Great to see Anne Lister contributing here (18 May, 3.07 pm). Anne's songs are some of those I had in mind when I wrote about the "few gold nuggets".

If you're still reading this thread, Anne, your song "Icarus" is a great example of what I was talking about; at first when I heard it I thought of it just as a re-telling of the myth from another point of view, and then at another listening I suddenly thought "This is about every parent with a headstrong, creative child. This is about me and my daughter .." and filled up with tears (as I still do when I hear the song). That universality, drawn from a a specific example, is at the heart of all good lyric writing.

And (not directed at Anne but at others above) just because I don't write songs - not serious ones, anyway - I don't see that this prohibits me from expressing opinions on songs I hear, or trying to explain what's appealing or cring-making about them. I don't write novels or make films either, but I can tell bad writing from good writing, and a great film from a turkey. If songwriters don't want to know what their audiences think of their songs, they're in danger of deluding themselves about their talent.

Marje