myself and suddenly I`m back flipping burgers at Arby`s.
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#515685 - 03/21/03 01:20 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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revolead
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Registered: 03/11/03
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Loc: Colorado Springs, CO
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Songwriting is a hard process, but a great song will never become dated or overplayed. The goal is to come up with something unique. My favorite bands are ones that stand out from the rest. Too many band now days sound like the other guy so nobody notices them, well musicians anyway.
Look at your favorite songs and question them to death. Figure out what it is that makes them so appealing and use that as your approach.
The goal in my band is to revive solos and the art behind music, nonetheless create songs that will have the audience singing by the last chorus. I like lyrics I can relate to, yet the song has to show some catchiness or talent. If a song seems dead or like a clone I won't listen to it.
Pick a goal for your song, and achieve it. A great song doesn't have to appeal to everyone or any particular group of people, it has to appease you.
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#515686 - 03/23/03 12:09 AM
Re: d-d-dated
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Sylver
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Don't think of it as dated. Think of it as a snapshot in time. The same thing goes for the rest of the arts. Artisic works are a reflection of the time, so how can any archive be a bad thing?
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#515687 - 06/09/05 02:55 PM
Re: d-d-dated
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RicBassGuy
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Registered: 02/02/05
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Loc: Metro Detroit, MI
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Paddles! ... Clear! ... *WHUMP!*
(Topic successfully resusitated.) 
Dated songs ... try going to an antique mall and look for sheet music.
Then there's classics that should sound dated, but that's actually part of their charm. "Mack the Knife" by Louis Armstrong. The language in the lyrics is on the order of a century old, but that's an acceptable quirk. "Did our boy do something rash?" Not how it would be said in today's speech, but it still works.
The language in other songs is so rediculous by today's standards. I can't think of anything off hand, but I'm thinking of 40s/50s material that used $10 words and rhymed them! You just can't do that today. Lyrics are like newspaper articles; you gotta keep it to a 5th grade reading level or below (to be commercially viable).
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