Don’t make the mistake of shying away from the tough decisions that often have to be made at the re-writing stage—especially when strengthening a song means having to change or leave out some of the favorite lyrics, rhymes, melodic phrases, chords, or even complete verses that you started out with.
But you have to be ruthlessly honest with yourself. If you feel the song is the absolute best you can do beyond reasonable doubt (as they say in court), then go ahead and submit the song. But if you have the slightest doubt, you must be prepared to focus on identifying the song’s weaknesses (and fix them) before spending time and money on making a demo.
If you aren’t willing to re-visit or re-work your songs and do whatever is best for each of them, then the rejection slips may continue to pile up in your letter-box. A song that is ‘close enough’ for performing on stage won’t be good enough for publishers, A&R managers and producers who have to operate in the tough commercial world of the music business.
Re-writing and editing can be hard work. You have to do it without losing the spontaneity and spark of inspiration that gave you the idea for the song in the first place. It may require finding a fresh way of saying what you want to say in your song, or correcting some of the common mistakes highlighted in this book. But it’s essential step if you want songwriting success.
As mentioned previously in this book, an easy method of monitoring your progress during the re-writing stage is to make a simple guitar/vocal or piano/vocal recording on a hand-held recorder or a smartphone every time you make adjustments to the song. Hearing the song back like an ordinary listener will give you a different perspective on the changes you’ve made and may highlight any remaining flaws in the song.
‘Polishing’ a song is one of the most crucial steps in writing a hit, so it’s better to take your time and keep re-writing and editing until you feel the magic happen … and the song finally falls into place beyond reasonable doubt.
# # # #