Visualize Your Inspiration

Inspiration can come from anywhere! For me right now, it's my friends on facebook urging me on, but as far as songwriting goes, to write a good song, it's a good idea to begin with the end in mind. If you were a carpenter, you wouldn't begin building a house without blueprints, or at least some kind of floor plans, would you? Think of your song as a house. All the elements of harmony, melody, verses, chorus, etc. are all bricks, or whatever material you want to build your house out of. That's the great thing about songs, is their diversity. Just like houses, there's so many different kinds, and you're audience is going to evaluate your song on so many levels. Just like if you were to marvel at a house, you could say that one is sturdy, but isn't so good for looks, or some houses are gorgeous, but probably won't last too long.

Visualize what aspects you wan't people to look at in your song once it's finally finished. Do you want people to say "That song is very catchy, but has very little lyrical content."? That's kinda what I think when I hear "I kissed a girl" by Katy Perry. Her Hook, and melody are excellent, way above average. However, just like most songs by Lady Gaga, or Pink, and alot of other pop artists, the lyrical content, and meaning, just isn't there. That's why, metaphorically speaking, they're the houses that are great to look at, but only last like maybe a few years, due to poor all around structure, or possibly built on a bad foundation. Not that it's a bad thing. I like to look at pretty "houses" just as much as everyone else, but sadly, most just don't last. That's why modern pop artists have to continually work hard at what they do, and make more songs, 'cause if their song goes out of style, they're done forever.

Some songs however are the exact opposite. Take Bob Dylan's music for example. His lyrics, and song structures are some of the greatest ever written, but let's be honest, his songs aren't the catchiest. Fellow musicians like myself are big fans of Bob Dylan, because it's just mind blowing that anyone can write such well crafted songs, lyrically, and structure wise, he changed the rules of songwriting. Not something that you can say about alot of musicians except maybe The Beatles. However, he wasn't the best singer in the world, which kind of made alot of his melodys sub par. It's not the melodys that make Bob Dylan so great, it's his lyrical content, and structure, that'll make his songs last forever. If his songs were houses, they wouldn't be so pretty to look at, but they would be pretty darn nice to live in. Definitely built on a good foundation.

There are so many aspects of an individual song, that I could go on forever, but it's good to know that when you write, you should know, not only what message you want to convey, but how you want to send it out into the world. Whether you want your song to last for years, and be valued by your audience, or just be really catchy, and be a fun tune for people to sing for a few years. There's nothing wrong with either style.

Also, be sure to know the audience you're writing for. You don't want to write a children's song about satan. Children tend to not like that sort of thing. Visualize who it's going to be for, before you write, that way you won't mix up your lyrical content with your musical style, and completely alienate your audience. Although, I guess you could, but you simply wouldn't have alot of fans. See you next post!!!

Maynard James Keenan! (The guy from Tool)