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Thread: Changing lyrics to suit your status

  1. #1
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    Changing lyrics to suit your status

    Okay, I've been goin' through the "old" songbook. Tossing some. Rediscovering others. Took "Someday Soon" which I love but doesn't suit my age (unlessin' I really do want to be Mrs. Robinson) and changing it into a story:

    "There's a young man that she knows..." instead of
    "There's a young man that I know, his age is twenty-one..." adapt, amigos.

    Put a back beat to it and do it, do it, do it! (oh boy)

  2. #2
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    It always made me crazy in my last band when our (white) female lead vocalist sang Stevie Wonder's "I Wish":

    "Lookin' back on when I was a little nappy-headed boy..."

    Yet she did change the gender of the "she" and "he" in SRV's "Pride & Joy" and other tunes like that.

    I guess I'm saying I wouldn't get too hung up on the age-specific tunes. :tw59

  3. #3
    Forum Member Tele-Bob's Avatar
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    Sure, why not. If it makes the song more enjoyable for you. I know that a singer has to be able to really get behind the song if they're going to do a good job singing it. It's important. The audience doesn't much care what you sing as long as it's close and the melody line is somewhat intact. You go girl and feel good about what you're singin'
    If you're bored, you're not groovin'.

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    " Just be like Richard Pryor, set your face on fire, Cocaine...." :wail2
    " You can burn down the place, just set fire to your face, Cocaine..." :wail2

    Annie, go for it. Just about anything is acceptable except changing keys just because of a lazy singer.

  5. #5
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    Just about anything is acceptable except changing keys just because of a lazy singer.
    I disagree. Different singers have different ranges. It has nothing to do with laziness. Shoot I'll drop a tune down or up a whole note to new keys two nights in a row.
    Doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone playing along.

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    When you're down on the ground, with no hair to be found, ROGAINE!

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    Originally posted by Sven
    Just about anything is acceptable except changing keys just because of a lazy singer.

  8. #8
    fezz parka
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    Originally posted by Annie D.
    I disagree. Different singers have different ranges. It has nothing to do with laziness. Shoot I'll drop a tune down or up a whole note to new keys two nights in a row.
    Doesn't seem to be a problem for anyone playing along.
    Annie's right on about this. Your voice changes. I've had to drop things down a step cuz I just can't squeeze the notes out anymore. Sinatra did it. Bing did it. Fezz does it. It's not laziness, it's part of a singers evolution.

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    It's alright, it's alright, you can light ...Propane!

    Seriously, wouldn't a song like Good Mornin Little School Girl or Sweet Little Sixteen make you wonder a bit,if they had been written when the composer was his present age?

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    Forum Member Kap'n's Avatar
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    Originally posted by fezz parka
    Annie's right on about this. Your voice changes. I've had to drop things down a step cuz I just can't squeeze the notes out anymore. Sinatra did it. Bing did it. Fezz does it. It's not laziness, it's part of a singers evolution.
    Absolutely. Even though I'm not a singer, I can grasp that. Some songs are improved, or given fresh air by having a key change as well. OTOH, some songs just don't sound right in a different key. I'd rather not play them if the singer can't do the tune justice.
    Several guitars in different colors
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    Originally posted by Kap'n
    OTOH, some songs just don't sound right in a different key. I'd rather not play them if the singer can't do the tune justice.
    That's my point exactly. I've been way more sensitive to it lately. American Idol last night nearly made me cry out in pain...one guy changed keys at least 5 times!

    But from the other side of the pen, I am also a composer. When I plan out a work for any size group, from a quartet to an orchestra, the tonality (key) and the changes of tonality are prime considerations, and are chosen for real reasons. Arbitrary changes can confound the feeling of a work, and obscure (at best) the meaning of a piece, and how it relates to other pieces of composer's work. ( see Frank Zappa's definition of the "Project/Object")

    After all, music is organized sound against a background of silence. Changing the key changes the very nature of that sound.
    Last edited by Sven; 01-22-2004 at 09:46 PM.

