The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Optional challenge details:

Write a song that might be chosen for this video:

JB's friend wrote: Hi all - I'm making a parody video of this commercial to help Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco recruit our next class of AmeriCorps members. I need a badass song that my AmeriCorps recruit Aziza can hear in her headphones. We would credit you in the video (name and song title) that will be posted on the habitat website and on our social media pages. The parody part of the video is that all the mean screaming fans are actually nice and all love Aziza and all have nice signs urging her to join AmeriCorps. But she puts on the headphones and ignores em ... until the end. Anywho - the tagline at the end is "Be what you want".

Fightmaster Jr. wrote: If you accept the optional challenge, don't use any samples in your song. The only rights requested are to be allowed to place the song in the video, which will be shown various places. Note that if all submitted songs are terrible, none may be chosen. It's still a fight.

Is that due date correct? Less than 5 days?

Also: Should the music map to the entire length of the video? Or should it start from around 1:06 (when the music starts in the Beats commercial) through the end, thus making the songs 1:41 long?

Due date is this upcoming Friday. Make your song as long as you want. If you'd like your song to really be considered, make it like some kind of upbeat empowerment anthem. Norwegian dark metal will probably not be selected for the video, but who knows.

Map it to the source video if you want, keeping in mind that the video that's happening will be a parody of the commercial (be sure to read the description above), and will be for a nonprofit, etc. YMMV.

JB

And if 5 days is too short for you, feel free to use excuse #3.

jb wrote:make it like some kind of upbeat empowerment anthem. Norwegian dark metal will probably not be selected for the video, but who knows

So people will be holding up signs with positive messages like the "hang in there kitty" poster and screaming nice things to Aziza, then she puts on the headphones to drown them out? In my head movie picturing this scenario right now, Norwegian black metal sounds like the appropriate go to music for a person that doesn't like complements from smiling faces in order to drown the nice screaming people out.

If it was Dylan from Golan the Insatiable and people were screaming nice things to her, she'd put on headphones to drown out the people with music about drowning the nice people in a pool of acid set to an earth shattering background of Norwegian black metal for sure.

But I digress. Anyway, when I turned 40, something came to me in a dream (a tree I think. Or something disguised as a tree or standing behind a tree) and told me that I will live out the rest of my life on earth happy with a healthy family and fulfilled if I help volunteer with any cause in need that physically makes itself known to me right in front of me. (I won't bore you with the deets) I'm pretty sure that includes the internet. I come to Song Fight almost daily, it doesn't come to me. So this cause is standing in my path. I guess it could be argued that it isn't physically in front of me. But I am reading this page on my desktop monitor, and my monitor is physically in front of me, so I'll take that as a sign. Whether my song is used or not, I am offering a hand. The tree ghost never specified details as to whether a song is used or not, just written. Upbeat music. *check*

Also, you're welcome for the hang in there kitty poster idea for one of the picketers. Yes, I know what you're thinking. But no, I'm not a genius, just a guy with the gift of cleverness. *takes a bow*

There's 2 things going here: 1: Badass recruitment video and 2: Songfight. So you can win the Songfight, but not be the best song for JB's friend. Or the other way.
With the video: Don't be hung up on a 1:41 song length. They can always trim out part of the song or part of the video.

Fightmaster Jr. wrote: If you accept the optional challenge, don't use any samples in your song.

N... n.... n-no s-samples???

Just kidding. i am industry savvy enough to know I can't use samples in this fight. Now, am I brave enough to give it a shot?

-jd0

iVeg wrote:There's 2 things going here: 1: Badass recruitment video and 2: Songfight. So you can win the Songfight, but not be the best song for JB's friend. Or the other way.
With the video: Don't be hung up on a 1:41 song length. They can always trim out part of the song or part of the video.

It is entirely conceivable to achieve both results!

jb wrote:

iVeg wrote:There's 2 things going here: 1: Badass recruitment video and 2: Songfight. So you can win the Songfight, but not be the best song for JB's friend. Or the other way.
With the video: Don't be hung up on a 1:41 song length. They can always trim out part of the song or part of the video.

It is entirely conceivable to achieve both results!

(Though it is more likely to achieve neither one.)

Lunkhead wrote:Optional challenge details:

Fightmaster Jr. wrote: If you accept the optional challenge, don't use any samples in your song. The only rights requested are to be allowed to place the song in the video, which will be shown various places. Note that if all submitted songs are terrible, none may be chosen. It's still a fight.

So, not that I'm committing, having a busy day job and all, but what about indirect quotes? You say you want a parody of a video that happens to quote an Elton John song -- so could the entry use a non-sampled, original cover line from, say, "All You Need is Love" or "Baby You're a Rich Man"?

I am not a lawyer, and I honestly don't know shit about shit, but I think that kind of non-sampled musical quotation is covered under the Fair Use doctrine and should be fine.

Chumpy wrote:I am not a lawyer, and I honestly don't know shit about shit, but I think that kind of non-sampled musical quotation is covered under the Fair Use doctrine and should be fine.

I'm sure I don't have to ask anyone to say "standing on a corner in Winslow Arizona" if I wanted to. I'm sure I've heard that in a Tori Amos track as well as the Eagles.

-jd0

ASCAP and BMI rules get weird about that.

Also I have ideas for this but also a day job and an album to finish and a bunch of other stuff going on so... Unlikely. What else is new.

Anybody made any progress on this song yet? I've had some ideas, but I wouldn't necessarily call them good ideas. One more day after today to get it together.

Yeah... a little. I have two verses written and sung and I created a bass and drum loop on my kit and yamaha. I can't get my horn section right and my chorus might be out of my vocal range (sans falsetto). It's in B-flat-major and I'm trying to span 3 octaves without going in to head voice. I may have to go home for lunch tomorrow to straighten it out without the family having to shush and plug their ears

-jd0

jb wrote: If you'd like your song to really be considered, make it like some kind of upbeat empowerment anthem. Norwegian dark metal will probably not be selected for the video, but who knows.

(Somewhat disturbingly) I tend to agree with BLT. Since the original has sort of a "upbeat empowerment anthem" - wouldn't the parody be something different? Why would you drown out happy people cheering for you with an "upbeat empowerment anthem"?

Hope I have time to do something - this is a fun challenge.

Had to Google AmeriCorps. So, is that the domestic equivalent of the Peace Corps? (I knew a lot of "Peace Cops" when I was living in Kiribati years ago. Such earnest young souls!! The Australian/NZ/English expats all had a wonderful time taking the piss out of them!)

Yeah, it's sort of like Peace Corps except they focus their attention on problems within the US instead of worldwide.

Caravan Ray wrote:

jb wrote: If you'd like your song to really be considered, make it like some kind of upbeat empowerment anthem. Norwegian dark metal will probably not be selected for the video, but who knows.

(Somewhat disturbingly) I tend to agree with BLT. Since the original has sort of a "upbeat empowerment anthem" - wouldn't the parody be something different? Why would you drown out happy people cheering for you with an "upbeat empowerment anthem"?

Dunno how it'll be worked in, I just know what the ask is.

"Parody" is a pretty flexible term.

JB

jb wrote:the ask

You've been a tech manager too long, JB

fluffy wrote:

jb wrote:the ask

You've been a tech manager too long, JB

tip of the iceberg, buddy. tip of the iceberg.

YECH! My song sucks soooo bad. I don't think I can submit this...

-jd0