Been following this thread, but hesitated to put in my two cents--since sometimes I'm a singer-songwriter and thought I'd lurk and see what people said. I've been singing the "old songs" since I was a kid, but I'm also a writer, and Words R Me. Occasionally I have something I want to say and my homemade songs are adjuncts to the traditional and schmaltzy songs I love. Some of the songs I made are now like the toothpaste that got out of the tube, and others sing them and are welcome to them. Neat. They're NOT omphaloscopic (which I label bellybutton songs), I don't think--yet what I write has to be based on my experiences and perceptions since I don't have anybody else's to base them on. On the other hand, there ought to be a bit of judgement here, as to how personal to make the song, and can our particular story be couched in ways that would apply to us all. Besides the musical, there's the literary aspect, and songs that make you yawn or blush probably have pretty bad writing in them. You'd put a novel down in a hurry if it made you bored or embarrassed. Whew...guess I ran off at the fingers!
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