The San Francisco call. [volume] (San Francisco [Calif.]) 1895-1913, 1897-01-16

correctly as to the likes and dislikes of the
tickle public; so the song-writer must use his
skill and tact, coupled with his experience
and observation, and leave the rest to the
publisher and providence.
Two points, however, must be borne in
mind, the commercial view, and the avoidance
OF art for art is not essential for this work,
unless a happy knack OF versifying can be
digniied by that name, and the gener public
have little taste for the higher variety. This
statement is only made concerning ephemeral
songs of the day. for q song to become standard
and live must possess genuine merit in point
OF versifcation, m sical setting, or both. IT'S
of the popular lyric effusion OF which we are
speaking, however, and we will confne our
selves 10 that topic.
ITO begin the writer observes the style of
the latest song that has met with popular ap-
prOval, and likely as not appropriates the idea;
or possibly he has touch of originality and
copies nobody, though this hypothesis is i'm
probable. Then comes the choice of subject,
| and though the popular writer should be pro-
life in themes and happy in their selection,
| trivial inciuent may serve as the groundwork
if properly handled, or an mag mary one with
varnish of reality, the thinner the better,
win answer well, though novel situations
| are much sought after nowadays.
"Whatever the theme selected he must make
| the lines broad and their meaning unmistak.
! able; the entinent must be exaggerated, like
i the scenes in a melodrams. II he writes of
| love it must be of the faithful-until death
variety improbable. THE world
| loves lover, but for the commonplace wooer
! the world has no sympathy and in a song the
| public's sympathy must be aroused. The
| lover in the yric must be a bold, handsome,
devil-may-care fellow, and love like ntony.
| No halfway business goes with the patrons OF
! this style ofsong, and the 'woeiul ballad made
to his mistress eyebrow for them is played
| out.
aft comic song is projected it should be
| strictly comic, not humorous; with touches of
| horseplay thrown in-catch words and forcible
| phrases.
| "For dialect creation authorities on dialect
can be consulted to advantage, supplemented
| by observations of the manners and speech Of
| the nationality TO be depicted, the whole
| broadened and boldly accentuated.
I'm the topical verse everything should be
| subsidiary to the climax. The concluding
phrase should be like the cracker on the whip,
| snappy, pungent startling. Perhaps no style
OF verse is so difficult of construction as the
topical, Tor the air is Usually but vehicle for
the words, its success depending on the APP
propriateness of the theme and the manner in
which ii is presented.
"The selection of topic having been made
! and the lyric constructed TO the best of he
authors ability, it is given over to the tender
mercies of the composer, and if he be clever
and grasps the versifer's idea he makes the
music in concord with the words. We will
draw charitable veil over the differences liza
! BILE to arise between author and composer, the
brain torture the latter undergoes i'll the COM
position OF q catchy air and accompaniment,
| and imagine the song as thing complete.
. ''Tnen comes the most difficult task of all,
that of placing the song upon the market If
possible publisher should be found whose
inheren mt honesty has not succumbed 10 oppor.
| tunity. 1t is a mooted question among song
writer's # such one lives to-day, the preva-
lent opinion being that, like the dodo, the
species is now extinct if it ever existed at all.
The publisher found. the next thing is 10 get
some singer to give the song to the waiting
public and it's right here that that important
factor, the popularizer,' gets in his work.
Different footiight favorites are cajoled, fat
tered, persuaded sometimes by the promise of
a share in the profits into putting on the
song, for all interested know that the success
of the bantling is largely dependent upon the
personality of the introducer. Such party
| being procured, the song is heard by the
public.
"Apropos q word or two about songs that
have made money through such instrument
tally may not be amiss.
"In the song After the Bali the verses are
beneath contempt, and the air has such wide
range that the average voice has not the COM
| pass to sing it. / once heard music hail
singer render the first part in the original key,
and the refrain tone lower. Still in spite OF
its bad rhyme and faulty construction, this
song had an enormous sale. the profits being
variously estimated at from $4,000 to $780,
900. Another song which has been successful
from monetary standpoint is labeled My
Mother Was Lady
.It tells the story of a girl who came to the
city to seek her brother, and obtained situa-
ton as waitress. Fancy the idea of laying
the scene of sen timental ballad in q hashery !!
In the first verse the heroine with the lady
like mother is rudely joshed' by drummer
she is attending at table, and the 'josher asks
her to marry him in the third. Talk about u
rapid age, it's al settled in five minutes and
in the most puerile verse ever perpeirated.
Both OF these songs were well introduced, and
to that fact must their success be attributed,
for it would be dong injustice to the intel
ligence of the American public to say they
were accepted on their merits
'The 'popularizer' exhausts all the tricks of