Well well well, here I find myself in the midst of writing tunes ( hopefully good ones..whatever that means) for this next album. Scrounging through bits of scrap paper, torn receipts with random words scrawled in all corners, flipping pages and pages of note pads that have absolutely no order to which the information has been recorded and frantically scrolling through 100's of entries in my notes page on my iphone to rediscover that amazing hidden gem of a lyric that will make this "good" song a "brilliant" song.
Why is it that some songs just flow out like honey and others ya gotta kinda scrape out like home brand crunchy peanut butter that your boys have left out for 3 months with the lid off. What's in a good song anyway? Ok, so you may say the usual, a good lyric, nice melody, some say it's about the "groove", others go on about the structure - hell, there are so many variations and opinions on what makes a great song that at times I find myself swallowed up in the technical side of writing and chasing that elusive recipe that I drain myself of all inspiration and I forget what I am writing about in the first place. Then there's the post mortem of taking your precious little baby to another songwriter and/or your producer ( Steve Passfield in my case) and surrendering up my little virginal scrawlings for the slaughter..ahhhhhhh. This is a most excrutiating moment for me. Oh I am sure there are many songwriters out there not nearly as attached to their inner "vomitations" (ewww, that's a horrible word, is that a word, well it is now- I'm a songwriter and we make up words lol) but for me this "sharing" opens up a universe of terror. Ok, so yes I see you rolling your eyes.I'm a drama queen, its not like I am going to beheaded because a line does'nt fit the phrasing or it needs rewording to actually make sense ( this country music genre seems to have a liking for making sense ..now how about that ) Being from a rock/folk background I find myself cringing at the rawness of pulling apart an obscure sentence (which probably came to me after indulging too much ) and re-moulding it into a more direct, no nonsense form of communication. Of course, I can see the benefits of this for the audience I am playing to at the majority of my gigs AND I can see how this does embellish songs but for me its like going from full cream milk down to skim- you know its possibly a better choice for your overall health but it does take getting used to . Now did everyone understand that? So you can possibly understand my resistance and challenges in moving out of the old into the new. Luckily I am in good, strong, solid hands with Steve.Slowly I am allowing my well guarded creative fortress to be dismanttled piece by piece and you know what- its not nearly as painful as I think it is. I am not saying I am totally at ease with the whole process but working with such a patient,experienced writer and someone who can sit there whilst I go into looney land fumbling through my explainations as to what the line is about which you know, at times can be simply unexplainable, has been a really valuable experience. So onwards I march toward this new album with great gusto along with trepidation. And still I question "Whats in a Song - your thoughts?
Why is it that some songs just flow out like honey and others ya gotta kinda scrape out like home brand crunchy peanut butter that your boys have left out for 3 months with the lid off. What's in a good song anyway? Ok, so you may say the usual, a good lyric, nice melody, some say it's about the "groove", others go on about the structure - hell, there are so many variations and opinions on what makes a great song that at times I find myself swallowed up in the technical side of writing and chasing that elusive recipe that I drain myself of all inspiration and I forget what I am writing about in the first place. Then there's the post mortem of taking your precious little baby to another songwriter and/or your producer ( Steve Passfield in my case) and surrendering up my little virginal scrawlings for the slaughter..ahhhhhhh. This is a most excrutiating moment for me. Oh I am sure there are many songwriters out there not nearly as attached to their inner "vomitations" (ewww, that's a horrible word, is that a word, well it is now- I'm a songwriter and we make up words lol) but for me this "sharing" opens up a universe of terror. Ok, so yes I see you rolling your eyes.I'm a drama queen, its not like I am going to beheaded because a line does'nt fit the phrasing or it needs rewording to actually make sense ( this country music genre seems to have a liking for making sense ..now how about that ) Being from a rock/folk background I find myself cringing at the rawness of pulling apart an obscure sentence (which probably came to me after indulging too much ) and re-moulding it into a more direct, no nonsense form of communication. Of course, I can see the benefits of this for the audience I am playing to at the majority of my gigs AND I can see how this does embellish songs but for me its like going from full cream milk down to skim- you know its possibly a better choice for your overall health but it does take getting used to . Now did everyone understand that? So you can possibly understand my resistance and challenges in moving out of the old into the new. Luckily I am in good, strong, solid hands with Steve.Slowly I am allowing my well guarded creative fortress to be dismanttled piece by piece and you know what- its not nearly as painful as I think it is. I am not saying I am totally at ease with the whole process but working with such a patient,experienced writer and someone who can sit there whilst I go into looney land fumbling through my explainations as to what the line is about which you know, at times can be simply unexplainable, has been a really valuable experience. So onwards I march toward this new album with great gusto along with trepidation. And still I question "Whats in a Song - your thoughts?