To get back to the raison d’etre of this blog, I’m going to devote a segment to the basics of song-writing–as I have discovered them.
To begin, what I’m presenting is a system of suggestions that I believe will serve you in the art of song-writing. Especially if you are new to the biz (okay, I’ve never sold a song), then these suggestions will get you off and running. Perhaps they’ll save you the trouble of making the same mistakes I made. In other words, this should get you ahead of the game.
I don’t want to imply that my suggestions are always correct, or should be followed at all costs. Rules are meant to be broken, and songwriting is an art, so breaking rules is essential to writing anything truly original. But, take my advice, don’t try to break all the rules at once. Learn to ride the bike before trying to do tricks on it.
First topic: Subject Matter.
What to write about? Mmmm…Blank page syndrome. I had it for years. Here’s some suggestions that save you some time.
Sometimes you know exactly what you are going to write about. “I want to write a song about the pain of loss,” you might think. Or maybe you have a line you wish to immortalize. Perhaps you have a tune in your head, or a piece of a tune.
But sometimes you’ve got nothing. You just want to write a song. That’s enough. I mean, that’s how I started. Then you are in the position of the 10th grade English student who has to write a 3 page essay about the topic of his choice. Ugh! The blank page syndrome.
People tend to get paralyzed by public speaking. They freeze. Everybody’s looking at you, there’s no place to hide. Writing is like that. We are afraid of being judged by our writing. Writing gives us a podium. And that can be awkward.
There’s only one way to overcome it: WRITE! Anything! A scribble will do. The first thought that comes into your head. Whatever the guy next to you just said. Just write something. Because editing is a lot easier than writing, and once you’ve got something down, you just edit it until it’s something you can be proud or, or at least hand in to your teacher.
This is not an instant fix-all method. There’s a long way from writing down what you hear in a coffee shot to crafting an instant classic. Which brings up the next topic.
Writing Through the Shit.
I don’t know where I heard this phrase, or if I made it up, but it captures what most writers go through in the beginning. The first thing you write will probably be dreck. And the second thing…and so on. Again, dig in your heels, ‘cus this could take years. Hey, I never said it would be easy. I’m sure there are people out there who write instant masterpieces the first time they sit down at the computer. (There’s always that one guy who makes us feel inadequate) But I’m here to tell you–if you are not that guy–you can still make yourself into a perfectly decent song-writer–even a great one. It’s up to you to decide if it is worth the effort.
I wish I could share some of my first attempts with you. They were simply horrible: trite, grandiose, mundane, whatever. And there were many fragments that never amounted to anything. Don’t expect anything different. If you care about what you are doing–because you just know there’s something great rattling around in there, or simply because your life is just so miserable, you need something, anything to hold on to, and to validate your suffering (yes, this was my experience)–then you’ll persevere. I hope you also have somebody to pat you on your back, to gently encourage you to keep trying. As they say in AA, it gets better. That doesn’t mean that right now doesn’t suck. Hang in there.
I doubt I still have it hanging around, but the first song I wrote was entitled something like, “I’d Do It All Again”. As in, “with you”. Right off the bat, you can see how trite this song could be. And it was! Which is not to say the sentiment wasn’t immediate, powerful, and valid. A love affair that ends tragically but still seemed worth it could be a good starting point for a song. But, thank god, I recognized how horribly mundane it sounded as I had written it. So my suggestion is: please, for the sake of your family and friends–for your dignity–rip this one up. And then look for a different angle. Focus on one detail of the love affair. Tell it from a different point of view. Try to make it funny. (I know, this might sound antithetical to the impulse to write the song, but it’s worth a shot) Whatever you do, don’t write that song, with that title, and all the schlock that flows from there. Or at least have the sense to dump it. There, you’ve written through some shit. Pat yourself on the back and move on.