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A  Songwriters perspective on American Idol

American Idol Myths

The Kelly Clarkson story

Songwriting Tools and Techniques

 

Bill Pere - Song Analyst and Music Business Coach

Songwriting that Gets Results, Combining Arts, Education, and Community Outreach
Song Development - Music Production - Music Business Mentoring  - Recording -  Workshops - Artist Development

=\=THE STORY BEHIND THE SONG

doG
 

 

Title:     doG        by Bill Pere

Released:  1994
Appears on:
"You'll See a Much Brighter Day"

Notes:  Bill's best example of yclept writing technique.  The song addresses the issue of dyslexia and related learning differences

( listen - purchase)  

Click here for Lyrics

 Bill Pere

 

3. doG ( from "You'll See a Much Brighter Day" ) When folks look at the CD, not having heard the song, they often ask if "doG' is a mis-print, because the capital letter is at the end. No misprint.

I was fortunate to have a relatively easy time in school so I knew nothing of learning differences like dyslexia and attention-deficit, and nothing of the emotional pain these things can cause for young children who think there is something "wrong" with them, as they try to fit into a traditional education or work environment. Through my work with many kids of all ages, I began to learn about, and witness first hand, what learning differences are and how they affect people.   I don't like to call them "disabilities" because they are really just different ways of seeing the world and taking in information. The many people I know who have learning differences are amazingly bright and learn very quickly when information is presented in a way they can process.

I wanted to write a song about a dyslexic child, and I had to somehow portray in a lyric what it is like in the mind of one who sees differently than most people do, while still telling a compelling story. I decided that the lyrics would contain as many sets of anagrams (interchanged letters, like "shelf"/"flesh" or "sister" /"resist" and palindromes (same backwards and forwards, like "drawn onward", "lever"- "revel" , as possible. This imposed a tremendous constraint on writing a coherent, compelling lyric, but it was an exciting challenge. Since I wanted to just imply the "doG" - "God" palindrome without actually stating it, I decided that the song would be about a dog and would involve reading the Bible. So now we have a dyslexic child, a dog, the Bible, anagrams and palindromes, and it all has to wind up being a story that people will understand and react emotionally to.

This was not an easy task. I spent days writing pairs palindromes and anagrams, throwing most of them away, but eventually, something started to take shape. I came up with music that worked with the story, and produced it without percussion to enhance the dramatic effect. It is one of the most difficult songs I've written, but the audience reactions make it definitely worth the effort.  On the recording, the 60-second intro is an attempt to capture in sound the thoughts of an ADD/Dyslexic mind.

This type of writing is an example of a technique sometimes called yclept.    

( listen - purchase)  

Click here for Lyrics

 Bill Pere

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