...And what's wrong with that?"
I have this really cool little painting at home that features a clarinet player, alto player, piano player, and female vocalist. I picked it up at a craft fair at Headhouse Square a few years ago because I thought it represented me pretty much to a "T." Written on the painting are the words:
"'Music' is love, in search of a word," which I thought was a pretty good way of putting it. When you think about it, how many songs that you know are about love, in some form? How about I put it this way, how many songs can you think of that
can't be related to love? And on that note (no pun intended), how many of these "love" songs
don't have lyrics that could be considered "silly?"
Anyway, I recently got to thinking about all of this because, believe it or not, I've been trying to put together my "album" since hmmm.... late 2006? Seriously. It's been brutal. I could probably come up with a million excuses why I never finished it... but in any event, lately I've been trying to get back at it. So today, in what will be a bit of a more personal entry than you're used to reading, I thought I would share some of my random thoughts about songwriting.
(I'll warn you, this is a long one.)
It is
hard to write music, and I attribute my delay to two main reasons: lack of emotion/inspiration and my inability and downright distaste for writing lyrics.
"It's Just Emotions Takin' Me Over..."
It has become clear to me that I am only able to write music when I am 1) incredibly happy, or 2) ridiculously sad. I personally never feel more inspired to write a song than when I am either totally on Cloud 9, or the inverse of that, just had my heart broken. Only when I'm at my most vulnerable do I actually think the stuff I write is any good--from the heart, full of passion. And that is what music is all about, right? From a listener's perspective, if the songwriters out there wrote songs about just hanging out feeling just "ok" or "pretty good," would you really care? Could you really relate to that? Would it be enough to "move you?" When you're feeling happy/in love/insert another emotion that works here, would it be enough to make you play the same song on repeat over and over, while singing and dancing down Walnut Street in the middle of the morning rush, every morning on your way to work? Um, hypothetically speaking of course...
I'll admit, most of my songs are written when I am terribly sad, which I happen to think stinks! I hate being sad! Many have told me I am the least sad or negative person they know, and I'd like to keep it that way! But alas, sad happens, and unfortunately when it does is when I'm at my best at songwriting. Pretty ironic, huh? I can write songs when I'm happy/blissful too, but those are few-and-far-between. Whatever the emotion I'm feeling though, I find that if I don't take full advantage of it, I wind up with a lot of unfinished songs. For instance, I started to write one of these "happy" tunes not all that long ago, and you know what? I was ready to write a sad song again before I could finish the happy one! My point? Whatever the emotion, I just know that if I don't take full hold of it and commit to finishing a song right then and there, once it passes it's usually a missed opportunity.
In late 2006/early 2007, when I started "the album," I was feeling pretty emotional. I just was not happy, and couldn't quite get out of this funk I was in. I wrote a whole handful of songs during that time. I still play most of them today, actually. At least the ones I think are any good. Between that time and today, I have to be honest I haven't done much. I started to write a couple of songs, that I never finished, and frankly, I just started feeling less and less inspired by anything after a while. It's about time I kicked it into higher gear. So, go on... inspire me! To write "happy" tunes, maybe? Just a thought. :)
"More Than Words..."
Ahhh, then there is writing lyrics... let's just say, not my favorite thing to do. To be frank, I'm terrible with words. Pretty interesting that I find myself managing a
blog of all things, but nevertheless... I never say the right thing, and I always want to say
too much. Which pretty much correlates directly to me being a terrible lyricist. I can sit at the keyboard for hours playing a series of really awesome, sometimes haunting chord progressions (mostly minor chords--surprised?), and just hum or sing a melodic line on "do da do da do" and think I've come up with something really awesome. Then, the minute I try to add words, I am easily discouraged and frustrated. If I
do manage to write lyrics I think are decent, a few days later I hate them. Sound familiar to anyone?
The more music I listen to though, and the more I pay attention to the lyrics, the more I am realizing that most lyrics are succinct and to the point. "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah. And you know you should be glad." That's all you have to say! I always thought I had to say something really profound, really inspirational and poetic. "I wanna hold your hand." No seriously, really?
Yes, really. It's that easy.
Hell, the first hundred or so times I listened to this line in Taylor Swift's "Today was a Fairytale"
(don't judge!): "I can feel my heart, it's beating in my chest" I thought,
"Really? People can write this crap and be famous? That doesn't even make any sense! How about, 'I can feel my heart, ready to explode out of my chest!!' I mean, that's what it really feels like, isn't it?!" I let myself get so outraged by it, that it was funny. But the fact is, the next couple times I listened to it, I got it. The words she was singing didn't matter, it was the swelling of her voice, the emotion, the building of the music, etc. that did. (I mean, this is a Taylor Swift song we're talking about, but you get my point.) If the listener is in the right mindset, and can relate to what she is
trying to say, in the simplest terms, Taylor Swift has succeeded! When I hear it now, I no longer get angry, because it makes
perfect sense.
Not to say that I am completely over the hump of not caring about words, but I
am getting to the point where I am comfortable singing something like "the clothes were all over the place and the bathroom was a mess, and for the first time in a long time I couldn't care less." And you know what? That lyric probably really stinks to someone else, but
I get it, and someone else will, and in that respect, I will have succeeded.
Concluding Thoughts
I know I will never be a great songwriter, and even if I do finish "the album," no one is going to buy it!! Haha. What can I say, I'm a realist? Oh wait, no I'm not... But seriously. I'm not dumb enough to think that if
Pepper's Ghost couldn't make it (but a band like Nickelback could), that I will ever be a famous singer or songwriter. And I am "okay" with that.
Not about the Nickelback part. Really not okay with that. But as far as my own album is concerned, once I get past some of the hang-ups and finish the damn thing, it's going to be an awesome personal achievement, and I'll be happy knowing I finished it, no royalties necessary.
And now, off to write some music...
Musically yours,
Tina
