Old songs you love, used in commercials..

It happens all the time. A tune you grew up hearing -- a tune that you have countless personal memories assigned to -- a tune that is a piece of your personal history...is in a commercial.

As a songwriter, the thing that strikes me as the most damaging thing about putting a song into a commercial is this: CONTEXT. It's the same reason I hated it when Puff Daddy used "Every Breath You Take" -- he took a song that I listened to for years and didn't just cover it -- he changed its meaning. He took a sad, haunting pop ballad about an over-posessive love affair and turned it into a requiem for a thug who got shot. Now, was it CLEVER? Sure. But so is the Stealth Bomber. As a fan of the ORIGINAL song, I felt totally fucking hoodwinked. Not simply because of the fact that he lifted a guitar riff. And a beat. And a chord progression. And a melody. But he took something that I knew and loved for one reason and jammed it into something else. I did not appreciate it. Does that make me a little -- dare I even think it -- conservative, in the cultural sense? Perhaps. I just have some screwy idea that if you're a composer, you can, at least some of the time, come up with licks of your own. Call me crazy..

Now, I may never be a success in music, and that may well be because "I don't have it." It may also be because I won't let some fuckwad use a song of mine as a vehicle for a product that would totally change or obscure the song's original meaning. My songs are chunks of my life. I sweat my balls over every lyric I write, and I assign very specific meanings to what I make. That's why a few people actually dig 'em..and not just my friends and family..a few strangers, too! I got into this racket at age 20 to communicate...to let the poison building up in my soul out in a positive way...and, I mean, to get laid, let's face it. But I certainly didn't become a singer-songwriter to get rich. I mean, I'm no saint...I like money as much as the next person. But I do say, if all you care about is money, go work on Wall Street.

The problem with having something put into a commercial is that once you've done that, people will permanently associate your song with a car, or a brand of laxative...and then? Your original meaning is gone. The levels of damage are different for unknown songs and known songs, in this sense: if it's an unknown song by a NEW artist, the song's original context is NEVER known by people at large, and is just associated with the product. That's bad enough. But if it's a song that legions of people know and love already, the damage is far worse.

When you create something that resonates with people, whether it's 10 people or 10 million, you OWE them something for the emotional investment that they've placed in your music. When that precious thing ends up selling candy bars, the people who know and love it do feel betrayed.

The use of songs in TV shows and movies, on the other hand, can be less damaging. Songs, to me, have three basic elements: Music, poetry, and narrative. If the narrative of the song fits with (or plays off of) the screen story, it can be effective. Anyway...