New-York tribune., 1912-04-21

sentence as there ain't no. etc, and in
which there are % be no references TO pork
chops and chicken. prcdic, that II viii be
q hit for this very reason.
There are IN this country about hum
drcd and fifty thousand persons, have cstl-
mated. who are trying 90 write popular songs
and reap the resultant golden harvest. |
personally receive about fifty thousand
manuscripts every wear from these amateur
ballad writers, and the one great prcdom-
mating and rlinous fault IN all Of them Is
lack Of originality. The moment some such
song rs Il Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
make, a hit, all the would be popular song
writer, in al the outlying districts try to
duplicate the hit with some such related
lyric as 81 Wonder Who's Her Beau Now.
81 Wonder Who's Admirng Her, and Il
Wonder if Shell Ever Let Another Fellow
Kiss Her" Oi course, there IS no chance for
limitations Of this order, and consequently
the vast volunteer army OF song writers
wastes its time and postage stamps.
A BIG. popular song hit is rarely il ever,
"a duplicated out of itself. That is nothing
exactly or even nearly like the original will
gain the success. or measure Of the success,
OF the original song hit The song writer
may appropriate the style OF emotion repre-
scntcd in the popular song las indicated in 4
way i'm the instance of sentiment in the SIX
best sellers" list already quoted but he
may not follow the precise lyric or music
method of the first hit in representing his
emotion. He must exploit that emotion
the one the public feels and desires At the
timc-in a different manner.
To illustrate the variety OF ways IN which
the same central subject may be set forth i'll
song, let me take the idea OF the child
whose mother has died and who wants to
communicate with her, in the belief that
such communication Is still possible.
First. YOU may utilize the idea in a song
like Hello, Central, Give Me Heaven, the
intrinsic method of which IS sufficiently con-
vcvcd through the title. Then, again, YOU
may work out the idea in song like Shall |
Find My Mama THERE" using a policeman
as the figure through whom the innocent and
lonely child tries to find his mother who has
died. Or, still again YOU may work out the
idea in a child's plant, Il Want to Buy
Little Bit OF Love, telling the story through
the secondary medium of a shopkccper to
whom the youngStcr, whose mother has died
and whose life is made miserable by a step
mother, goes in the hope Of being able to pur
chase love, il the Shopkccpcr will be 50 good
rs to get the child 5 real mother to send some
Of it down from Heaven.
might 90 on indefinitely and detail other
methods for the exploiting OF the same emo
ton; but believe have explained the case
i'm point with sufficient clarity The three
songs mentioned are from my own pen, and
their success bears out the truth of my con-
tcntion. You must invent new ways OF pro-
ducing and injecting the same emotion IN
popular songs 1t will not do that YOU seek
to exploit the desired emotion in a manner
in which it has already been exploited.
XIRITING songs to order is much like
w delivering laundry 1t is neither diff
cult nor rcmuncrativc, and 1t is anything
but satisfying to oneself. The method isl
like this:
When "Natural Gas was produced, Eddie
Gavin came to me (this was way back in the
Milwaukee phase OF my career and told me
to write him an Alderman song" 81 play
the part Of an Alderman in the show, " he ex-