Half a croissant, on a plate, with a sign in front of it saying '50c'
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A Better Mousetrap

Now how would Bernard Cribbins say this? Ah...
  (+6, -1)
(+6, -1)
  [vote for,
against]

Right says Bob, it’s time to grasp the nettle, ‘bakery:songs is gonna have to go.
Time to shift it, filterize and sift it, the songs are going nowhere,
And so, it’s time to block the flow.

Right says Bob, I’ve got a new proposal, make the verses earn their bloomin’ dough,
They’re entertaining, but none of ‘em’s explaining, seems they’re getting pastry
For free. It don’t seem right to me

You see I’ve had a think and the gist of it is this, that the songs are getting boring
But they’re nearly all high scoring. Lack of fish bones in the ‘hood, are they really all that good?

Right says Bob, this is how we fix it, so that singers can still have a crow
Sing inventions, with half-baked intentions, rhyming ideas put on show
So Bob says lets put the categ’ry to bed, it’s not such a blow.

Right says Bob, let’s sing of gears and levers, cars, computers, traps for catching mice
No more praises, lists of honeyed phrases, anthems because they are nice
It’s inventions they must be.

Right says Bob, just to make it clearer, abstract songs should be marked with m-f-d
Don’t just ‘bone ‘em, make the poets hone ‘em, into real categories
It’s inventions they must be

You see I’ve had a think and the truth is really this, that despite our best intentions
They’re just name checks and mentions, when they should be something more, it’s an option to explore.

Right says Bob, that is my proposal, now it’s time for you to have a go
Let me hear it, prob’ly you won’t cheer it, what do you think? I must know!
Just give me all your thoughts, your responses and retorts, I’ll go with the flow.
DrBob, Jan 28 2003

'Right Said Fred' by Bernard Cribbins https://www.youtube...watch?v=cO-eTn8sSAk
Lady Gaga eat your heart out! [DrBob, Oct 17 2004, last modified Sep 05 2020]

Kind of baked http://www.halfbake...pper_20fast_20lanes
A poem rather than a song, but this is what you're getting at I think [Zircon, Oct 17 2004]

My sad attempt http://www.halfbake...m/idea/Erodothedral
[krelnik, Oct 17 2004]

[link]






       No worries, doc, heres your bone....
briandamage, Jan 28 2003
  

       <pigeon> <pigeon> <cat> <pigeon> <pigeon>
Bob: I didn't get the tune to start with and discovered a small Marshall Mathers III rapping it in my head. Most entertaining.
st3f, Jan 28 2003
  

       Ha! Think yourself lucky st3f. I've had this bloody tune rattling around in my head for just over a week now. Aaaargh!
DrBob, Jan 28 2003
  

       We recently had a discussion on an idea that was just the plot for a movie, about whether movie or book plots were appropriate for the bakery. Several seemed to think not. I think you're right, DrBob, that same argument should apply to songs.   

       Personally I rarely croissant songs, I think they are getting quite old at this point. The whole idea of taking an existing song and sticking new lyrics on it was baked a long time ago, after all.   

       And quoting [jutta]'s annotation on Halfbaked Prophecies:
"That the halfbakery has a category for something doesn't mean that that thing is welcome; just that it exists in such abundance that it could be conveniently grouped. Personally, I have a very low tolerance for most of the social, self-referential chatter in Halfbakery:*.
-- jutta, Sep 13 2002"
krelnik, Jan 28 2003
  

       I tried this a long time ago (see link), a couple of weeks ago I was considering re-writing all my ideas in rhyming couplets. Maybe, one day...
Zircon, Jan 28 2003
  

       Yes, that's exactly the sort of thing that I'm on about Zircon. I hadn't seen your rhyming idea before so I'll just nip over there and give it a pastry.
DrBob, Jan 28 2003
  

       Hmmm - Great song, good parody and I agree with the sentiment. Does that mean I croissant or fishbone? I'll give you pastry for Bernard Cribbins' sake.
Jinbish, Jan 28 2003
  

       Dang, I knew this was coming.   

