What Makes a Bad/Good Song?

    I absolutely love music—a lot of people do. Whether it’d be orchestras, operas, classic rock, modern rock, metal, indie, country, blues & bluegrass, folk, foreign music, rap, hymns, elevation worship, choirs—I love ‘em. I just want to make my point—I love music. More specifically, I like anything good. But there's something that gets on my nerves when it comes to music, & that is money grabs. Cheap music. It has gotten so acceptable that it makes me want to pull out my cordless hole puncher.

    There is still good music out there, & there is still good music being made—No doubt. But there has become an overabundance of cheap music. Who needs to learn an instrument anymore? Who needs to learn how to sing? Who needs to learn how to put sounds together? Who needs to create an original melody, rhythm, beat, lyrics, or anything else? Who says organized sound should speak for itself?

    Cheap music has always been around. There are a lot of classics that are lukewarm, but either no one realizes it, or no one will say anything because they’re classics. Why are we so narrow-minded with this stuff? 

    I was at my first middle school music class when the teacher asked, “What makes a bad song?” That was the first time I was introduced to relativism. We all guessed things like a broken beat, bad lyrics, a mediocre melody, & stuff like that. She proceeded to say, “What makes a bad song is just someone’s opinion of that song." All I heard was, “There really is no such thing as a 'good' or 'bad’ song". I didn’t know if I agreed or not, but as time moved forward, I have come to disagree. Why?

    What makes a song good or bad is the effort & intention behind the song. Not necessarily the sound itself. & I think that's where the mix-up happens. 

    I was part of a Christian music-making workshop, & one of the biggest points they had was, “What do you want to feed people? What is the message you want to get across?” I think that is one of the best ways to point out a good or bad song. If the intention is to show love or appreciation, or talk about an issue you think needs to be addressed, glorify God, or even just to vent—anything that isn’t malicious—& then put in real effort to make the song sound as you want it—for all I’m concerned, that’s a good song! Even if I may not like the singer’s voice, or the melody doesn’t capture my attention, or the beat doesn’t make my head bang—that doesn’t necessarily make it a bad song. It’s just a song that I don’t like.

    I would also apply this to parodies. Efforts should still be put into it. Humor is not easy to master—it can seem like someone is trying too hard, or not trying hard enough. It’s fragile, & simultaneously pairing that with music is a work of art in itself.

    On the other hand, if the meaning is malicious or lukewarm, & the song isn't going anywhere just for a few bucks, that sounds to me like a pretty bad song.

    The final point I would like to emphasize is that this does not mean anyone can make music. There are still some sound factors that play a part in making music—thats were effort comes in. Isn’t music organized sound? If you can’t organize sound, then you can’t make music & that’s okay. Not anyone can put in the effort to make quality music & that’s what makes music an art form. This also applies to any form of art—not just music. 

    To wrap all this up in a pretty little bow—there is a distinct difference between good & bad music that stretches beyond opinion. It comes down to intent & effort, & not everyone can make music, because music is an art. That's why art is so beautiful—because it takes someone special.