As a female singer-songwriter who was a teen in the ’80s and a twenty-something in the ’90s, it should come as no surprise that the scene that eventually evolved into Lilith Fair was a huge influence on me. In fact, it was lovely and talented ladies like Suzanne Vega, Shawn Colvin, Sarah McLachlan, Michelle Shocked, Indigo Girls and Lisa Loeb who really made me believe that I — nice Jewish girl from the suburbs with short brown hair and a few songs about love and heartbreak — could strive to become a performing singer-songwriter.
These were artists that wrote songs about their lives, about their feelings, about their relationships, about their hopes and dreams. Sure, some of it was purely “confessional,” which I’ve seen used as a subtly-negative term to describe songwriters, but to me it was intimate, inspiring and beautiful stuff.
It was a bit of a bummer, then, to read today in the New York Times that the relaunched version of Lilith Fair hasn’t exactly lit up the music scene this season. In fact, it appears to be limping along with canceled dates and poor attendance.
Instead, the new female artist to be reckoned with is — Lady Gaga. Now, I have nothing against Lady Gaga. Her songs are catchy, I like her performance-art, Madonna-esque vibe, and supposedly she pens her own tunes, too. But, come on…these are not exactly intricate poems set to music. Lyrics such as “He can’t read my poker face, my, my poker face,” repeated 20 times, or, “Don’t call my name, don’t call my name, Alejandro…I’m not your baby, I’m not your babe, Fernando…” doesn’t do much to inspire me as a songwriter.
Lilith Fair, admittedly, hit the skids in 1999 when Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera came on the scene…so the days when a song such as Shawn Colvin’s “Sunny Came Home” or Sarah McLachlan’s “Building A Mystery” could rest on the top 40 charts have been gone for over a decade. Still, I was excited about its return, and that the possible resurgence of real, intimate, direct, songwriting could become a reality.
Not that it matters…obviously, so many music niches exist today, from country to indie to pop to metal to blues to jazz to folk to bluegrass, that there’s something for everyone. And there are plenty of folks out there who appreciate good songwriting. But I’ll be happy when the Lady Gaga phase passes on through for good…and some more sophisticated songwriting rises to the top.
