Mea culpa, I missed this completely. US songwriter David Weiss died late August of natural causes at the age of 89. Weiss was a prolific writer who wrote or co-wrote classics such as “Can’t Help Falling in Love” and “The Lion Sleeps Tonight”. His songs have been used by Frank Sinatra, UB40, Elvis Presley, The Stylistics and Perry Como. His signature tune (and the one that will see his grandchildren through college) is “What a Wonderful World” co-written in 1968 with George Douglas, immortalised by Louis Armstrong and still a popular choice amongst advertising people. He also wrote the lyrics for the jazz standard ‘Lullaby of Birdland’, which was a hit for Ella Fitzgerald. Weiss was president of the Songwriters Guild of America

According to a report in Headliner Watch, actor Mel Gibson is in a legal dispute with his ex-girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva. But this time it’s not about a crooked tooth or alimony, it’s about lyrics that he wrote with her. The Russian beauty Grigorieva recorded an album produced by Gibson and with lyrics by him. To release the material, she needs his signature. But as they are in a very public dispute, he seems to be holding back. The issue will most likely go to court and could take ages, by which time the album could well be dead in the water.

This illustrates the importance of choosing your co-writers well. It is appallingly easy to get material locked in disputes. I once met a lawyer that specialised in finding ex-partners of the writers of hits to see if any old demos resembled the hit. When a claim is filed, payments can be put on hold until they are resolved. And courts can be notoriously random in their rulings. You do not want to go that path. So always choose to work with talented gentlemen (or ladies), and if you find any, do me a favour and let me know.

If you’ve been around here before, you’re probably aware that I hate most national anthems. I’ll make an exception for South Africa’s “Nkosi Sikeleli Africa”. For one thing, it features four different languages, and most importantly of all, it’s not a call to arms.

But as South Africa is hosting this year’s World Cup, the organisers have a problem: not enough people know the words to the anthem. So they have started a TV campaign to try and increase awareness. This gives us videos like the one above, which is a pretty cool way to present an anthem.

Factoid: South Africa has no less than nine national languages.

It must be said: Germany’s entry, “Satellite” by Lena, was a very so-so song, and it wasn’t exactly an electric vocal performance. Strange that they received so many votes, although this sort of thing is said every year.

But what about the lyrics? A research and semantics laboratory had the fun idea of pasting all the Eurovision song lyrics together and running them through a semantics analyser, Intellexer. These sort of things are usually used to quickly analyse and summarise long texts, for the purpose of creating executive summaries. In the case of the Eurovision, the result is almost a corny version of haiku:

Let the sun shine, glide away my moon
Let the light of my love shine bright
I don’t believe any more your shallow heart.
Feeling the love ’till the day when I die.
For the cruel-cruel time when I’m first time in love

As many lyricists seem to write a compendium of worn-out clichés, it’s not surprising that an executive summary of Eurovision lyrics is itself a compendium of worn-our clichés.

If there are any lyrics that actually touched, please let us know by dropping a message. Read more about Intellexer.

John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics to “A Day in the Life” are going up for auction in May, with estimates of $500,000 being floated. Not all lyrics do as well as expected at auction, but as investors currently look to place their bets in places outside currency and property, I’d think this one should do well. The lyrics cover both sides of a sheet of paper, with edits and corrections, making it a fascinating object for people interested in the epic “Sgt Peppers” album.

But as someone noted on my Twitter account, maybe writers should not give up handwriting lyrics. Buying an iPhone or Asus netbook that once belonged to a writer does not have quite the same mystique as actual written lyrics. In fact, it wouldn’t even get that far, as we tend to either forget to back up or drop electronic hardware down the stairs.

I’ve seen audiences get riled up about song contests, but rarely seen an orchestra almost run riot. Italy’s San Remo song contest is a prestigious event that celebrates the classic tradition of Italian canzone. What is surprising is that contestants have to face two juries: the orchestra playing behind the singers and the general public. The 2010 edition, which just closed, witnessed some incredible scenes, when the orchestra started throwing music sheets and booing when one of the contestants got through to the final three. TV presenter (and grandson of Italy’s last king) Emanuele Filiberto had given a comparatively poor vocal performance and should have been eliminated. But the popular vote got him through.

At the end of the day, however, the festival’s honour was saved when Valerio Scanu won the 2010 award, singing the ballad “Per tutte le volte che” (for all the times) written by Pierdavide Carone. The best man won this time at least.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t embed the scene of the musicians letting rip. But you can find a report on Euronews.

I took some time at Midem 2010 to put a question to David Stark, publisher of SongLink. His tipsheet provides some of the best tips in the business, hooking up major artists with songs. The “names” have included Tina Tuner, James Blunt, Kim Wilde and many others. Publishers and songwriters use SongLink obviously to get their songs on the shortlist. So the obvious question was: what does it take to write for a name artist?

