I entered Between the White Lines in the Great American Song Contest this year. I think I’ll stop entering that song contest (even though No Toll in Canaan was an honor award winner a few years back) and ones like it, because they’re really looking for songs that are more mainstream than the ones I want to write, and mostly because song contests that don’t come with the possibility of performing my song in front of a new audience don’t really help my music career. But whatever else you can say about this particular song contest, the judges actually carefully consider the songs and give good feedback. They rank aspects of the song from 1-10 (ten being the best) on nine different factors, give an overview paragraph assessment, and then also comment on the lyric sheet. The things I ranked highest on were Prosody (the fit between lyrics and musical feel) – that one got a 10 – and “how lyric fits music, imagery/poetics, and hook (which got 9s). I got 8s on “clarity/progression of theme”, rhyming, melody, and structure, and the lowest (interestingly enough) was “originality,” which got a 7. Overall, both in the summary paragraph and in the comments on the lyric sheet, the issue the judge seems to have had with the song was the first stanza. (Full lyrics posted below.) The summary said “from the 1st line of this lyric the listener probably won’t know who or what the 1st verse is about” and goes on to caution that “introductory lines . . .should draw in the attention of the listener and establish a clear scenario.” In the songs I like, though – and intentionally here – sometimes the point is NOT to make things too clear, and sometimes that is precisely what draws the listener in. Obviously it can’t be so opaque that you have no idea where the song is going, but I actually like some ambiguity at the beginning of a song. It’s nice to know that many aspects of the song were appreciated. On the lyric sheet are the comments “excellent detail and lyrical progression” and “very sweet conclusion,” among other nice things – and it’s even reassuring that some of the things the judge liked were the things I’m particularly proud of in the song. But I’ve discovered, as I’ve spent a bit more time in the context of people or organizations doing songwriting with the goal of mainstream success that I legitimately don’t want to write songs of the sort they’re trying to convince people to write. It’s not sour grapes, either. I want my songs to be great, and I’m not at all adverse to feedback. But although fame and fortune would be nice, I’d rather write the kind of songs I like to listen to, and those are quirky folk-related songs that don't follow those mainstream rules. Between the White Lines Just as soon as I was legal I signed on to drive the coal Didn’t matter where I headed; open road my only goal Drove the snowplow winter evenings, ice cream van on summer days If I could I’d drive the mail truck; anything so I could stay Between the white lines Between the white lines I got hired for the long haul shortly after we were wed Though she hoped for wine and flowers I chose maps and freight instead Just a phone call at a rest stop let me know that she was gone But a load was due in Syracuse so I kept moving on Between the white lines Between the white lines With my eyesight slowly fading I now carry lighter loads If I’m home the weather channel is the way I watch the roads When time comes to leave this highway I don’t know where I’ll be bound In a pickup or a Kenworth I was lost but now I’m found Between the white lines Between the white lines Take route 70 from Zanesville after farewell prayers are said Put my ashes in your flatbed; nowhere else to lay my head Going eighty down the highway; send me flying proud and free Drop me where they lay new asphalt so that I’ll forever be Between the white lines Between the white lines Between the white lines Between . . .