Interesting, MMario,

Maybe I should ask Dad to read my lyrics out loud, and see if he interprets the rhythm of the lines differently.

I do know that we hear recorded songs differently (say, when we're listening to a song on the car radio) -- he almost never understands the lyrics as they are sung, and it doesn't bother him at all, but he can pick out unique syncopations that the drummer is doing in the background. I, on the other hand, hear the lyrics first: the rhyme scheme, rhythm, etc., and can memorize the lyrics after a few listenings.

As much as I want to share what I do with my father, I may have to resign myself to the fact that as valuable as his advice is in other matters, we're just too different, musically, for his critiques to be valuable.

Which is why I like the idea of a song workshop thread -- In the Mudcat, we have all sorts of musical types.