       Songs are a different breed altogether. Because they're tricky and take some creative time to write sometimes, they seem to mark a stage in some baker's lives where they either step up their efforts before submissions, (and are permanently stuck here with no hope of escape), or never quite do. It's as much a worthy exercise in writing development as anything.   

       So I'm quite torn. I hate to see an post for a song just for a song's sake disappear altogether, but I also hate to have the place turn into the top forty pop countdown. For me it was great fun writing the one's I did and it sure helped me get a feel for the place and develop my own writing style. Pre-song era, Ray was a pretty dull read indeed.   

       But having figured that out, simply cranking out another song without throwing in an invention to boot is a pointless venture for me, like retaking a class I'd already passed, but might not be for a developing songwriter. So I do like your compromise in that regard, but am wondering whether it should apply across the board.   

       So having said all that, annotations and profile pages seem to be the best place for inventionless songs nowadays.
RayfordSteele, Jan 28 2003
  

       Yeah I'm not sure if outlawing songs/poems for their own sake is a good idea. I mean, this is a community, after all, and the mere fact that they often get lots of good votes means the majority of the community likes them. If this changes then they will get heavily boned and people will think twice before posting a new one. By suggesting this here you could have started a trend that songs that are ideas will be more popular than just songs from now on, but I don't think there is any need to do away with the whole subcatergory!
Zircon, Jan 28 2003
  

       Hm... I'm mixed on this one. On one hand I think I'm ready for the tide of tunes to be stemmed (mostly because recent additions have not been so great). But on the other hand, I think intentions written in rhyme would get very old very quickly too. That could be just me though. I didn't care for the narrative approach when it was in vogue last summer either, but others liked it.
waugsqueke, Jan 28 2003
  

       //recent additions have not been so great//
As you know, I try to warn off new folks from posting poems and songs in my newbie guide, but I guess the advice hasn't taken. (Several recent songs have been posted by new bakers).
krelnik, Jan 28 2003
  

       I wouldn't worry too much. I don't think we'll see a whole flood of versed ideas from this, though they'll probably be here and there, simply because of the increased level of difficulty it'll take.   

       Basically it comes down to trends being set by popular voice, and then reactions to those trends, and reactions to the reactions, ad infinitum. The only way to break that cycle is to all strive to be more independent in our own styles so that there is no real trend one way or the other.   

       At least that's what Jim thinks. ;-)
RayfordSteele, Jan 28 2003
  

       The muse comes upon us all at some point so I wouldn't want to discourage anyone from breaking into song. As Rayford says up the page there, it can also be a good way of getting to grips with language and of thinking out your idea, but I just don't think that there should be a seperate category for it. We don't have a category for halfbakery:story or halfbakery:play...
...<rushes off to check facts>...
...so why halfbakery:song? (you can take it that I'm including poetry in this as well)

I'm also not advocating that *all* ideas should be in verse <shudder> or that ideas are more croissant-worthy because they are in verse. If you think the song is great but the idea is rubbish then you should say so in an anno. Then fishbone the thing to death.
DrBob, Jan 30 2003
  

       I did write a halfbakery: story once. Not seen many others, though.
waugsqueke, Jan 30 2003
  

       Will someone explain to moi, what this has to do with mousetraps?
The Kat, Jan 30 2003
  

       I doubt it. :0)

The Kat, it's a metaphorical mouse trap. And if I ever catch a metaphorical mouse it'll do a damn sight more than go clip-clippety clop on the stairs. Oh yeah!
DrBob, Jan 30 2003
  

       [+]
theleopard, Jun 06 2007
  

       //The muse comes upon us all at some point//   

       Have you set a musetrap?
pertinax, Sep 03 2020
  

       Hahaha, Now that is funny. I would like one, Pertie.
blissmiss, Sep 03 2020
  
      
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