The Undisputed used the term “well crafted song” in his recent thread and that got me thinking - aside from style and taste and other considerations - what are some examples of the “well crafted song”.
I cut my musical teeth in urban bar and club bands in the late 70’s and 80’s and it shows in first several that come to mind:
867-5309/Jenny by Tommy Tutone
Two Tickets to Paradise by Eddie Money
My Sharona by The Knack
Yours?
Steppenwolf’s “America”
djm
Alternative titles:
Two Chickens to Paralyze
My Bologna
IMHO, well crafted songs wouldn’t subject theselves so easily to parody. 
… I got, two chickens to paralyze
Pack your bags of leaves tonight
Two chickens to paralyze… 
Hmm, well crafted songs…
I’ve been stumping my old favs from Dream Theater lately in the What We’re Listening To thread, so I guess I’ll continue here. Just about everything from D.T. is well crafted (that’s what happens when you throw a bunch of rediculously talented guys educated at Berklee College of Music together ), but some of the more well-done-up songs, IMHO, come off of the Awakealbum.
From my other favorite genre, I’ve always enjoyed the music of my cousin’s band Insatiable as much or more than any of the ska bigwigs out there. There’s also Hepcat, another group of rediculously talented people.
I’ve always liked “Navigator” written by Phil Gaston and performed by the Pogues. Nicely balanced, historical theme, and classic McGowan vocals. Another great one from the same album is “Greenland Whale Fisheries”.
“Stairway to Heaven” is pretty okay. And I’ve heard some people say they like “Purple Haze.” Oh, and one time I was ordering a Big Mac, and I heard this song over the intercom that was pretty neat. It was about this dude name Jude, and he kept making it bad, but the singer was like, “HEY DON’T MAKE IT BAD JUDE” so I guess he didn’t make it bad anymore. I liked that song pretty good.
I don’t know if songs with seamless hooks qualify, but since it’s seasonal
Do You Hear What I Hear? Sung by der Bingle, preferably.
Also, that Elvis song, Falling in Love with You. Very crafted.
For songwriting, there is the art side–that pure inspiration that comes from what seems to be other-than-worldly sources. The craft side is the 95% perspiration that it often takes to birth a song.
There are times when I hear lyrics and I am struck by the power in the words. There are times when I hear a melody and again am knocked back. For the listener and the songwriter it is not that easy to separate the art from the craft. One popular song that comes to mind is “Angel from Montgomery.” However, I don’t know if that much craft went into it, or if it flowed straight out in 30 minutes of pure connection to source.
As a songwriter, I can share one of my songs that I had a difficult time writing. After throwing out several themes and several works in progress, the hard working craft side of the brain brought into being one of my very best songs.
Here are the lyrics to “Chamomile Tears”:
Listen at this link:
http://www.soundclick.com/bands/pagemusic.cfm?bandID=34909
Chamomile Tears
The woman is a seeker, with magic in her veins
The woman is a healer, with power over pain.
Bring her all your stories, of sorrow and despair
unload all your burdens, release your worldly cares
She inscribes your name on tea leaves, not a witches brew
as she makes a pot of tea, to cast a spell on you
She cries Chamomile tears, to heal a broken world
it’s a tonic for the restless, a salve for weary souls
She cries Chamomile tears, so soothing to the touch
it’s a remedy that heals, when life is just too much
She listens to your story, she weathers all the rain
the tears she sheds are real, to process all the pain
She cries Chamomile tears, to heal a broken world
it’s a tonic for the restless, a salve for weary souls
She cries Chamomile tears, so soothing to the touch
it’s a remedy that heals, when life is just too much
For well-crafted songs, IMO nothing compares to the best songs
from the 30s and 40s. The country was a lot older, fewer kids,
and people writing songs were a lot more sophisticated than
today and were writing for a mature audience that was living
through some tough times. Consider the work that went
into these lyrics…
I’ll Be Seeing You
I’ll be seeing you in all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces all day through
In that small café, the park across the way
The children’s carousel, the chestnut trees, the wishing well
I’ll be seeing you in every lovely summer’s day
In everything that’s light and gay
I’ll always think of you that way
I’ll find you in the mornin’ sun
And when the night is new
I’ll be looking at the moon
But I’ll be seeing you
“I’ll Be Seeing You” was written by Irving Kahal and Sammy Fain in 1938.
It was extraordinarily popular during WWII, for obvious reasons.
Crosby and Sinatra covered it.
I have to say it is one of my favorites. A great song that.
I would suggest that a well crafted song is one that can stand the test of time, and still be as potent as it was when first penned and listened to. Another good example of this is Yesterday, by The Beatles.
The whole “Monster” set for that matter. When I saw them a couple of times in the mid-70’s, John would introduce the song saying something to the effect that it was a comment on the times (c. 1970), but it might be more timely several years later. It might be even more timely now.
