Sympathy for the Devil is one of those songs that I sometimes get into and it and listen to the whole darn thing but then at other times as soon as I hear the opening drums - I'm hitting the skip button on my iPod. Definitely a primo example of a mood song for me. As songwriters - I think we have a hard time separating ourselves from our creations. I never think of songs that I have written and question: "I wonder if people with consider this a mood song". Creating music is a very personal thing for me and I think you take criticism as personally as if someone was criticizing your own child. Yes - it can be that close to your heart. Lately - I have been more of 'The Lone Songwriter'. I haven't co-written a tune since my days in my previous band. In that band - it wasn't like we sat down together and hammered out a tune. Sometimes my co-writer would present me with a song and sometimes I was the one presenting the song. We then did "our thing" to each others' composition. It worked well for us and we didn't have very many throw-away tracks. I think we both felt personally connected to each tune whether the contribution was something minimal or something that changed the scope of the song on a grand level. In that band I was not the singer. I always felt that the singer should be singing something that they "felt" so I stayed away from lyrics but now that I am doing my own thing - I am really enjoying the whole art form once again. The lyrics are still second on my list though. Although I don't think that it means that they suffer because of that. What I mean is that since I am a guitar boy - I tend to start with the music. I compose usually out of a jam session. I will just be playing, not really practicing, just jamming. It might be simple strumming on an acoustic or it might be giving the fingers a workout on the electric but either way it stems from that process. If I play something that stands out to me then that is when the song starts for me. Something sets the mood. It might be the key of the jam or maybe it is something that puts me into a mood due to how the chords make me feel. Sound strange? I don't know how to explain it any better than that. Lyrics for me come from listening to the completed instrumental afterward. Sometimes they flow quickly and sometimes it might take days, weeks, months or even in one case - years. I had a song that was originally composed instrumentally 10 years ago and I never felt the right lyrics till one day the inspiration hit and the song was finished in a matter of minutes. It's a strange process at times but it is what works for me. Whenever I meet songwriters - I want to know what their processes include. I am curious about their creative process especially when they have that different sound. I am fortunate to host a Singer/Songwriter night here in Nashville and this has been giving me the opportunity to experience that craft from so many different artists, genres, styles and methods. It's been a great inspirational tool for me to reconsider how I approach the craft of songwriting.
and on that note.....
I'm outta here!
No comments:
Post a Comment