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How I write songs without finishing them, and get away with itAuthor: Dave Lippman After years of varied musical performance styles, I have come to specialize in song parodies, singing often in the voice of the rulers – specifically, through George Shrub, the world’s only known singing CIA agent (Committee to Intervene Anywhere). This will be a little window into the work of this fiendish rogue element loose in the world of political song. We all see those song parodies that fly around the web; often they are full length, adapting every verse of the original, or zooming into a plethora of fanciful verses derived primarily from the best known part of the original. My tendency has been rather to keep it short, using only one verse, or even one line, then careening into some other parody, and then again and again until the medley exhausts itself. One reason for this is that the full-length versions, while good for singalongs, tend to exhaust their genius after a verse or so, and don’t do as well for listening. Another reason is that the abrupt shifts between sources and moods are funny in themselves. Finally, the rapid pace fits better with the surrounding discourse of the character; I’ve always found it appropriate for a comedy show to have a fair number of laughs in it. Even though I’m doing a performance, I still try to provide opportunities for audience singing, as in the "With a little bit" chorus after a verse like: The lord above made man to rob his neighbor Or the following, which is a (more or less) familiar tune, though no one is ever sure from whence. I have two audience members hold up a sheet with the lyrics: I won-der
who's Kissinger now Years ago, I helped construct a little show featuring Shrub and a young rapper he was recruiting into the CIA’s cultural division. I encouraged my collaborator to write parody medleys, and she hesitantly stepped into the breach. I gave her two pieces of advice: Don’t worry about finishing the segments, and don’t worry about what order they come in. In the rare case that it doesn’t work, we’ll toss it back in the air and have another look at what comes down. The key work is on the individual segments, on knowing what to toss out because it’s below the level you establish with your best work. Granted, there will be an order more startling or appropriate than the one you find first. But it’s a lot simpler than it looks if you’re intent on completing a grand opus. You don’t need a grand opus. You need something now, before – to be crude - they move on to the Iran, leaving you still singing about Iraq. One of the funny things about her resultant work was that I didn’t know if it was funny. That’s because I hadn’t heard the originals – this was my first intro to Madonna and a lot of other eighties stuff. She mollified me: "Don’t worry Dave, it’s funny." The crowds thought so. For months after, I would catch the parodied original on the radio for the first time, and finally get it. Sometimes I create these problems for my audience, which ranges in age from 15 to 90, more or less. A source leap from Gilbert and Sullivan to Madonna risks leaving some audients hanging out to dry. I can’t help that, so I just tell myself I’m giving them a rest. Lacking a public with a homogeneous cultural, and unable to afford excluding an age group, I soldier on, befuddling demographics in quick oscillation. Having shared my innermost writing secrets, I trust the up tick in snappy parodies will offset the new competition I’ve created for myself. Send genre royalties. Happy poaching. Dave’s and Shrub’s work is on view at http://davelippman.com
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