/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
