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According to Song town..... one of the biggest mistakes songwriters make is to use outdated slang and words in their songs. So... here's a website that lists the no-no words.... http://www.inthe90s.com/generated/terms.shtmlUse them at your own risk, because I know some of you guys and gals will say.... Whatever... that's whacked. Yo dog, talk to the hand, cause MY song is da bomb.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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The flappers are all hip to my jive. They think my songs are the bee's knees!
the Insolent LadEnough small empty boxes thrown into a big empty box fill it full. ~Carl Sandburg
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You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Far out man! Can you dig it?
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Yes these ARE dated...from the 90's. We could also use a list like this from 2000 to 2012 or so. I see MANY of these in "current" writing. I think just as important is the current terms you should be using...assuming you want something current sounding. If not, forget that altogether and just write for you or the song. There's nothing wrong with that! The last thing to maybe mention is there is a danger in writing with current terminology. It DOES become dated 
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
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Well, ain't that the cats pyjamas.
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Oh heck, now I'll have to rename my country song from "It Ain't Easy" to "It Isn't difficult". I'm working on the annunciation as we speak.
I suppose with today's PC if you see more than one 'Big-foot' they would be called 'Big-feet' rather than 'Big-foots'. UGH!!!
(Sorry about that, I just couldn't help myself)
Jeaux
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Oh heck, now I'll have to rename my country song from "It Ain't Easy" to "It Isn't difficult". I'm working on the annunciation as we speak.
I suppose with today's PC if you see more than one 'Big-foot' they would be called 'Big-feet' rather than 'Big-foots'. UGH!!!
(Sorry about that, I just couldn't help myself)
Jeaux I think what Herb was trying to point out is the words we use can become dated. It's not a PC thing, or about being grammatically correct though. Ya dig? Or maybe I missed your point? That has been known to happen At times I can be a bit of a space cadet!
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
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I think if you are making disposable Top40 songs, it's OK to use slang of the day, as long as it's in general enough use to appeal to a large market. Then if you sell enough copies, who cares if it becomes dated?
And just because it's dated doesn't mean it will go away. Some will become classics and it won't matter if they point to a particular era.
But to take slang from a decade or more ago and try to put it in a song today could be suicide for the song. I suppose a clever lyricist could insert some old slang into a song as a way to point to a bygone era, say in a break-up song, but for most people, it would be walking on thin ice.
Well, in a couple of hours I'll be "Groovin', on a Sunday afternoon."
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I think if you are making disposable Top40 songs, it's OK to use slang of the day, as long as it's in general enough use to appeal to a large market. Then if you sell enough copies, who cares if it becomes dated?
No, it's not OK to try to write for the modern top 40 market using dated slang. That was the whole point of the original story.... the powers that be in the music biz will mark your song DOA because it has dated slang. It will never get the chance to see the light of day to sell any copies. If however, you are writing for fun and for yourself and a small circle of friends, have at it.... knock yourself out.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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Sorry.... I should have included THIS in the OP up top..... my apologies.... http://songtown.com/the-biggest-mistake/Read that story... it explains a lot.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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I'll add when writing lyrics if sounding dated is the prime concern - don't forget not to include certain "things" in any song other than one written from a looking back perspecive. Sooner or later, referring to specific things can also date a song lyric. For example, I love Jim Croce's Operator but when's the last time anyone talked to an operator on a payphone for a dime.... Point being, It's not just slang one has to consider when talking about sounding dated. (BTW, I still love Groovin' On a Sunday Afternoon, The 69th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy), and Working On A Groovy Thing. There are some great oldie slang songs. ) P.S. Jim you are AWESOME DUDE! 
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I'll add when writing lyrics if sounding dated is the prime concern - don't forget not to include certain "things" in any song other than one written from a looking back perspecive. Sooner or later, referring to specific things can also date a song lyric. So true, and great point! For example, I love Jim Croce's Operator but when's the last time anyone talked to an operator on a payphone for a dime.... Point being, It's not just slang one has to consider when talking about sounding dated. Not EXACTLY the same as what you are saying, but kind of ironic...Maroon 5 has a song called "Payphone" that came out a few years back. It debuted at 21, pretty high, but went on to peak at #1...and sold over 9.5 million copies! Crazy! I bring this up because the reason they used the idea of a payphone is interesting. According to Adam, they wanted to portray someone as being REALLY down on their luck. Basically saying, if you are calling from a payphone in this day and age, let's face, things aren't going well! So, I guess "dated" concepts can be used for affect too! Like I said, different than what you were saying, but it reminded me of it! (BTW, I still love Groovin' On a Sunday Afternoon, The 69th Street Bridge Song (Feeling Groovy), and Working On A Groovy Thing. There are some great oldie slang songs. ) I love those as well! They just create a feeling I like P.S. Jim you are AWESOME DUDE! +1
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
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... For example, I love Jim Croce's Operator but when's the last time anyone talked to an operator on a payphone for a dime.... During my last trip to the US in April 2001 somewhere in rural Missouri I wanted to call somebody for some more detail on where to meet. My European cell phone didn't work with the analogue nets still in operation in the US, only with the digital nets along the major highways and in larger cities. (Back then in Europe analogue cell phone nets were history for a couple of years already.) In the roadside diner I asked if I could make a phone call. The answer was something like: "Our phone is good for local calls only. If you need to call outside you need to go the gas station down the road and use their payphone." There I had to talk to the operator...she requested another quarter if I wanted to continue talking.
