This has probably been discussed before, but as with all old topics, we have new people to chip in.

A lot of people here talk happily and proudly about collaborating on songs with other users around the country or even around the world. I would like to state my experiences and see how they are alike or different from yours.

A couple of years back I connected with Rog over in Jolly Olde and we had a very nice working relationship. I had some stuff to which I thought I would like BGV added, and had nobody to sing them. He had a music school with eager students. I sent him songs, and his kids added parts. I got my BGVs, they got experience. Everybody won. We then took it a step further where the England side wrote a song and he sent it to me to write and sing a verse and a bridge, and his kids handled the choruses and remaining vocals. That turned out very well. It was a surfing song and had Beach Boys or Jan and Dean written all over it. The next step then was that one of his girls liked one of my songs and wanted to do her own take on it, and they nailed it! She took a country-ish ballad and made a more pop feel song of it, and I loved what they did. Then another girl did a rendition of a song, and his 3rd girl did the vocals by my request on a third. All outstanding results!

Now, with all that said, the only one that, in my mind, was truly a collaboration was the surf song, because we WROTE it together. Maybe I need to define that word a little more broadly to myself, but when they added parts or redid songs I don't really consider that collaboration. That was just studio work for hire.

So that brings me to my real question. (I know I am historically long winded.) WHY do you want to collaborate? Is it because you are stuck for a lyric, or a chord progression, and maybe just feeling a little stale? I feel like if I can't finish my own song, my own story, this little slice of MY life, I have failed as a songwriter, because who can really tell my story better than I can? I had one songwriter (not on here) tell me that she uses a co-writer when she gets stuck for a lyric. Well, I not only use a lot of words, I feel like I use them pretty well, so that is rarely going to be a problem for me. So when do you turn to someone else? When you NEED them, or because you WANT them?

My issues are more of motivation. I have like 18 songs either part way recorded, or part way written, or in the area of lyrics on a napkin, envelope or restaurant place mat. I just have no drive to take them any further. As I said on another post and I think it was Herb who said the same thing, once I finish with something I feel no pressing need to do that thing again, so when I finished that "bucket list" CD, that is now done and I am looking for the next new thing I want to do. Sadly, to date that new thing is to be on vacation from working for the rest of my life.... laugh