/editors note/ Please welcome Tom St. Louis, a fellow traveler in the mission to write songs, and a new contributor to our wonderful little slice of the songwriting world/end editorializing/
One day I called myself to leave a message on my “answering machine”.
I was out somewhere, having played a gig. Feeling high…
After listening to my message — this was in the days of answering MACHINES and there were no buttons you could push to get right to the squeal – I spontaneously broke into song, extemporizing an unheard of Mills Brothers-ish tune.
Felt good.
I love it when songs come like that…they just arrive from nowhere and bite you on the left buttcheek and say, “Yoohoo!” And you say, “Where the heck did you come from…gosh you’re lovely!”
And sometimes you can feel it just before it happens…
…like a little wind stirring up at the edge of a plain…the creative spirit is THERE and available…and for the next magic moment or two you can pivot in any direction and the magic is all yours. It will do your bidding. You could sing or dance or draw or extempore in words or tunes…whatever you want, darlin’, it’s all there for you.
In truth this state is probably available all the time. I think we only recognize it some of the time.
Certain fishers of song, like Hoagy Carmichael and Irving Berlin were quite deliberate in the way they stalked* inspiration. It really WAS inspiration they found again and again, but dang did those dudes know how to prime the pump.
* Stalked as used by don Juan in the Castaneda books
When I contrast that kind of songwriting with what I call “chiggy chaggy” songwriting, I think catching songs is far better. Think of ‘Yesterday’, by Paul McCartney, one of the most covered tunes ever. He whistled it for a while before he even knew it was anything. Could chiggy chaggy EVER bring you a tune like that?
Could 6 dozen monkeys typing away like mad write the lyric for ‘Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts’ in seven centuries?
Okay, so I’m a snob. I admit it.
I know that many great great songs came from some dude scratching out various combinations of chords on his acoustic guitar or plonking out patterns on a piano. (And okay, mea culpa, I have done it a few times myself.)
That’s fine. If it works, God bless you.
My objection is that for many that’s all songwriting is and could ever be, and they are missing the best part, poor sods.
Can I be honest about my motives?
I’m an inspiration piggie — so much so that I don’t want to “do” anything as much as simply let it roll in…and then get inspired and keep rolling. When it rolls in, I’m thankful for the gifts I’ve been given. What you can make up can never rise to the level of what you can receive.
Another example: George Harrison’s solo on ‘Something’. Did he “write” that? Or did he receive it? Let’s not kid ourselves. There’s no way to write something sublime. You must receive it. Its complexity and beauty are so far beyond our conscious minds.
More on chiggy chaggy.
It seems to be an entirely reasonable proposition. You play around with a chord pattern to see what will happen. Then you try it to see how well it works. A little bit of this and a little bit of that.
I just don’t work that way. My greatest joy is in “catching” songs. Sometimes completely. In other words the whole song is complete before I pick up a guitar or piano… (insert joke about relative weights of uprights vs. grands).
I know a couple of songwriters who have gotten Pretty Defensive about this. I told them that I wrote every note of a song internally before I ever played it. They don’t like hearing this. Tough. I say mix it up. Do your chiggy chaggy if you must, but open yourself up to inspiration and learn how to really listen when it comes.
The song featured below is called ‘Tell Me How To Do It”.
It took as long to “write” as it takes to sing. The “Inkspots” of Canada are planning to record it. It’s a bit twee, but it is what it is. I wouldn’t change it for nuthin’. Otherwise the Inspiration Gods might just pass me by and throw a lightning bolt at one of the chiggy chaggers.
Listen here:
http://www.zerald.com/tellmehow.mp3
More examples of songs that fell from the sky and discussions of songwriting craft and philosophy:
http://gmsiamovie.wordpress.com
7 comments:
Welcome, Tom!
I really disagree with this concept of waiting to be struck by divine inspiration. Especially for a young songwriter this is just crippling. As we all know, the only way to get better at songwriting is to actually write songs. Even if a green songwriter gets this inspiration they will be so inexperienced from 'waiting' that they wont know what to do with it. I agree that good songs are sometimes the product of inspiration, but good songs are also the product of hard work. Budding tunesmiths need to know that you have to have the experience of writing songs (whether they're good, bad, stupid, silly, whatever, it doesn't matter) under your belt before you can turn that inspiration into a good final product. The bottom line is: Write, write, write, you will get better.
Livefolk,
I'll have to agree with you on this one. If I learned anything from participating in FAWM this year it was that I CAN write songs on command, and many times the inspiration comes because I'm working at it.
So, I agree with Tom in that I much prefer to "catch" or "receive" songs (and that does happen on occasion) but I think I'm probably more apt to receive these inspirations if I'm actively pursuing them as opposed to waiting for them to drop from the sky.
I DON'T think that's what Tom is advocating, but I'll let him speak for himself.
Thanks for your comment, Livefolk.
Steve
For sure, I'm not saying Tom's method is invalid, I just think it's a method aimed at the more experienced songwriter. Plus, I write songs when I'm not inspired just because I enjoy doing it, even if they suck (and I'd probably be bored otherwise haha).
