About a year ago I sang one of my own songs at our local club. One of the respected members said to me on the side that he liked the song but felt it was too long (chorus + 4 verses). I took on board what he said and re-visited the lyrics at home.
After some shimmying around I decided that, while he had a valid point, by reducing the verses to 3 the story lost something.
Although I still sing the song as originally written, I valued his comment and was glad he felt that I was approachable on the subject.