DEADBEAT GUITARIST

So the other day I was chatting with my wife, her  sister and  mother.  The conversation somehow turns to music and songwriting and one of them asks – where is the Leonard Cohen of today?

First I had to ask myself what that really meant.  I think to sum it up it would be someone who writes amazing poetry and puts it to good music.

There really is only one Leonard Cohen or say, one Bob Dylan.

However, there are  I think good lyricists/musicians, Ben Folds comes to mind as does Hawksley Workman.

I do find something  about this question interesting, but it’s not the hunt for a new Leonard Cohen, its more to do with the enjoyment of music based on the strength of the lyrics.

Lyrics to the song are very important to some people,  and if the lyrics aren’t good, the song won’t interest them – yet to me, the melody,  interesting chords and phrasing are of greater importance.

The way the words tumble out and mingle with each other, not so much the lyrical content, or the way the melody sits against the chords are of primary interest to me.  This is not to say the lyrics aren’t important to me, I can appreciate good lyrics when I see/hear them and that adds to the overall tastiness of a song, but I won’t hate on a song just because the words aren’t clever.

That said, I’m sure there is some overlap and sliding scale because people who value the lyrics greatly will still reject a song with good lyrics if music is terrible to the  ears.

In fact, this segues a bit is into my new mission. To analyze the ingredients of a memorable pop song – in fact – I want to write an unabashedly catchy pop song.   Like sugary cereal or cotton candy – almost zero substance to it but addictive like crack.

The next post will detail my analysis of what key ingredients are needed to make a catchy pop song,  I must add – by identifying what they are, I can’t guarantee I will come up with a good poppy song, but it will be an interesting exercise, and I will share my findings in the form of a song.

Steve

Well today was full of victory and hardship.  For those that don’t know, I am a father to 2 boys, both of which have special needs.  This has a profound impact on my life… in fact I would venture to say that it IS my life, or at least it can feel that way.

A quick summary – Coram is now 10 and has been diagnosed in the Autism spectrum, and Lucas is 11 and has been diagnosed with ADHD and written output disorder and has a cleft lip and palette.

We had a meeting at my son Coram’s school today.  Walking in the room I counted 9 professionals and myself and my wife.  I am very grateful to now have this support in place for my son but this was a hard road getting here.  The Canadian government, and I suspect it’s the same in many other countries, does not make it easy to get all this stuff in place.  We have had to fumble our way in the dark, there are few road maps and it has been years in the making.  Although we are still discovering how to get the help we need for our son, at least there is minimal funding for some help – not nearly enough, but there is a system in place albeit archaic and unfriendly.

Contrast this with my other son Lucas.  I am appalled.  The system is failing him completely, and there is very little we can do about it.  The support just isn’t in place for kids with ADHD.  But it’s not just that, Lucas also has a cleft lip and palette.  So he has the challenges of ADHD and as well the physical differences.  This equates to him having a terrible time in school with both his behavior setting him apart and his physical difference.  And there is zero government funding to help him.

One might argue that that’s not society’s problem.  Well, I would argue, ultimately it costs the country more money in the long run for not intervening to offer these children the best chance at a positive future.

All of this comes down to one thing, and that’s money.  The system isn’t made easy because they want to save money.  There isn’t enough money because the budgets are set low and thus the case managers have to pick the worst case scenario’s.  This means parents need to fight tooth and nail to get the help they need.

With the cost of living so high, its sad to know that both of their needs aren’t being met because of money, but it is the reality.

But I don’t want to dwell on all the gloom.

Today something truly amazing did happen.  The meeting today was very informative.  Everyone on board has a pretty unified picture of Coram and a real desire to do whats best for him – I definitely feel that from the school and the mental health team.

We also got in touch with a Behavioral consultant and have an appointment with him next week.  Just talking with him gives me huge insight into the world Coram experiences.

Knowledge is indeed power and I do feel optimistic for his future and the future of our family,  and that is what I hold on to.

Welcome to Deadbeatguitarist.com – A personal web space for Steve Baer -  aka deadbeat guitarist.

I’m working at getting an RSS feed going for Open Source Musician and my personal podcast – The Deadbeat Guitarist Monologues. I also plan to post my own music content here as well.

Keep checking back as I promise there will be interesting things happening.

Take care,

Steve