I’ve been asked several times lately to attend events where I’m supposed to be giving advice about songwriting. It’s always hard to stand up and represent yourself to people as an “expert” when you don’t really see yourself that way. I’ve been writing songs since I was thirteen so for the better part of forty-two years. I’ve recorded four albums, been employed by three different music publishing companies resulting in songs recorded by other artists including a number of songs on radio but at the end of the day I still feel like an imposter. All I’m really qualified to do is pass on things I’ve learned from trial and error, things that have helped me. Often that knowledge is pretty specific to what I do and the kind of songs I write and only apply to a narrow segment of the songwriting community, and that is, those who are trying to write a commercial song for radio.
All my comments and critiques therefore fit narrowly through the eye of that needle and even then may or may not have any relevance to a lot of songwriters who may be writing for any number of reasons all of which are perfectly sound but are different from mine. I say this because I have seen so called experts trash perfectly good songs by new writers leaving them feeling defeated and dejected.
In the end my opinions as well as those of other songwriters are just that, opinions. Well intentioned and sometimes informative, but not always right. Listen to learn, but always listen with a critical ear.