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Mental FishingJul 22 '01 Write an essay on this topic.
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The Bottom Line Bottom line is, songwriter inspiration can only come from one place, and that's inside of you.
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"Woke up this morning with my heart on fire." I still remember the unforgettable moment I heard this line and said to my sister, "Yeah, that was me this morning!" I don't, nor have I ever, been one to engage in deep talks with my sister when it came to matters of love. That time, though, I just knew I wasn't alone with that feeling, and I had to get it out. And it felt GREAT! Prior to that day, I had penned a few songs of my own. It was pretty much your typical high school drivel, although there is a line every now and then amongst all the garbage that I can't believe I pulled off that long ago without thinking to myself, "Damn, that was good." That was before I became a slave to my own friggin' pride. See, that's the real problem though. A lot of times, I'll write a song, read over it about ten or twenty times, thinking "Man, I love this part." A few days later, I look at it again and it's like, "Okay, where did it go?" I can only assume that it is human nature for every songwriter to have doubts about his own prowess, especially if he makes the mistake of patting himself on the back one too many times. That's why one of the first things you want to do when writing songs is to throw all your expectations out the window, and say Bye Bye Bye, because you won't be needing them. They will only keep you down in the long run. Don't be a desperado, take it easy! Don't count your chickens before they hatch, because first you have to lay the egg. And you can't just do that anytime you want to. Songwriting is not something you wake up and do on a nine to five basis. It is more spontaneous than anything. You have to wait until the feeling hits you, like lightning. Never assume that at any time or place in your life, you will be too engrossed in something, because that's when you are the most prone to get an idea. Have that pencil and paper handy no matter where you are. If you have to pull over on the side of the highway to do it, then by all means, take the initiative. If the signs say "Emergency stopping only", well screw them, this is an emergency! Where are these ideas supposed to come from? Piece of cake. They can come from anything, if you learn to use your imagination. Here are three everyday examples that come to mind... The Swaying Tree You see a tree swaying in the wind. The wind blows it to the right, and it sways back to the left. The wind blows it again to the right, and yet again, it sways back to the left. It's a persistent tree, though, ain't it? The tree says "No matter how much you try to knock me down, I'll be right back up in no time." Kind of like Chumbawamba's "Tubthumping" song. Or the old tune, "Strong Enough to Bend", which of course refers to the tree's ability to bend or "cooperate" with the wind, rather than to be broken by it. So, you might put yourself in the tree's shoes, and come up with a new take on it. Something like... I've fallen down so many times That I lost count long ago, But wind, you won't defeat me No matter how long you blow! Pretty lame, but hey I'm on a tight schedule, okay? The Glass I was pouring a glass of soda earlier when it hit me, even this could represent a feeling. The glass could be your sanity, the soda could be your problems filling it up. If you fill it too fast, the fizz (how you react to the problems) will spill out. Bingo! So you might get something like this. Took it upon myself To do ten things at once Boy did I ever Feel like a dunce For when I poured That drink too fast I slipped and fell Right on my a*ss. Hmmm... The Traffic Scenario If you've been driving for more than two days of your life, you've been here. I actually did a WrittenByMe piece about this. Sometimes you get behind a slowpoke and you wish so much that you could go around him, but you can't do it. So you just have to wait. The slowpoke could represent an incompetent co-worker. A date who's a half hour late. A skipping CD-player. It all depends on what accomplishment you choose to equate with getting around this person! Then there are times when you are the slowpoke. You're going 70 miles an hour and you got someone right on your rear. You can't even see their headlights because the hood of your trunk is blocking them. In this case, the person behind you is someone who is rushing you to do something and you don't feel you can live up to their expectations. Could be an overbearing boss or parent, or *shudder* a sadistic military training "motivator". So this traffic scenario might drive (excuse the pun) you into writing something like... I tried to get around you But your butt's a mile wide The view is really terrible And this I can't abide Just about that time That I was going to go around From behind I heard the most Annoying beeping sound Turns out there's