Page 12 - Write Away November Issue

Co-writing... Fraught With Peril?
There are lots of good reasons to collaborate on a
songwriting session….unfortunately, there are also or worse. We used to have a “safe word”......”well,
a lot of bad reasons. Let’s apply our usual “gross
oversimplification of a complex issue” technique to ( a bridge is a completely different counter melody,
see ifwe can at least describe the layout of the
minefield--and maybe even findsome kind of path
to a happy result.
Step one: Lower those expectations! If nothing of
value results, all that is lost is a little time
(assuming you’ve avoided the mines detailed
below). In fact, if your co-writing partner proves
completely inept, you may have learned some
approaches (Jack Daniels, perhaps?) to avoid! If
you’ve at least jumpstarted your desire to write
something, so much the better. But you had
probably hoped for more, huh? Well, sorry to be
Debbie Downer, but...
Step two: You can’t completely prepare for the
worst (it may be beyond your imagination), but at
least try to steer clear of the blatantly obvious
problems. If you’re a brilliant guitarist who
struggles with lyrics, don’t select another brilliant
guitarist that struggles with lyrics…..unless you’re
looking for an instrumental…..or therapy. Know
your own strengths and weaknesses….and try to
pick someone who knows theirs! Otherwise, while
you’re searching for a rhyme for “wanderlust”,
you’re going to get “You know what guitar lick
would be cooler than what you’re playing there”.
Corollary: If you’re co-writing with someone more
famous and accomplished with you, try to feel out
how much pushback you can have without giving
offense. OR, just let them trample the song under
their ego….you’ve just learned what a WRONG
reason for picking a co-writer is! I can’t tell you
to say “No” to someone more accomplished, only
remind you that if something other than the song
is your motivation, I’m out! (more on that later)
No matter who you write with, courtesy is key.
Though you’re excited, and maybe (God forbid)
under a deadline, blurting out “that part sucks” is a ished, spell out whether they’re doing you a favor,
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pretty sure bet to make your co-writer withdrawn,
maybe if it had a bridge” was code for “thatsucks”....
right?)....and even though we both knew it was a
fake construct, it hurt less, and drew a laugh.
And while speaking of wrong reasons--the internet
is full of stories where sweet young songwriters
(often female, but hey, it’s a new world out there)
are invited to co-write as a “come-on” to sex.
When their story includes “I had heard he does
that”, “Co-writing is L.A.’s version of Let’s go for
coffee”, and “After we got high, things went south”,
it shouldn’t eliminate culpability...but it definitely
lowers our opinion of their IQ. And, setting
moral indignation aside (not because it’s not called
for, though “zero tolerance” for young men being
stupid is a WHOLE ‘nother book), there’s another
issue here, specifically a songwriting issue. What
happened to the song? The poor little innocent
song you supposedly cared about...that’s lying
bloodied and broken? How’d that turn out?
Obviously, you don’t care. You call yourself a
songwriter, but have so little respect for the song
that you used it as a pretext to hit on someone? As
crazy as it sounds, that mindset is so screwed up
that it’s almost as offensive to REAL songwriters as
the predatory stuff. I’ll need to wash my mind out
with soap….TWICE! Moving on….
Step Three: How do we divide up the
credit/money? In today’s music industry, that’s an
easy one: there won’t be any, so it doesn’t matter….
whoops, there’s that negativity again. You should at
least set up a situation where either of you can use
the song in a “placement” if someone wants it, and
that should be in writing. “No, I don’t want it in a
soap commercial, and I’m in Sweden for the next 3
weeks” should NOT be a dealbreaker…...if you’re
that concerned, spell out what can’t be allowed
(just remember the current state of the industry).
If you’re polishing up a project that’s mostly fin-
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