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What makes a track good?

Nienor

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Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd is probably my favorite song, so here are the lyrics

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell,
Blue skys from pain.
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail?
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?

And did they get you to trade
Your heros for ghosts?
Hot ashes for trees?
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change?
And did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?

How I wish, how I wish you were here.
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl,
Year after year,
Running over the same old ground.
What have we found?
The same old fears.
Wish you were here.
 
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musicPhan#41

Guest
Western Deity said:
What is it that makes you think that a song is "good"? What is common between all the songs that you enjoy listening to?
passion.

i'd say passion is the only thing that my music has in common. i listen to so many different things, but they're all full of passion.

but passion, in itself doesn't make a song good.


what makes a song good is chemistry. Like guy/girl chemistry. you can't really explain why you like music to other people. you can say things about it, and you think that other people understand what you mean, but you can't be sure.
 
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blackwasp

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^That's a pretty good explanation; as a matter of fact, I might buy into it. :)

I also think that lyrics are pretty important, and the stuff that I think is great normally deals with issues that are somewhat philosophical or issues that make the listener think. I'd agree that "Wish You Were Here" is very high on the list of songs that I respect and enjoy.
 
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philN

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I like alot of songs for different reasons:

1. Depth/creativity -- I really appreciate artists who can be innovative within a genre and strech the boundaries sonically. I also like songs that have a message that is broader and more thought-provoking than a song written to be catchy. Lyrically, I also like artists who can weave words together really well that are either paradoxical or make good use of word play. (e.g. Sufjan Stevens, Alkaline Trio, Animal Collective, Half-Handed Cloud, et cetera)

2. A song that is just really catchy -- there are some songs that are catchy, but are musically well done so the enjoyment lasts. Alot of times I get made fun of for liking these, as they usually tend to be guilty pleasures. (e.g. "toxic" by Britney Spears, "Hey Ya!" by OutKast, "Galang" by M.I.A)

3. Something that is timeless and is fresh and inventive decades after it came out. (e.g. anything by The Beach Boys, The Beatles, The Kinks, Nick Drake, Elvis Costello)

and there are other reasons, but I am too tired (read: lazy) to think of them.
 
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Qyöt27

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musicPhan, blackwasp, and philN summed up my position pretty well.

To add to this, I reject discrediting music based on some popular 'standard' of taste (such as people not listening to 'sell-outs', pop-punk, etc.; I could care less). To me, discrediting music that way is, to quote spacedout in the prog rock thread, pretentious wankery. I listen to music for the music (I don't mean the tune), and I'm sure all of us listen to something someone else would label as junk.

I mean, if I had the ability in front of me to actually do this, I would feel no remorse about putting "Mmmbop", "My Name Is Mud", "Mama Said Knock You Out", "Don't Fear The Reaper", "Gouge Away", "Precious Jerusalem", "Bleed American", "My Happy Ending", "Who Was In My Room Last Night?", "Saturday Night", "Take The Skinheads Bowling", "Because You Loved Me", "Requiem For A Dream", "Lola", "Kick Out The Jams", "It's Tricky", "Modern Love", "Solsbury Hill", "Once" (Pearl Jam), "Only With You" (Captain Hollywood Project), and "Head Like A Hole" on a single CD and enjoying all of them.

Actually, I think I might just do that. That sounds like a pretty cool mix. :D
 
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ps139

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musicPhan#41 said:
passion.

i'd say passion is the only thing that my music has in common. i listen to so many different things, but they're all full of passion.

but passion, in itself doesn't make a song good.


what makes a song good is chemistry. Like guy/girl chemistry. you can't really explain why you like music to other people. you can say things about it, and you think that other people understand what you mean, but you can't be sure.
I couldn't have put it better myself.
 
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FatBurger

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It's a combination of far too many factors to ever describe accurately. But everyone has something slightly different. One of them for me is unconvential songwriting. For example, a song that doesn't follow the typical verse/chorus/verse/chorus/bridge/chorus flow. Or perhaps a song that strings together words that have similar sounds at the beginning or middle, not the end (non-traditional rhyming, I guess).
That's a big part of why I like some of the songs I do.
 
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something from the fridge

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nadroj1985 said:
It's all about the little tingly feeling. If the song gives me the tingly feeling, I like it. Pretty simple, if usually a little hard to predict, but what fun would it be if it were predictable?

ahhhh, someone else that gets it.

my concern is that i dont' get the feeling because the song is about God, but because i am worshipping the music
 
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crosspointe

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It's all about the musicians for me. A song could be written well and have a great melody, lyrics and more and still have nothing going for it if the musicians aren't any good. Most of the time I prefer live music...

For example - "Hotel California" by the Eagles is a better than average song out of the studio. When they did it live though it was awesome! "Tusk" by Fleetwood Mac would be another example of a song that was okay in studio but awesome live. Of course how do you beat a marching band?

Musical ability is tops on my list. Bend your ear to "Riding With The King" by Eric Clapeton and B.B. King. Now that's a great album!
 
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