Themes by Example

[64Guitars]

Here's an idea for a sort of game or challenge to come up with new theme ideas for our Theme/Genre festivals.

Procedure:

1) Pick a song - any song. Listen to it and/or read the lyrics online, then decide what the theme of the song is. Sometimes the theme might not be clear. In that case, just move on to another song and try again. Or sometimes the song may suggest several themes. Either pick one of them or move on to another song.

2) Now that you've got a theme, find five more songs that clearly match that theme. If you can't think of six songs that match the theme, then it's probably not a very good theme (at least, not for this topic), so go back to step one and choose another song.

3) Post a message in this topic stating the theme (preferably, in the form of a short, catchy festival name), followed by your six example song titles and the names of the artists that recorded each song. Optionally, you can include a description of the theme to clarify it. But, hopefully, that won't be necessary if you've chosen good examples.

Example:

Song: "Crying in the Rain" by The Everly Brothers

Theme: Songs about crying. Or, better still, "TearFest".

More examples:

• "Cry" by Godley & Creme
• "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto. The original Japanese title was "Ue o Muite Arukō" which means "I Look Up As I Walk". The lyrics tell the story of a man who looks up while he is walking so that his tears will not fall.
• "Tears on My Pillow" by Little Anthony and the Imperials
• "Crying" by Roy Orbison
• "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" by Ultravox

The song title doesn't necessarily have to mention the theme. For example, I included "Sukiyaki" in my examples for TearFest because the lyrics are about a man who looks up while he is walking so that his tears will not fall. Having said that, you'll probably find it's easiest to think of example songs that mention the theme in the name, and that's perfectly fine as long as the lyrics are about the theme too. The song title alone is not enough -- the lyrics must be about the theme.

Tip: You can often find lists of example songs by Googling "songs about" followed by the theme. For example, I got several of my examples for TearFest by Googling "songs about crying".

My post in this topic would look like this:

TearFest

• "Crying in the Rain" by The Everly Brothers
• "Cry" by Godley & Creme
• "Sukiyaki" by Kyu Sakamoto. The original Japanese title was "Ue o Muite Arukō" which means "I Look Up As I Walk". The lyrics tell the story of a man who looks up while he is walking so that his tears will not fall.
• "Tears on My Pillow" by Little Anthony and the Imperials
• "Crying" by Roy Orbison
• "Dancing with Tears in My Eyes" by Ultravox

I can't promise that we'll use any of your suggestions for the upcoming poll which I'll post on Saturday, April 25th because, by the time you read this, the admin team may have already made its choices for that poll. But we'll definitely consider your theme suggestions for future festival polls. And who knows, if we get some really good suggestions before Saturday, the admin team might just decide to change a few of their choices for Saturday's poll.

I should clarify that we always encourage original songs for the Theme/Genre festivals. However, for the purpose of this topic, we want you to give only well-known commercial songs as examples. That will give everyone a better idea of what the theme is about and help songwriters to decide what their lyrics should be about if they choose to write an original song. Of course, cover songs are welcome in Theme/Genre festivals too, and someone may choose to record one of your examples or cover another song that matches the theme.

So please listen to some songs and give this idea a try. The more suggestions we get, the easier it will be for the admin team to select good choices for future festival polls. And I think this topic could be a lot of fun if enough people get involved.

[64Guitars]

DreamFest

• "Dream Weaver" by Gary Wright
• "All I Have to Do Is Dream" by The Everly Brothers
• "Dream On" by Aerosmith
• "Dreamer" by Supertramp
• "#9 Dream" by John Lennon
• "I Had Too Much to Dream (Last Night)" by The Electric Prunes

[64Guitars]

CrimeFest - songs about crime, law, police, incarceration, etc.

• "Folsom Prison Blues" by Johnny Cash
• "Indiana Wants Me" by R. Dean Taylor
• "Hey Joe" by The Jimi Hendrix Experience
• "I Fought the Law" by The Bobby Fuller Four
• "I Shot the Sheriff" by Bob Marley (also famously covered by Eric Clapton)
• "A Criminal Mind" by Lawrence Gowan (also by Styx)

[64Guitars]

HeartbreakFest

• "Love Hurts" by The Everly Brothers (also by Nazareth, Roy Orbison, etc.)
• "The End of the World" by Skeeter Davis (also by Herman's Hermits)
• "Can't Stand Losing You" by The Police
• "Long, Long Time" by Linda Ronstadt
• "I Can't Stop Loving You" by Ray Charles
• "Lost Without Your Love" by Bread

[Hook]

I like DREAMFEST but I never remember mine. A buddy of mine always kept a Dream Journal and I was always envious of his commitment to it. Great fodder for tunes I imagine.
Rock On!

[Flash Harry]

BuildingFest

1. Walls come tumbling down - Style Council
2. Our House - Madness
3. Building on fire - Talking Heads
4. Empire State Human - Human League
5. No Matter What - Badfinger (knock down the old grey wall)
6. Folsom Prison Blues - Johnny Cash

[Blooby]

I'm not sure I have the hang of this yet.

Blooby

I.L.B.T.'s - Joe Walsh
Squeezebox - The Who
Little T & A - Rolling Stones
Titties and Beer - Frank Zappa
Pearl Necklace - ZZ Top

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEx9qDw2flY

[64Guitars]

I'm not sure I have the hang of this yet.

Blooby

I.L.B.T.'s - Joe Walsh
Squeezebox - The Who
Little T & A - Rolling Stones
Titties and Beer - Frank Zappa
Pearl Necklace - ZZ Top

You forgot to name it.  SmutFest?  NaughtyFest?  PornFest?  FilthFest?

[Blooby]

I'm not sure I have the hang of this yet.

Blooby

I.L.B.T.'s - Joe Walsh
Squeezebox - The Who
Little T & A - Rolling Stones
Titties and Beer - Frank Zappa
Pearl Necklace - ZZ Top

You forgot to name it.  SmutFest?  NaughtyFest?  PornFest?  FilthFest?

Not too liberate anything from The Lilith Fairs of yore, but Breastfest seems to ring true.

[Oldrottenhead]

mysoginistfest

The monks – nice legs shame about her face
squeeze - cool for cats
james brown – it's a man's world
the rolling stones - under my thumb
The Crystals - He Hit Me (It Felt Like a Kiss)




i'll get my coat