3 Reasons Why You Should Not Sing Your Own Praise
You could end up singing the blues
Being by nature quite a modest, conservative sort of person, I have always held back from being in any way boastful about any achievements I might have. Far too often I have seen other peoples' reactions to boasting. In fact, more than once I have held back saying anything about doing something worthy of attention only to see somebody try to claim credit for what I did.
I well remember one occasion, after a live performance of my own songs, when a member of the audience told me I was crap and that he had performed all of those songs a lot better himself. At this I felt obliged to point out to him that that was an impossibility since they were all songs I had composed myself and were from an album I had only just released.
Many years ago I met the highly successful songwriter Barry Mason, who had a very big hit in the sixties as the lyricist on the Tom Jones hit ‘Delilah’. Barry went to the BBC for the performance of the hit and was in the BBC social club next to the studio after the programme had finished. After a little drink of happy juice he went to the gents to relieve himself when in walked a BBC very cocky producer whistling ‘Delilah’.
Barry, being young and not very worldly wise, couldn’t help boasting to the Producer about being the author of the song.
“I wrote that song you know.”
“Oh, no you didn’t.” Said the producer. “Les Reed wrote that song.” which was true enough in terms of the melody.
“Well, yes, he wrote the tune, you’re right, but I wrote the words.” Said Barry in his defence.
The Producer, clearly determined to put this young, boastful upstart in his place, looked him up and down and said…
“Well, I wasn’t whistling the words, I was whistling the tune.” And with that retort he he turned and strode victoriously out of the gents.
I have another friend, a famous record producer who is quite successful having worked with the likes of Bon Jovi, Talking Heads and the Ramones, to name but three. Many years ago, my friend went to a bar to listen to some unknown group perform one of his hits, a record he played the lead guitar on.
When the group finished and left the stage, my friend said to the lead guitarist as he passed en route to the bar…
“That was very good huh, just the way I played it on the record.”
The lead guitarist turned to my friend and looking him up and down, said,
“You? Get away man, what do you know about music, you’re just a sad little nobody. For sure you don’t know one end of a guitar from the other.” In fact, my friend is a well-known guitar virtuoso, but he looks nothing like how most people expect somebody like him to look.
And last, but by no means least, a famous dancer always on tv, to the point that he has become famous for being famous. This household name who is so, so self-centred once chatted with some friends of mine after a live performance at a theatre in London and talked none stop about himself for fifteen minutes. Suddenly he realised that he hadn’t let my friends get a word in edgeways and stopped for a brief moment. Then, after a pregnant pause of no more than a second or two, in all sincerity said the immortal words,
“Ohhhh, listen to me going on about myself, do forgive me. What did you think about my performance?”
My friends just turned and walked without saying a word back. An object lesson in why you should not be too quick to sing your own praise.
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