P.S. I love this site, especially your videos Steven, it's great seeing video of peoples process, please do more. =)
I'm in the "development stages" of making a series of short 1-2 minute videos on the inspiration for writing songs, and techniques.
I need a few more things to pull it off successfully, but I already have 4 or 5 episodes mapped out.
Subscribe to my youtube channel if you haven't already.
SG said: "..... I agree with Tom in that I much prefer to "catch" or "receive" songs (and that does happen on occasion) but I think I'm probably more apt to receive these inspirations if I'm actively pursuing them as opposed to waiting for them to drop from the sky."
It's all good friends. We're all talking about a spectrum...there's song catching and song writing.
When you learn how to catch 'em, you'll have a much lighter hand on the tiller and not stomp the shit out of what you receive.
I don't advocate waiting for inspiration. "A watched kettle never boils"..
I have also participated in commissions and Songalongs and have loved what has come of it.
My point is simple....the greatest songs ever written came from a place beneath the conscious mind. We all connect there...we can't exactly dig there...we can poke around and it sometimes emits a wonderful blast or bleat or chord...but it's more like we move around in the world a thousand ways and sometimes elements combine which trigger something mysterious which turns a key in a secret lock.
...therefore, the very best thing you can do as a songwriter is to learn to listen very closely....
...even if your inspiration comes in the middle of chicky chacky....Hmmm, Dm, Bflat...C...no, F?, yeah...try it again...Dm, B flat, F, Am? YEah...
that's fine...it's what you do then.
I remember when I was eighteen I got kicked in the head by a massive inspiration....it was like receiving a trilogy about the history of consciousness or something similarly grand....I reached for the guitar to try to play what I was hearing, and the act of playing the guitar smudged the hell out of what I was hearing. I lost 2/3 of it in one chord...then of the third I preserved I lost MOST. And I have a pretty good song called, "The Movie in my Mind", which people still request at gigs. I can only smile and grimace and say silently to myself, "If you only knew".
What did I take from that?
My guitar playing is definitely not the point...
Over the years I learned to walk very nimbly and lightly on the rice paper as it were so as not to stomp the shit out of any more sweet melodies...
I remember exactly where I was when I fully caught one...every single note and not a single variation or confusion...that was cool...I was HIGH...I had arrived at my destination.
and one day I "got" one in a village in Greece, and spent two weeks "playing" it in my head, sculpting every note in the arrangement and accompaniment...just as an exercise so that when I picked up the guitar....I had already "written" every note.
I'll admit it's a bit extreme. And it's not for everyone.
But the central point is that if your compositions are constrained by your musical knowledge or prejudices, you are seriously restraining your creativity.
Ever write a song you have no idea how to play? Why not? Why should your musicianship limit your composerhood?
If you have written songs you have no idea how to play, then without a doubt they are purer than what you can get from chicky chacky...
See what I mean?
Finally, the two greatest songwriters I can think of...Irving Berlin and Hoagy Carmichael...were constantly priming the pump...Irving Berlin was once quoted as saying he felt like he was going to die if he didn't finish his song on the day he started it...Man I'd like that work ethic going for me.
But when you listen to Star Dust...(Hoagy's tune and often referred to as the greatest song ever written) it's another world entirely....
...it's as though he was in a dream and it was a magical world he was visiting...and he grabbed something from that magical world and hid it in his pocket...
...and when he woke up, IT WAS STILL THERE!!!
Yeah, I'm getting excited. That's what I live for, friends. That feeling.
And chicky chacky don't give it to me.
Tom St. Louis
Toronto
http://www.gmsiamovie.wordpress.com
Interesting comments. Tom, it seems to me that maybe all these comments are actually saying the same thing.
Maybe it's a question of "location". Most of the chicky chacky folks would say that they're hammering out the song. In real time, per se.
The "catch the whisper" folks might actually be doing the same thing. The question is where.
The chicky chacky writers do it sitting with their guitar (or insert instrument of choice). The "dream catchers" are actually writing the thing in their head.
Reason I bring this up is that I understand exactly what you mean when you ask about writing "in your head". I, too, have had many great compositions clearly represented in my mind, only to lose them the second I strummed a chord. I have also, like you, learned to tread lightly on the writing process.
My point is that perhaps both camps are doing the same thing. Working out the song. Some on the guitar with vocal attempts. Some are hearing the process in their mind.
Now, I will be the first to admit that the best songs are likely from the second camp. That is NOT to say that you can't write some great stuff with the chicky chacky method, but the "in your head" method. The problem is that my chicky chacky method is limited by the chords I can play and my musicianship.
The writing I do in my head does not have that limitation.
Over in the SA Book Post, there is a list of books that I have read about songwriting. In one book, (Blume, Jason. 6 Steps to Songwriting Success. New York, NY: Billboard Books, 2004), the author discusses his (award winning) songwriting techniques. He doesn't really play any instruments very well at all. But he's written some really famous songs.
Anyhoo... I've gone on long enough here. Good points, all. Thanks for making me take the time to sit and ponder my own writing.
Now, what was that melody I was just humming...
J
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