I think the best-crafted songs are those that can be done well by many singers. Many of the Christmas carols fit this, as do many folk songs. Hackneyed as they are, songs like The Blacksmith, Annachie Gordon, and the Banks of Claudy come to mind. One of my personal favorites is the Lakes of Ponchartrain.
For pop songs I’d be hard-pressed to come up with one better crafted than Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. Good tune and good lyrics. Getting just a little off the beaten path, A Salty Dog by Procol Harum.
Oops! You’re right, Chas. The whole piece is called “Monster”. Its the America portion that always sticks in my head. Its like “Listening To You” by The Who from Tommy in that it has that big finale sound I like.
Re. Jim Stone’s story about more sophisticated music in the mid 20th century, I would certainly have to agree. Here are a couple of favourites from that time:
I’m an old cowhand from the Rio Grande
But my legs ain’t bowed and my cheeks ain’t tanned
I’m the cowboy who never saw a cow
Never roped a steer ‘cause I don’t know how
I sure ain’t fixin’ to start in now
Yippee i oh ti-ay! Yippee i oh ti-ay!
(1936. Copyrighted Words and Music by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren)
I know a ditty nutty as a fruitcake
Goofy as a goon and silly as a loon
Some call it pretty others call it crazy
but they all sing this tune:
Mairzy Doats And Dozy Doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you?
Yes! Mairzy doats And Dozy Doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?
If the words sound queer, and funny to your ear,
A little bit jumbled and jivey,
Sing “Mares eat oats and does eat oats and little lambs eat ivy”
Oh! Mairzy Doats and Dozy Doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you - oo?
A kiddley divey too. Wouldn’t you?
(1943. Copyrighted Words and Music by Milton Drake, Al Hoffman, and Jerry Livingston)
Man, now that’s great music!
djm
I think a well-crafted song is like a well-crafted beer. You can call
a beer “well-crafted” if, when drinking it, you realize all the other
beers made by that brewer were just practice runs that culminated in
the brew currently sliding past your tongue.
So, a well-crafted song is one that is the peak of a songwriter’s
prowess. A song to which all the lessons learned from previously-
penned songs have been applied.
Therefore, I give you the Indigo Girls’ “Closer to Fine”
It is customary, nay, almost madatory, to include a YouTube link:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=-JaSPM4detc
It does not, by the way, even hold a candle to The Bangles:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=bdRaLuKhobU
djm
My bad. But I prefer the studio version, which retains the pennywhistle solo:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=oxMOFrfEkDU
Did you miss where I said pennywhistle solo?
Actually, you make a good point. But when I think about it, to me
80% of the appeal of “Walk like an Egyptian” is the video (and at
least 70% of that is Susannah Hoffs’ legs)
Here’s another great cowboy song from the 40s, I think.
Bing Crosby covered it.
Don’t Fence Me In
Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don’t fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don’t fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin’ breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don’t fence me in
Just turn me loose, let me straddle my old saddle
Underneath the western skies
On my cayuse, let me wander over yonder
Till I see the mountains rise
I want to ride to the ridge where the West commences
And gaze at the moon till I lose my senses
And I can’t look at hobbles and I can’t stand fences
Don’t fence me in
I think there are lots of beautiful or great songs
that aren’t so well-crafted. It’s not always easy to estimate
the craft of a beautiful tune and simple words.
There are places though, where you see the craftsman’s touch,
just as one might see it in bevelled tone-hole edges, say, on a flute
or whistle.
So ‘Someone to watch over me’ doesn’t begin
‘There is somebody I’m longing to see…’
but
‘There’s a somebody I’m longing to see…’
Ira Gershwin thought about this, I wager.
My favorite cowboy song is from the “Texas Tom” episode of Tom and Jerry.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AG_iI3XWvAU
I went ridin’ down the trail from Santa Fe
When I met another gal along the way
I said, “Baby, you’re a dream.”
She said, “Touch me and I’ll scream!”
So, I tipped my hat and slowly rode away.
Man, the cartoons from that era are pheno.. penom…phomable…real good.
I never saw videos to any of these things until YouTube. For me WLAE stands on its own as an opus to pop culture (the legs don’t hurt, of course).
djm
One of my faves in the category of “well crafted songs” is Billy Joel’s “Scenes from an Italian Restaurant”. It’s like a mini-operetta in that it’s a complete story, told in “flashback” format; the whole overall sound of the music changes ever so slightly as you go through the years, and it is ever-so-nicely bookended by the intro and outro “A bottle o’ red, …”.
And sax solo is sweet.
And this live version is bitchin’:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E7IHk69DXBI
Merry Christmas, all.
They based a whole musical around it…
http://www.movinoutonbroadway.com/