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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: be a mirror

I taught a song workshop at Ventura College on Saturday, July 9. Had an excellent turnout and a very sharp group who asked good questions.Ventura is about an hour and a half north of L.A. so I spend as much time driving as teaching when I work up there. But I always take the coast route through Malibu so it's more like a mini-vacation than driving to work. It was a gorgeous day. The road wove in and out of patches of fog. No surf to speak of but enough wind for para-surfing. I'd come around a curve and spot a whole group of billowing crescent-shaped parachutes scudding thorugh the sky, dragging a surfboard along at top speed.

One of the participants in the workshop on Saturday was a teacher who is also involved with the local Girl Scout organization. She has written song parodies for the scouts to perform at various occasions. This is a great way for lyricists to hone their skills. You're working to a hit melody so you are bound to have strong song form and good melodic contrast between sections. It's basically the same exercise as writing to a 'ghost song' melody that I teach in my classes. Working with a hit song melody helps you embed the rudiments of good songwriting in a way that reading a book about songwriting or just listening doesn't do. It's like learning to ride a bicycle - a book on the subject can only take you so far.

Parody songs are in a kind of legal no-person's land. A one-time use by a non-profit organization like the Girl Scouts would probably be okay under the doctrine of Fair Use. (For more info on Fair Use, visit the U.S. Copyright web site at http://www.copyright.gov/fls/fl102.html.) But writing and recording a parody of a hit song for commercial release on CD is not okay. Weird Al Yankovic, who has built a career on parody songs, always gets permission from the publisher and pays a portion of the royalty to the publisher/writer. This is the safest way to do it and even then you can still have problems. Coolio was very upset about Al's parody version of "Gangsta's Paradise" and says he never gave permission for the parody. Al says that he spoke with Coolio's manager and got permission and I'm sure he did. My guess is the manager didn't run it by Coolio for whatever reason. Al's parody, "Amish Paradise," is very funny and extremely well done but Coolio felt it detracted from the serious message of the original song. It didn't; "Gangsta's Paradise" is one of the greatest rap lyrics ever written and nothing could lessen it's powerful, emotional impact. It is the first example I use in my songwriting class, to demonstrate that a song is not just words and music but a highly effective means of communicating emotion. But we're talking about parodies here and this is an outstanding example. Al parallels the elements of the original lyric both visually and verbally. Here are the first verses of both songs.

Gangsta's Paradise - Coolio
As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize there's nuttin left
Cause I've been blastin and laughin so long that
Even my mama thinks that my mind is gone
But I never crossed a man that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard of
You better watch how you talkin, and where you walkin
Or you and your homies might be lined in chalk
I really hate to trip, but I gotta loc
As they croak I see myself in the pistol smoke, foo
I'm the kinda G the little homies wanna be like
On my knees in the night
Sayin prayers in the street light

Amish Paradise - Al Yankovic
As I walk through the valley where I harvest my grain
I take a look at my wife and realize she’s very plain
But that’s just perfect for an amish like me
You know I shun fancy things like electricity
At 4:30 in the morning I’m milkin’ cows
Jebediah feeds the chickens and jacob plows... fool
And I’ve been milkin’ and plowin’ so long that
Even ezekiel thinks that my mind is gone
I’m a man of the land, I’m into discipline
Got a Bible in my hand and a beard on my chin
But if I finish all of my chores and you finish thine
Then tonight we’re gonna party like it’s 1699

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Read A Brief History Of Love Songs by Robin Frederick at the Sound Experience Music web site.

Copyright 2005 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.