another guy Who wants to get by me And just to think I was alone In wanting to be free Goes to show you just how funny This old world can be We all are neither here nor there But everywhere you see. I swear, I'm just making these up as I go so that's why they're so bad. But anyway, you get the idea. You can make a song out of just about anything if you really use your imagination. All you have to do is take a look around. It really helps a lot, though, if you capture any powerful feelings while they are fresh. Sometimes, you won't need an image to conjure ideas for a song. Sometimes, a painful experience, or even the recurring memory of one, can bring it out. You might think of songwriting as mental fishing. You wait for the emotion to bite, and when it does, you reel it in. If you wait too long, thinking that it will resurface, you're going to lose your fish! And even if the feeling does resurface some time down the road, it'll never be as fresh, as genuine, as it was the first time around. Never be ashamed if it feels like you are just putting your life story on paper. A lot of the greatest songwriters out there have done that very thing. And made millions in the process, because they knew that they weren't alone. They knew that there were millions of people who would connect with their feeling. And it's only plausible, given that there are maybe 50 feelings out there, and 6 billion people. Yeah, I'd say a lot of them are going to connect. Even if it's just another spinoff of the classic "I love you, but you don't love me" gig. Sir Rhyme-A-Lot Whether or not your songs rhyme, I personally don't give a rip. Some people do, and that's fine. Most of the songs that I write rhyme. Maybe a verse here or there that doesn't. But I have found an interesting technique that seems to make a lot of rhymes more catchy. I'm sure almost anyone who has ever written a song has probably started off with two really great, catchy lines, and then suddenly came to a halt when they realized that it was going to be next to impossible to come up with a rhyming line that was equally catchy. When you listen to a song where the words rhyme, usually the second rhyming word is more emphatic. Sometimes I can't believe That I've survived for this long Never considered myself To be one of the strong. In a verse like that, with long and strong rhyming, the word strong is used at the end of the verse, and obviously this is the word that the listener is anticipating, because all they know is that it's going to rhyme with long. So they're going to naturally hear emphasis on strong because they've been waiting, even if only subconsciously, to see what word the songwriter would use. Unfortunately, in this case, the last two lines sound a lot like the songwriter ran out of ideas and just had to pick a word that rhymed with long and do the best he could with it. This is going to happen a lot if you try to write songs that rhyme. So what do you do? Switch the lines. Never considered myself To be one of the strong Sometimes I can't believe That I've survived for this long. Now you have that original catchy line that you thought you could rhyme, placed at the end of the verse. Now, the listener is anticipating a word that rhymes with strong, and not only are you going to give them a word, but you're going to hit them with that catchy line at the same time. BAM!!! So there you have it, that about does it for the lyrical part. As for the melody, that's up to you. Everyone has his or her own interpretation of what chords mean what, which sequences are the most powerful. (However I do have to say that I think it would be unanimously agreed that the chord playing behind the word "hard" in Phil Collins' song "Taking It All Too Hard" is DEFINITELY the saddest chord in existence.) If you have your wits about you, you can channel those feelings when they surface, and put that out into music right then and there, then write the lyrics afterward. This to me guarantees a melody that matches the mood of the lyrics. On the other hand, sometimes a melody that contrasts the mood of the lyrics can carry an interesting effect. (Think "Here comes my baby, here she comes now, and it comes asa no surprise to me, with another guy...") Or you know what else you can do. You can find a song that's already been made that matches your mood at the time, and write your own words to the song, using that melody to help bring your feelings out so that you can express them as vividly as you can. Of course, you'll have to make your own melody, but if you ever need help with words, you've got it made. I've written more than a few songs that way. Bottom line is, songwriter inspiration can only come from one place, and that's inside of you. It will never come from triple D boobs and a Pepsi contract. If it makes millions for somebody else, then fine. But you have the power to scale far greater horizons just by listening to your heart. And who knows, maybe on some special night, if your song is right, you will find a way.....  |
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