The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #78505   Message #1412502
Posted By: GUEST,GUEST Val
16-Feb-05 - 07:28 PM
Thread Name: What is a good song and why?
Subject: RE: What is a good song and why?
As has been implied in a couple of previous posts, the quality of a performance has a lot to do with how a song is received by a particular audience. I suspect that could/should be a whole 'nother thread?

But what makes a SONG great? Doesn't that depend on how you define "Greatness"? Is a great song one that is memorable to the audience leaving the hall, or one that is still performed generations after it was written? Or both? Neither?

Beauty (or "goodness", for this thread) in Art is in the ear of the beholder, and thus eschews definition.

In addition to the Art of songwriting, however, there is also a Craft which can be taught and learned. When a songwriter makes skillful use of the tools of the trade, the result will be "good" - needing only the spark of Beauty to make it Great.

Maybe someone more skilled than I could discuss the various Tools of the Craft and how they can be used to create Good music?