Sorry I should have been more clear - by "happy", I was referring to the upbeat feel of the music, not the lyrics themselves.

Writing political/historical lyrics can be difficult, because you can't assume that the listener knows or cares about the politics. So the trick is to supply the information but make it appear a natural part of the story. I think Al Stewart does a good job of this - songs like Roads to Moscow, Coldest Winter in Memory and Palace of Versailles are good examples.

But it's difficult to cram all that information into a song and not sound heavy-handed. I think On The Border is more typical, where specific details are sacrificed for more general observations.

Cheers!


-- David Cuny
My virtual singer development blog

Vocal control, you say. Never heard of it. Is that some kind of ProTools thing?