A hit song is what many bands want. But what is a "hit song"? Billboard magazine would give you a definition of a song that hits the charts and proceeds to climb them, sometimes little by little, and sometimes really fast, with a bullet. A songwriter tells you that it's a song that hits a nerve with the people who listen to it. A record producer will brag that it's that special combination of perfect songwriting and perfect arranging of the instruments in the recording studio. An engineer will decide that it's a song that has been perfectly produced, while at the same time being perfectly tweaked. A record executive will tell you that it's a pure moneymaker. An A&R guy will simply tell you that he "knew" it was a hit song from the moment he heard it. A guy in the band who didn't write the song will tell you that he was there while it was being written - like being in the presence of history in the making. The guy in the band who wrote the song will tell you that it's great to be recognized and do something people love. His wife knows that the song, with some sound financial planning, also means braces for their little kid, as well as a college education. To the songwriter's son, it' simply "daddy's song"- no more, no less. The writer's parents will tell you that they always knew that he had it in him. His best friend will claim that the story is actually something that happened to him.
A fan will tell you that it's his song.
A fan will tell you that it's his song.
2 comments:
It seems like the radio now a days is full of "hit songs" but a hit song to me is a song that really moves me. Sort of like every one of Damien Rice's songs. But a broader sense of "hit song" is making money from it, and I have a feeling that he isn't extremely wealthy like Britney Spears is because she puts out a song that the industries consider a hit after every breakdown.
But I do like how you put the definition of the term in everyone's perspective.
I loved the entry, but... I guess that the sentence at the end is also open to the possibility that the hit song may be the song you like the most of that band, and that it doesn't matter if it ever was a #1 single or not. Am I right?
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