“ LOSING vs. LOSERS”
LOSING
EVERYBODY’S LOST SOMETHING
SOMETIMES
It’s open mike time, and - uh-oh - here
comes another song about “losing” - some poor John or Jane
has lost their lover, wife/husband, home, job, Mama/Daddy,
dog, car keys, etc. Well, we’ve all been there, but the act
of losing by itself doesn’t make a song interesting.
Are you expressing honest, natural emotions
(“I hurt, I cry, I can’t sleep”), committing to some course
of action (“I’m gonna’ drink her off my mind”, “hop a train
out of town”) or showing remorse ( “I shouldn’t have
cheated”, “I didn’t tell her I loved her”)? When you lose,
you get the blues - - no shame there. But it’s not just
what’s happened -- it’s how you deal with it.
When B.B. King wails “The Thrill Is Gone”,
you feel what he’s going through, but you don’t feel sorry
for him because B.B. KING IS NOT A LOSER! -- he’s a strong,
proud, heartbroken man, expressing himself through a wailing
primal blues scream. He’s missin’ his woman tonight, but you
know he’s gonna’ pick himself up, brush himself off, and try
again. Power balladeers like Faith Hill or mellow romantics
like Nora Jones might sing about their broken hearts, but
they pick material that balances a woman’s vulnerability
with her inner strength - the lady’s down, but don’t count
her out!
Sad love songs create a powerful bond
between the artist and the audience, as long as the song
doesn’t make the artist come off as ......
A LOSER!
NO ARTIST WANTS TO REPRESENT THEMSELVES
AS A LOSER!
Nobody likes a loser. We all ...
-
are related to at least one
-
have had the poor judgment to be
in a relationship with one,
-
occasionally act like one
ourselves.
A loser is someone who:
-
can’t keep a job, money,
relationship
-
won’t take responsibility for
their own actions
-
acts selfishly, doesn’t care
about anyone else
-
consistently gets themselves
into trouble and imposes on someone else to get
them out of it.
Losers are weak, negative people. Losers
don’t deserve a song written about them, and almost no one
wants to waste four precious minutes of their life hearing
about one.
Don’t write from the perspective of the
loser -- especially in the 1st person. If you tell me you
drink, gamble and cheat on your wife, I don’t feel any
simpatico for you. If you’re trying to “drink away her
memory”, or take responsibility for your actions, well ...
been there, done that.
Here’s a few general rules for creating a
distinction between LOSING and LOSERS:
-
GUYS: NO WHINING! Show your emotions,
but don’t wallow in them -- better yet, suggest some
course of action to fix it!
-
GALS: NO CODEPENDENCY! If he treats you
like a jerk, don’t try to change him or don’t take him
back, he doesn’t deserve you -- move on!
-
SHOW REMORSE - to err is human .... so
is your audience.
-
THINK REDEMPTION - As in “Amazing Grace”
- - “I once was lost, but now I’m found ....”.
-
PAY BACK TIME - everyone’s glad the
abusive males in “Independence Day” and “Goodbye Earl”
got what they deserved -- so did “Tom Dooley” and that
guy stuck in “Folsom Prison”.
-
CREATE A MYTHOLOGY - “Bad, Bad LeRoy
Brown”, wasn’t just a bad guy - - he was a BAD ASS!
-
USE HUMOR - In a novelty song, the
wackier the karmic pay back the better.
-
LOSING CAN BE IN THE EYES OF THE
BEHOLDER - You might call the “King of the Road” a bum,
but he saw himself as a free spirit, enjoying the
freedom of his lifestyle and accepting the consequences.
When you’re shaping the moral backbone of
your characters, remember:
EVERYBODY LOSES SOMETIMES,
BUT NOBODY LOVES A LOSER!
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