Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1908-01-31

ington 10 protest before the commit
tees on copyright against "cannou
music without royalties. says That
sometimes he's tempted to wish ,hat
no could lose and regain his hearing
At Will.
The times when feel rs If Id
like TO be deaf" he says. ARE when
I'm forced to listen 10 my own songs
| Mo- that the songs aren't all right in
heir way. They're good enough rot
Of their sort. But other folks can
listen TO them II they must ana WIN
I'm sicl; Of them. They make me tr
ei. They give ME The tizzy-wi82y
Id rather listen 10 Chinese tom.toin
orchestra any time than TO hear those
songs OF mine rendered by the Dam.
Tosch Orchestra. That's how wears
am Of them
You see. they're clucked nj nc
everywhere-and all manufacturers
Of songs have the same miserable ex
perience. For example. I've me
whole heaps OF extremely nice folks
In Washington-inct good many OF
! tlsm socially at their homes. \vhat'e
the first thing that they all dozen
erons souls--to compliment me?
Why. they hus,le over 10 the piano
and begin to sing my songs ana Ia
whack 'em out on the piano. They
all do that. men and women alike. Ut
course ought 10 feel pleased when
they do this-l've got to look pleased
anyhow. I ought To feel compliment
ed as they intend. But however
may look. | certainly don't feel hap
| py I've got to smirk and look self
conscious and BATTERED and all like
that: tat wpen ! look that way I'm
the most brazen fraud that you ever
saw or heard OF in your Drawn days
I'm an Internal hypocr.te when looh
grlnny ana chessy-carty over folks
efforts to please me by singing or
whacklng my songs. Because eve.
blooming note of the songs il n per
| feet misery TO me aud nothing else
Ion see. the average song composer
becomes weary OF his new songs long
before they sver are published NJ all.
He gets tired of them. IT, TACT. offer
enough, while hes throwing them to
sether have healh that there art
some famous writers who refuse ut.
terly to look at their writings when
the writings are printed. Probably
that's because they're sick OF the
stuff they're written before it gets
| into type. And that, as | say, is how
| ii is with song writer's.
III the song OF which the composer
becomes weary while hes writing II
Is hit after it's published. then the
composer Is in for 1t. He'll often feel
| like going to Van Diemen's land for
a few years 10 get away from the
lnerve-racklng din OF the blamed song
that has made hit If he drops
INTO vaudeville show he's bound TO
hear the thing sung or played at some
| time or another during the perform,
ance. If he drops into music store
| one or other of th clerks is bound
! to romp over 10 II piano and begin To
knock the tar ouc OF the air OF the
song. with the idea that he's making
| a hit with the writer OF the thing
! If he shows UP at any sort of lit
tie social Blowout where a lot OF his
| friends are assembled, they simply
refuse 10 do anything else but play
and howl that new song of his In
such cases the composer cant come
out boorshly and beg them TO cut II
out. That wouldn't look right. So he
has 10 SIT and twiddle his thumbs
and stand for ii. Before the evenings
over they're hound to ask him TO sing
or play THE beastly thing lims-lf,
and If he tries TO wiiggle out Of II.
why, they're liable TO look upon him
as sulkcr or something.
"'rhen the monographs get hold o.
the song that's made hit. and tha'
mahss for more gloom on the part
of the composer-gloom, mean, Of
another sort than because he doesn't
gel a nickel in the way OF royalties
| out of the canned-mns!c people
Everywhere he goes he butts into Il
phonogra with IL horn as big as
tunnel. and as soon as the photograph
owners see him coming they turn
nineteen handsprings 10 get out the
record on which his song hit Is
| canned. Then he Ras to sit or stand
| by while the internal thing is squeak
ed and rasped at him.
'In the course of time the barrel
organs and street-pianos get hold OF
the song, and what they do 10 it is
warming to the wicked. A song com
poser never realy knows or under
stands the depths of suffering until
he hears one OF his song hits bulletef
out of the inards of twenty-horse
mower straet-piano. The song itself
would be bad enough, raped out OF
such an instrument of torture, but
when the song is Dagoized and filled
! full of those outlandish little p!zzicatt
and appoggiatura the effect is mad
dening.
"A bunch of New York humorist:
once causesl the late Paul Dresser 6
horrible afternoon OF misery. You
remember how hackneyed and soul
caring Dresser's song. Two Lifts
Girls In Blue, became? WELL afte'
lit got 10 that fendishly hackneyef