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    Used to have two lady singers (one left), they were both unattached at the time they took over singing duties on "Love Potion #9".
    They changed a line to: " I told him that I was a flop with dicks" - essentially just a gender change but oh so clever. I always get a laugh when someone in the audience catches it.

  13. #13
    Forum Member Tele-Bob's Avatar
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    In the nude, oh boy. In the nude, oh boy!

    sung to "In The Mood"

    You'd be amazed how many people never noticed the lyric change. The ones that did thought it was hilarious.

    I'm on the fence about key changes. I was in a group where the singer changed the keys on a lot of songs and then we suddenly realized that the band was starting to drone because most of the songs were now in the same key. BORING! I do agree that the singer needs to be comfortable with the range of a song, but I also feel that they should stretch a little too. It's good for the overall sound of the group.
    If you're bored, you're not groovin'.

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    Originally posted by Tele-Bob
    [B] the band was starting to drone because most of the songs were now in the same key. BORING! ]
    Oh yeah. No two songs in a row in the same key. And no two minor songs in a row. It's the kiss of death.
    You can see the audience glaze over, just before they decide to see what else is going on in town.
    Last edited by Steve; 01-23-2004 at 09:57 PM.

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    Originally posted by fezz parka
    Annie's right on about this. Your voice changes. I've had to drop things down a step cuz I just can't squeeze the notes out anymore. Sinatra did it. Bing did it. Fezz does it. It's not laziness, it's part of a singers evolution.
    Thats the ONLY rreason I tune to eflat!!

    CT.

  16. #16
    Forum Member Scott Miller's Avatar
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    I like this age change, so old geezers can sing "Ain't Nobody's Business" without saying they're almost twenty-two:

    "She's three times seven, that makes almost twenty-two, ain't nobody's business what she do."

    Which I guess make the geezer singer a dirty old man.

    Then, Sven is all, like:

    "Arbitrary changes can confound the feeling of a work..."

    So, you take the song, and you say to yourself, would the feeling of this song be confounded? And if not, you change the key so you can sing it.

    By the way... "Confound?" What are you, a Sherlock Holmes fan? I think I'll go into a brown study now...

    :)

  17. #17
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    Transposing is 'au riguerre', baby. Unless it's classical, opera, or instrumental jazz standards.

    (And the horn section best know how to do it in harmony with no fall-out :whip)

    I think it's ludicrous for guitar players to not be able to slide up or down the neck to the "next" position...sheesh. It is not written in stone that "Hotel Calfornia" is played in Bm, or Sweet Home Alabama in G. (starts with the tinkley piano thing in D)

    It would take one helluva singer to do 50 tunes by 50 different artists all in the original key. (ah, I feel better now, whew)

  18. #18
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    Oh yeah. No two songs in a row in the same key. And no two minor songs in a row. It's the kiss of death.
    Yep.

    "She's six times seven, that makes almost fifty-two, ain't nobody's business what she do."
    Welp I'd never switch keys on every tune. Take "Blue Bayou" as a good example of one that I have to some nights. It's very difficult to switch from chest voice to Metzo Soprano . :tw59

  19. #19
    Forum Member bonefish's Avatar
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    i kinda like to leave 'em the same

    especially if it'll mindfuck anyone paying attention (for some reason i get a perverse kick out of doing debbie harry-"i'm not the kinda girl...", and sheryl crow-same line.)

  20. #20
    Forum Member Don's Avatar
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    I don't know- "Behind Hazel Eyes" just doesn't work for me!

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    Forum Member grito's Avatar
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    "She's my glass eyed girl?"
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    Formerly ajay315 Huckleberry's Avatar
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    There's a wonderful new singer named Joss Stone, and she does the White Stripes' "Fell In Love With a Girl"( but sings "Fell In Love With a Boy"), as a 70's Soull/funk number.
    I have not been so bowled ovr by a new artist in a long time. Check her out!
    Time wounds all heels.