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.... For example, I love Jim Croce's Operator but when's the last time anyone talked to an operator on a payphone for a dime.... Point being, It's not just slang one has to consider when talking about sounding dated.
A couple of totally unrelated observations.... I'm training with a Search and Rescue team with my dog. One of the things in our certification is a backpack check for a list of items that help us survive in the woods. One of the things on that list is 2 quarters..... so you can make a payphone call to the emergency folks. Supposedly, there was a pay phone on the AT .... but you can't even find pay phones in cities any more. They finally revised the list and removed the 2 quarters and dropped the mandatory backpack check. I used to play at a club where the owners wife though I looked like Jim Croce. She kept pestering me to sing Time In A Bottle. I never did learn that song.... she used to give me the creeps. I was taken to task for the word "something" in a song.... they told me I needed to tell what that "something" was...... ..............we now return you to your regularly scheduled programming, already in progress.....
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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The last time I used a payphone it was either 50 cents or a dollar. Now I'm not certain there are any left around here. Caaron, I like Maroon 5 although I've never gotten that deep into their music. Used to enjoy hearing Drive By on the car radio and a couple of their other songs. I guess really the term Drive By could be considered slang too.
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The last time I used a payphone it was either 50 cents or a dollar. Now I'm not certain there are any left around here. I didn't know if we did either...I wasn't really looking for them! However...when I went to the gas station, I did see one there! They exist...or...I was still drunk. (j/k of course) Caaron, I like Maroon 5 although I've never gotten that deep into their music. Used to enjoy hearing Drive By on the car radio and a couple of their other songs. I'm not by choice. I mean, I don't hate them or anything, but I have children who like them. One of them because "Adam is SOOOOO cute!" Anyway, I hear there songs because of that. I guess really the term Drive By could be considered slang too. smile Very true!
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
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I'm training with a Search and Rescue team with my dog. One of the things in our certification is a backpack check for a list of items that help us survive in the woods. One of the things on that list is 2 quarters..... so you can make a payphone call to the emergency folks. Supposedly, there was a pay phone on the AT .... but you can't even find pay phones in cities any more. They finally revised the list and removed the 2 quarters and dropped the mandatory backpack check. Ok, that is just WAY cool that you are training for such great purpose! I just wanted to say that. Consider me impressed! Plus, what a great bond with you dog! I used to play at a club where the owners wife though I looked like Jim Croce. She kept pestering me to sing Time In A Bottle. I never did learn that song.... she used to give me the creeps. That story sort of creeped me out. I think musicians have some weird experiences like that. THAT could be a fun thread to start! lol I was taken to task for the word "something" in a song.... they told me I needed to tell what that "something" was...... Ok, that is just funny to me. I know there are different schools of writing, but one of them is to allow people to fill in what it means to them. For fun, I am taking on the challenge. I will write a song about "Something" (Aw man, Sundance, I'm feeling a bit bizaro Jerry AND also "a show about nothing") Seriously, I think it would be such a doable thing to write a song without saying exactly what that something is...and still have it work. I'm on it! I have NO idea why, but this sounds fun! Sorry about the commercial interruption. I think those are both me. Commercial and interruption. Back to you Herb!
Chad (Hope that makes it easier)
TEMPO TANTRUM: What a lead singer has when they can't stay in time.
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I was taken to task for the word "something" in a song.... they told me I needed to tell what that "something" was...... Ok, that is just funny to me. I know there are different schools of writing, but one of them is to allow people to fill in what it means to them. For fun, I am taking on the challenge. I will write a song about "Something" I guess that screener never listened to the Beatles.... they wrote SOMETHING.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7_MsY2IJz4 it was a huge hit... and never did define the word..... but I'm betting the screener wasn't even born when that song was out.
Last edited by Guitarhacker; 02/01/16 10:05 AM.
You can find my music at: www.herbhartley.comAdd nothing that adds nothing to the music. You can make excuses or you can make progress but not both. The magic you are looking for is in the work you are avoiding.
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The last time I used a payphone it was either 50 cents or a dollar. Now I'm not certain there are any left around here.
.....
What no payphone booths! Where is Clark Kent going to change in Superman now?
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