Songwriting Manifesto

(This is actually something I wrote in October of 2009 and posted on Facebook, but I wanted to archive it here for my own, easier perusal.  Sometimes I write things that I want to go back and reread because it's a great snapshot of how I felt about something at the time.  This is something I needed to read again today, and I wanted to share it with all of you.)


Preamble: At first I was loathe to attempt an impart of so-called wisdom. This is too personal a thing to impart. What makes a songwriter a songwriter? What makes a bird sing? Is it nature? It is instinct? Is it desire? Is it all of those? You'll decide, but here's something I hope will help you fulfill all three.

Body: Succumb to it, yo: You are a song writer. You don’t just write songs. You don’t just play guitar. You don’t just sing. You are a singer. You are a guitarist. You are a song writer. Sure, it may seem like a crazy mental-trickery thing, but it’s important to note that you are above reproach in this. Of course you’ll make mistakes. But you’re never wrong. See how easy that is? Does that make it easier to take a chance if you know you’ll never really mess up? You’ve heard a bad song before, one that you know is truly bad in a lot of ways. But you’ve heard it, so that person must be a successful song writer if they can get a bad song heard, much less to your ears as an audio consumer.

I don’t want to hear excuses about how you can’t play guitar (yet) or can’t sing (yet). Just sing and play and write songs. Do you know how many singers out there hit bum notes but still move you? I’ve played guitar for 20 years and I still hit the wrong string once in a while. Do I write a bad song occasionally? Yes, but I move on from it and write better songs because of it.

Practice: I've written and recorded several songs in a day. I’ve jotted down only one idea for a song in a whole month. Wet to dry, flow to ebb, and so it goes. Everything and nothing inspires sometimes. New situations and new people inspire. I highly recommend them.

The practice part is writing a song. To learn how to write a song you need to do nothing. It doesn’t even take any music. You just write as though it were a story. Or an e-mail. Or poetry. It is and it isn’t. It generally has structure. It doesn’t have to rhyme. Punctuation doesn’t matter. I personally believe it’s all about the story. What are you getting across and to whom? If you can do that, if you can give one person goose bumps just once in their or your life from one song that you've written, then you are a good song writer.

So pick a month of the year and make it your goal to write a song that month. Let’s say it’s December. How much stuff is going on in December for the average person? Lots. There’s the usual shopping for family gatherings, some end-of-year parties and get-togethers, and definitely the birthdays of those poor people who were born way too close to Christmas. As a Cancer, I can only sympathize, not empathize. Why would we pick this horribly-busy month in which to write a song? 

Okay, so maybe you wouldn't pick it to write your first song. But when it comes down to expressing emotion, what better scenario is there other than one in which you are stressed, happy, anxious, depressed, ecstatic, and just about every emotion in the world? If you’re not moved in some fashion during a time when you have no time, will you ever be moved? Okay, I’m sounding like one of those art teachers who goes “you suck! You will never create anything good” and then I have you seeking my approval. Not the case. The point is – my point is, that is – that you have all this stuff inside you and to get it out you just have to let it out. Just start doing it. You don’t have to wait until December or any other time or event.

It starts with an idea, a lyric, a melody, a rhyme, and a beat. These things come out of your brain because you have them inside of it. Your brain has plenty of it in there. When it all comes down, when it all comes crashing down, you can place yourself in a time of innocence while life is falling apart. You can don that mask of despair on a sunny day. You can smile through tears and make a song of hope. It sounds kitschy and clichéd but this is the way it is. 

It’s okay to be overwhelmed. It’s a useless emotion, but it has its place. Yes, I realize that’s contrary. But that feeling of being squeezed into a corner is useful if it fuels a passion of another sort. I kinda feel that way about all negative emotions. They’re there to motivate, in a way. Sure, they don’t need to be there, but they are there. You can use them to do all sorts of things, but I’m all about writing songs and creating music, so that’s my recommendation.

A few spontaneous examples/ideas:

Exercise #1: Pick a feeling. Pick a place. Pick a time of your life. Pick two people. Mash ‘em up in a story. It doesn’t matter if they all occurred at the same time. You can change the names to something that rhymes or looks more fluid. Tell me a story about it. That’s it. Exercise over.

Exercise #2: Write a song about something you dislike. What makes you angry? Make the song only 30 seconds long. 

Exercise #3: Think. Just think for a minute. Block out all that extra stuff and listen. Let the noise disappear. Imagine what happiness looks and sounds like. When happiness walks into the room, what do the foot steps sound like? Does happiness have a smell? Just think about it. You don’t even have to write anything unless something comes to mind.

Exercise #4: Pick up a guitar. This should be one with new strings that’s recently been tuned. Play two or three chords you know and play them over and over, keeping a steady rhythm if possible. Hum. Hear what a melody in your head sounds like over some chords. We’re not even worried about notes. If it sounds off, it might be, but it might not be. Just hum softly, loudly, and in between, wherever the beat and chords call you to. Sometimes words appear here for me and it drives an idea I didn’t know I had.

You have writing tools at your disposal all the time. Whether it’s something to hum an idea into (learn how to record Voice Notes on your phone), write something down on (paper and pencil – check), and maybe some caffeine or a libation (Liquid Inspiration - you unfortunately have to take care of that part yourself), there are just those things you need to have at the ready.

So be ready.

John