A-Lyric.com

I mentioned some time back that Avril Lavigne’s “I Wanna be Your Girlfriend” was the subject of a lawsuit by eighties band The Rubinoos who felt it was too close to a song of theirs with almost the exact same chorus, “I Wanna be Your Boyfriend”. At the time, people were claiming she “ripped them off”. But the writers recently “exonerated” Lavigne and her co-writer. So did she or did she not rip them off?
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I’ve always been a little uncomfortable with the campaign against dancehall, as it has echoes of the thought police in action. But I’ve always been very uncomfortable with some of the extremely violent anti-gay lyrics as well. Now the British resort Brighton has become the first UK town to officially ban licensed venues from playing anti-gay or hate lyrics. Is this a good or a bad thing?
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I always thought that national anthems were ancient texts passed down from generation to generation and sung with pride. As the recent news in the UK has shown, they can still be works in progress. And now Spain is at it, struggling to find lyrics that fit the national psyche. There is a simple reason for this: until now, the Spanish national anthem had no words. Continue Reading »

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UK band Massive Attack produced the music for the upcoming PlayStation game “Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune”. The title refers to a mythical treasure stashed away by Sir Francis Drake.

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Maybe I should start a tag just for national anthems. They seem to be be regularly in the news. The BBC reports that there are moves to rewrite some of the lyrics to the UK’s “God Save the Queen”. I must admit that I don’t sing it much myself, so I never noticed that there was a sixth verse. And that verse is a trifle, uh, controversial for a national anthem. I don’t know any other anthem that call for the defeat of one of its own peoples! Continue Reading »

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Ever tried to guess what Bono’s lyrics mean and how he writes them? An interesting clip on their website gives a fascinating glimpse into the singer’s creative process. The group U2 has been re-visiting tracks from “The Joshua Tree”, and in particular an unfinished demo called “Wave of Sorrow”, a song “that was trying to describe experiences that myself and Ali had when we were working in Ethiopia during the famine,” according to Bono. In the extract, he explains what motivated him to write the lyrics, the symbolism he uses - in particular the contrast between the heritage of Ethopia (Queen of Sheba) and the stark reality today. He then sings along to the track, adding more asides. It’s interesting both for fans of U2 and anyone interested in songwriting, even if U2 are not your favourite band.

Check it out here on the U2 website.



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So the unthinkable has happened: a country has decided to NOT take part in the Eurovision Song Contest. I remember hearing comments in Dublin after multiple wins that it was costing too much and that Ireland couldn’t afford to win again. But to not take part at all is quite dramatic. Why the fuss?
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There are no lack of song contests out there. But few come with the support of BBC Radio 2. Under the New Talent banner, they are hosting a contest to find new songwriting talent and provide coaching to the writers. So rather than a one-off goody bag, up to 60 songwriters will get a chance to attend a masterclass, with mentors that include Sacha Skarbek (co-writer on James Blunt’s “You’re Beautiful”). Being published, I can’t submit. But I’d say that it’s a very interesting initiative. Check the details on New Talent. Check out the mentor section for some words from Skarbek. and if you do sign up, keep us informed. As of today (Nov 16), there are 17 days left.

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I went to the movies last night to check out the latest film by Jan Verheyen, “Vermist” (Missing). The reason was quite selfish: I wanted to see my name in lights. Composer Steve Willaert had contacted me during the summer to write some lyrics for a song he was writing for it. I was happy to oblige…
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It’s that time of the year, when composers start thinking about Eurovision. I got a message a few days back: would I be interested in doing some lyrics for a Belgian singer that wants to enter? I have mixed feelings. There has been an awful lot of rubbish produced for Eurovision over the years. Do I really want to add to it?
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