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45 of 49 found the following review helpful:
Fooled this idiot Oct 30, 2001
This, in spite of the title, is not a book about writing songs. It's a book about being a songwriter, about the music industry as it applies to songwriting. If you're not familiar with the writing of songs but would like to learn the basics for fun if not profit, look elsewhere. Where else, I can't tell you. Certainly one would learn more from studying a songbook of hit songs.Not to say there isn't some helpful stuff in the book. There's a chapter on rhyme that couldn't hurt the aspiring songwriter. But most of the information is about how to break into the business with a smash hit, how to avoid the pitfalls you'll encounter on your upward journey to the big time. The instructions on playing the lottery are simpler and free. Same odds.
86 of 104 found the following review helpful:
 First rate Oct 15, 2001
By henryraddick@hotmail.com
I bought this excellent book after my therapist encouraged me to explore my creative side after my wife left me and I lost my job. I may be "quite frankly an insupportable liability to the business" and an "utterly lamentable" bedfellow, but thanks to Citron's tremendous guide I'm tapping a rich vein of material and banging out some fine blues numbers. Soon I plan on getting involved in a whisky-fuelled knife fight in a flop-house in Mississippi for messing with someone's woman.
38 of 45 found the following review helpful:
 I'm an idiot for buying this... Mar 24, 2005
By TommyT
I have played guitar for a few years and thought that writing/singing songs would be fun. So I popped into the bookstore and got this. I thought it would be about songwriting. It's mostly not. Much padding, like long lists of titles, that help get the authors point across. Eg: "Use colors in your titles" Pink Cadillac, Red Red Wine, Blue Monday etc etc etc. In columns to fill space.
In short, most of the book is a pep talk, about how you, the reader, "have what it takes", if you change your outlook on life. Watch movies, read books etc all while trying to see the songwriting angle. This is sad, I'd think.
All i wanted was the craft side of it. The "structural rules", verse chorus verse, nuts and bolts. And some analysis of great songs. None here. Just boring namedropping, and "I'm a successful songwriter, who keeps an eye on other songs". He quotes some truely awful songs/artists, which is also off putting.
Avoid.
I dont want to write a commercial mega-smash for radio, sung by a plastic pop star. I want to write campfire ditties. This book discusses some obvious little "cheats" (which is how they feel), to get your songs to appeal to the masses.
To be honest, anyone who truely has the right stuff to be a mega-writer, probably won't need a book. (let alone one with the label IDIOT on the cover)
Rubbish
10 of 10 found the following review helpful:
Excellent Songwriting Guide May 03, 2001
By Nathan J. Eddy
After reading "The Complete Idiot's Guide To Songwriting" I wanted to pick up a pen or go to a piano and write. The author, Joel Hirschhorn, made me feel I could compose a hit. He also has great chapters on record production, as well as helpful lists on who to contact when you want to sell your songs.
7 of 7 found the following review helpful:
Insights and Education Apr 23, 2003
I'm a songwriter, and I was lucky enough to stumble onto a really helpful, educational book. Not only does it tell how to write a song in detail, it offers tremendous tips on how to sell it. I've been recommending this to all my friends. Best of all, it's written by a pro who succeeded himself, so I feel the information is tryly reliable!
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based on 17 reviews