  23. #23
    Forum Member Folk_guy's Avatar
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    I've got no problem with people changing lyrics to suite them. Look at the Lyrics to the old folk song "House of the Rising Sun" and look at the Animals smash hit version of the same song. They took a lot of liberty with the Lyrics. I've been changing keys on tunes for years also, my Bass / barely baritone voice can't handle most pop tunes in the original keys. The only choice I have is a very limited choice of songs, or change the keys.

    I would bet though that in this day and age of Younger men older woman being acceptable that Annie would have no problem attracting a younger man, so no reason to change the lyrics to "someday soon" Annie.
    Ray

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    Forum Member moonpie's Avatar
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    The only one I can't resist changing lyrics on is
    "Please Come to Boston" by Dave Loggins, or Dave Mason,
    or Super Dave.....one of them Daves..

    "You can sell your paintings on the sidewalk".... I really, really try to say "paintings" instead of "panties".....My brain wants to say "paintings".....my heart wants to say "paintings".....but my talking parts keep sayin' "panties".
    If you leave the house, you're just asking for it.

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    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    moonpie: panties it's perfect! mwahahahah!

    Younger men older woman being acceptable that Annie would have no problem attracting a younger man,
    Apparently it's not socially acceptable to my sister. Father. Best friend. (My kids think he's pretty cool, though. )

    Koo Kookachoo, baby! Love, Stacy's Mom

  26. #26
    Forum Member Folk_guy's Avatar
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    Annie, if I only did what was acceptable to my family (especailly my mother) I'd be a Right wing republican, babtist minister, who only sang songs found in the Hymnal. Fortunately I'm a non-party afilliated liberal, ELCA Lutheran layperson, who loves to sing the blues.

    Originally posted by Annie D.
    Apparently it's not socially acceptable to my sister. Father. Best friend. (My kids think he's pretty cool, though. )

    Koo Kookachoo, baby! Love, Stacy's Mom
    Ray

  27. #27
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    The thing about men born in the late the 50's, or afterwards, is that they realize the earth doesn't revolve around them. They can view us in panoramic views; more than just mules placed in harness to pull the king's wagon. (Shoot 75% of those born BEFORE then know this, but they're all married.)

    I let him pass. Still he calls. We talk. Go fishing. Mess with the vehicles. Hit the Farmer's Market. Cook together. Talk a lot. He acts like he doesn't mind my frumpidity or scars. I try to hook him up with "women worthy of him". He could have ANY of these young, hot, sexy babes that fall all over him, and I'm encouraging him to accept a great offer he's received, even though it's in Denver. He's hot! Dimpled. Smart. Kind. Sexy. Calm. Humorous. Restrained yet spontaneous.

    I have nothing tangible to give or share. Only my presence.

    (his mother hates my guts, I might add)

  28. #28
    Forum Member NeoFauve's Avatar
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    Lyle Lovett sang "Stand By Your Man"

    I had this dilemma back in my coffeehousin' days.
    This Emmylou song, "A River For Him", that I just love and wanted to play. I could sing it okay.
    But the gender becomes a problem in the chorus.

    "But I cried a river
    A river for him
    That's deeper and wider
    Than I'll ever swim
    The heart it will harden
    The sorrow will dim
    But I cried a river
    A river for him "

    Dealing with the "him" messes up the rhyme scheme.
    I cared enough about the song that I didn't want be ironic or campy. It's freakin poingant, man.
    And there were enough people of non-hetero orientation in those places that I didn't want to send a message that I was paening for some "him."
    (Not that there's anything wrong with that)

    I tried substituting "her" or "you" for "him," (and tweaking subsequent rhymes) with varied results.
    I just preferred the original, so I abandoned the song.
    Then one of my friends says, "I know- 'A River for KIM!!'" half seriously.
    I could never sing it that way. I'd just bust out laughing, recalling the eureka moment.

