SpinTunes 25 Round 4 Challenge

Hello, friends. We've reached the Final Round. Sometimes we go easy on you in the Final Round. After all, if you've made it this far you've already shown that you can do hard things, and do them well. But sometimes we give you something really hard, just for fun. That's exactly what we're going to do now.

When you write your Final Round song, you're going to have to take a good look at the words you use, because a lot of words won't be allowed. Most of them, in fact. You might think what we're asking you to do can't be done. But I'm doing it right now, and I've been doing it since you started reading. If I can do it, so can you.

Read on:

Keep It Simple: Write and record a song whose lyrics use only the 1,000 most common words in the English language.

This online text editor will tell you in real time if your lyrics meet the challenge, and if not, which words are not allowed. We will also be using this editor to check that your lyrics meet the challenge. If not, your song will not be eligible to compete in the Final Round.

You can also directly consult the list of words allowed. Noun plurals as well as verb forms for third-person singular, past tense, and gerunds (usually ending in -s, -ed, and -ing) are generally allowed even if not listed individually. When in doubt, check the online editor. 

(This challenge is inspired by Randall Munroe's Thing Explainer, although your song can be about anything and does not need to explain a thing. The text editor was created by Theo Sanderson.)

The results of the Final Round are determined by a vote of all SpinTunes 25 contestants, except for those competing in the Final Round themselves.  

Submitting Entries:

• Your entry must be received by Sunday, October 26, 2024 @ 11:59 PM EDT. Otherwise it'll be posted as a shadow. Received means that it has to appear in my e-mail inbox (spintunescontest@gmail.com) by the given deadline. I will be going by the time stamp on the e-mail. One minute late is too late.

• You are allowed and encouraged to submit a draft of your song early just in case something horrible happens and you miss the deadline. Then you can add polish to your song and send in a better version closer to the deadline. The last version received prior to the deadline is your official entry. 

• Lyrics are mandatory. No instrumentals. Having no lyrics will get you disqualified.

• SUBMITTING BY EMAIL: Send your file in a format that BandCamp accepts. (.wav or .flac) (at least 16-bit/44.1kHz) Do not send MP3s.
• Name your file the song's title + your band name.
• The subject line of the e-mail should identify the challenge and your band's name. Something like this would be fine: "ST25R4 - All the Robots".
• Include the song lyrics in the body of the e-mail.
• Include information on anyone that needs credited if you collaborated with someone.

• ALTERNATE FILE SHARING OPTIONS: If your file is too big for an email attachment, you may email me a link to where I can download the song. The email still needs to land in my inbox by the deadline.
• If you have a Bandcamp account you can just send me a link to your song if you include all the info I mentioned for emails. Info such as lyrics and song credits can be included in the email or on the song's Bandcamp page. Make sure you have it set as a free download, and have it set so that I don't have to put in an e-mail to download it if you pick this option.
• You may also use a file sharing service such as DropBox, WeTransfer, Google Drive, etc. Include in the email any required information (such as lyrics) that you couldn't include in the file. Make sure I have permission to download the file, and please follow directions so your file doesn't wind up in my spam or trash folder accidentally.

• SONG BIOS: In addition to lyrics and any necessary credits, you are welcome to include a "song bio", with any information you feel is useful. This could include your inspiration for the song, citations for any obscure references within the lyrics, an explanation of how your song met the challenge, etc. Some challenges may require you to supply certain info in your song bio. Since the judges are volunteers with lives outside of SpinTunes, song bios can help them zero in on aspects of the song you feel are important. However, if your song requires a multi-paragraph explanation in order to understand and appreciate it, this is probably a sign that it doesn't stand up well on its own, and its ranking may reflect that.

Side Notes:

• You can send in an entry to SpinTunes 25 without competing. Just tell me it's a "Shadow Song". It will be played at the listening party, but won't be ranked and you might not receive feedback from the judges. Check the FAQ if you don't know what that means. You can even complete past challenges from previous contests. It's a nice way of playing along if you can't commit to the schedule or you just want to get your feet wet.
• The only other way to get your music played at the listening party is to cover "Today's The Day" by Inverse T. Clown or "Right Again" by Mandibles.

Feel free to leave any questions in the comments.