A-Lyric.com

Britain’s PRS has organised a wonderful charity drive. On December 15 they will put up for auction the lyrics of classic songs handwritten by the lyricist themselves! The proceeds go to the Teenage Cancer Trust.

Pieces have been donated by world famous artists such as Sir Paul McCartney, Paul Weller, Jim Kerr, Sir Tim Rice, Julian Lennon and Annie Lennox. The pieces are in storage ahead of the auction which takes place at Bonhams Knightsbridge on December 15th).  As well as raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust the project hopes to create a lasting legacy of the music and song lyrics of our generation.

Click through for the list and further details. Remember, though, that buying the lyric sheets does not give you copyright of the actual lyrics!

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August Darnell, better known as Kid Creole, has announced a number of appearances in Germany. He will be appearing as part of the Night of the Proms events with other performers. Darnell is a songwriter’s songwriter, capable of turning out floor-fillers and touching ballads. Stylistically, he has always been influenced by the swing period of the 40s. His shows in the eighties featured up to 20 musicians on stage, with Darnell appearing in fancy zoot suits accompanied by the Coconuts. The whole vibe was reminiscent of Cab Calloway, although Darnell proved deft at adapting his tunes to the sound of the moment. During that period, he raked up a string of worldwide hits such as “Annie (I’m not Your Daddy”), “Stool Pigeon”, “I’m a Wonderful Thing” and “No Fish Today” but later faded from the public eye.

He still tours and writes. For details, check Kid Creole, although you’ll find more music on YouTube and DailyMotion.

Click through for the German concert dates:

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I just read an article in the Hindustan Times about an Indonesia riot sparked by ringtones. According to the report, hundreds of Wamena tribesmen descended on members of the Yoka tribe on Wednesday morning (November 17, 2010) in the Papua provincial capital Jayapura, after learning that Yokas were sharing a ringtone which insulted them. It’s tempting to raise a smile, were it not for the fact that 23 houses were burned to the ground, and dozens of vehicles damaged.

How could a ringtone cause such fury? The lyrics, of course. Why else are homophobic or racist songs banned? Yep, people do actually take lyrics seriously – sometimes very seriously. Songwriters object when politicians use them. Parents object when songwriters use the wrong words. People write films, books and plays using song titles. Advertisers use them as an endless source of inspiration (often unattributed). Politicians also rail against them and censors do what they know best: censor or “bleep” them. Rebels use them to motivate their followers.

How many offensive songs – such as the one written by a GI in Iraq – were actually intended as a piece of fun more than anything else? As songwriters, where do we put the limit? It would be a miserable place if songwriters could not push the envelope a bit. But it’s something worth bearing in mind.

Are there any particular songs that you find offensive?

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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

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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.

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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.
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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-out clichés.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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