    Might be a good excercise to revisit that tune. Get the juices flowing.
    It's been a real long dry spell.
    "Well, I used to be disgusted, now I try to be amused..."
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  29. #29
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    wtf? this thread's still goin' on?

    Why not "She cried a river over him" that's deeper n wider than "she'll" ever swim?

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    Re: Lyle Lovett sang "Stand By Your Man"

    Originally posted by NeoFauve
    Then one of my friends says, "I know- 'A River for KIM!!'"
    No please, not for Kim...ugh

    THinking of a seriously fucked up woman I was involved with for a while...Uncle Pat knows the type...

    Steering back to topic: I think anyone can do any song in any key, and if some doofus musician doesn't like it, they can always 86 themselves.

    I'm singing Delbert McClinton's "Why Me" in this band and I'm two steps lower then he did on the original, 1.5 steps lower than he's doing it now (was recorded in B, it's on the live album in Bb and I/m singing it in G.)

    We took "Sharp Dressed Man" and turned it into a cross between Chicago and Texas blues. We are doing "Shaky Ground" and throwing an entirely different song into the middle of it. We do "That's My Story" more like Lee Roy than anyone else, but we play it faster then he does. We're doing Lee Roy's "If the House is A-Rockin'" (which bears no resemblence to the inferior SRV song, beyond the phrase itself) and turned it into a duet, with stage schtick before the last verse.

    If I hear someone do a cool arrangement at a gig, I'll run home and plunk out the basic arrangement into the computer and then start building my own arrangements, with the best parts of the other arrangement still included.

    Last time I checked, no one was asking for lyric sheets or what keys a song is in before a gig, change whatever you want, so suit the way YOU want to do a song. Make it as much yours as the originators.
    Last edited by pbradt; 03-11-2004 at 09:19 AM.

  31. #31
    Forum Member Wilko's Avatar
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    Why not "She cried a river over him" that's deeper n wider than "she'll" ever swim?
    [/QUOTE]

    That's a great idea. "Kim" is lame...

    For the more male oriented singer: "I cried a river over THEM" :;)

  32. #32
    fezz parka
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    Wilko nails it! 'em or them!

  33. #33
    Forum Member Folk_guy's Avatar
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    As far as changing keys goes just listen to some of Sinatra's early recordings and listen to some he did later in life. If old blue eyes can change the keys to his own tunes, and get away with it quite easily, then the door is wide open for the rest of us also. Sing the song in the key that best suites your range at the time.
    Ray

  34. #34
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    roger wilko :lolspin

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    Forum Member stonetone's Avatar
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    "It's always tease, tease, tease
    I'm happy when you're on your knees"

    ...

    Anyway, what really grabbed me about this thread is the transposing-for-singers subtext. My singer won't sing unless we do the song in A, and it drives me bat-shit. If someone proposes a song to do, and it's not in A, he will first try to play the song in A while we're working it out, even when everyone else is playing the song in A flat as intended, pretending like he doesn't know any better. Then when I call him on it, he'll claim it sounds better in A. When I disagree further, he offers to 'let me sing.' Some I can, and others I can't, either because they're like 4 steps out of my range or because I have trouble meshing the melody with the bass lines.

    On the bright side, it has made me a better singer, but a lot of great songs have been scrapped for no other reason.
    "Wait, it's a trap. Get an axe."

  36. #36
    Forum Member Wilko's Avatar
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    To insist on a key just 'cause he/she likes the name is bogus. Two songs can be in A and have the melody on totally different intervals and be way higher or lower than the other. That moron needs to feel the song out and see how it feels.
    And for only a half step? Jeez.

  37. #37
    Forum Member Annie D.'s Avatar
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    stonetone: tha's ridickullus! what a Bozo good for you for hangin' in there and stretching your pipes... you should really go wild and have everyone play in -g- every time he says -a-. see if he notices. better yet kick into -e-

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