You’ll find the answer here.

One of popular music’s most remarkable songs, “Dans le port d’Amsterdam” made famous by Jacques Brel, has now been linked to an old Irish song called “Since Greybeards Inform Us That Youth Will Decay” by T. Toms.

In 1814-16, Beethoven (no less) was asked to transcribe 20 Irish songs (lieders) for the Scottish publisher George Thomson. They include this melody (WoO 153 n°4), which was later recorded by the Music Group of London amongst others. Journalist Serge Llado has created a mash-up of the two recordings, which is quite simply stunning. Listen to it here. Source: Si ça vous chante.

Inevitably, the question of plagiarism arises. It’s hard to defend, as Brel died many years ago. Did he have access to obscure lieders transcribed by Beethoven? What’s interesting also is that both songs stand out by very powerful yet different lyrics. I can’t resist adding them, as they are almost Shakespearian (in a good way):

Since greybeards inform us that youth will decay,
And pleasure’s soft transports glide swiftly away:
The song, and the dance, and the vine, and the fair,
Shall banish all sorrow and shield us from care.
Away with your proverbs, your morals, and rules,
Your proctors, and doctors, and pedants, and schools:
Let’s seize the bright moments while yet in our prime,
And fast by the forelock catch old father Time.

Tho’ spring’s lovely blossoms delight us no more,
Tho’ summer forsake us, and autumn be o’er;
To cheer us in winter, remembrance can bring
The pleasures of autumn, and summer, and spring:
So when fleeting seasons bring life’s latest stage,
To speak of youth’s frolic shall gladden our age:
Then seize the bright moments while yet in our prime,
And fast by the forelock catch old father Time

Incidentally, if you try them over “Amsterdam”, they work perfectly. Wouldn’t “Old Father Time” have been a better title?

If anyone knows anything about T. Toms, I’d appreciate some more information.

The unpredictable nature of plagiarism cases was proved again when it was ruled that Men at Work would have to pay out between 40-60% of earnings from their anthemic comedy song, “Down Under”. The case was brought by the music company Larrikin, which bought the rights to the Australian scout song “Kookaburra Sits in the Old Gum Tree”, composed in the thirties. They claim the flute solo in “Down Under” plagiarised their copyright. Given that a song is a combination of the melody and the words, I was surprised they were claiming part of the copyright for what is in fact part of the arrangement – although I’m not a legal expert and it looks as though the court felt otherwise. The ruling notes that the riff “feels different”, which is quite an understatement. Apparently, the song was originally composed without the riff. But the ruling stands.

For those with a legal mind, you can read the ruling here.

The perception of traditional Irish music is that it was all written in the Middle Ages. But that’s forgetting that many musicians write in traditional mode, creating new songs in a recognisable trad style. This is true of Cesaria Evora and indeed of the Stray Cats (jumping genres). This fact was underlined at the recent concert of Shantalla in Brussels on January 30.

Shantalla are a six-piece traditional Irish band that had considerable success across Europe and recently reunited after a gap of several years. From reading past reviews, I can see that what made them stand out then is as true today: their remarkable energy and cohesion. Within the cosy confines of the Théâtre Molière, they played a first half of songs that mixed mid- and up-tempos. Helen Flaherty’s singing was introduced, revealing the stories behind the songs.

This was the revelation of sorts. Many of the songs – even the jigs and reels – are contemporary, written by the members of the band or Irish and Scottish songwriters. They fit seamlessly into the traditional playlist – but then, what does it mean to be “traditional” when you are singing songs that refer to Srebenica? Many of the traditional songs handed down to us covered political issues. So it’s hardly surprising that contemporary traditional Irish music should do likewise.

The group finished with some rousing jigs and reels. They have plans to appear on RTBF’s “Le monde est un village” radio show soon, with an album to follow. Follow our Twitter feed for news or visit Shantalla’s website.

On 25th February Cancer Research UK’s Sound & Vision event will take place at the iconic Abbey Road Studios, celebrating rock, pop, the people who make it and the images it inspires. A range of memorabilia is up for grabs, including lyrics by Biffy Clyro, Tori Amos and a neat drum skin from Kaiser Chiefs with the lyrics of “I Predict a Riot”.

Find out more on the e-Bay page.

Yep, they’ve done it again. Every publishing contract that I have ever signed obliges the publisher to request my permission if the song is to be used in a political campaign. Yet very often, politicians skip over that detail and decide to use music they like or think appropriate.

In a recent spat between The Eagles’ Joe Walsh and a politician of the same name, the composer has asked the politician to desist from using a re-written version of his song “Lead the Way”. The politician claims it is a parody, which I don’t think it is – it’s a clear re-write for political purposes.

It would be interesting to see what a court would say about this, but I doubt it will get that far.