#46
|
|||
|
|||
I asked this same question in a creative writing class this past year. The consensus of the class was that if the piece has the message and feeling you want to convey, then it's done enough.
__________________
------------------------------- Emerald Green Wing, Multi Scale Length X10 Emerald Ruby Cross, Multi Scale Length X30 Breedlove Blond Jumbo Yamaha Silent Steel String |
#47
|
|||
|
|||
I have been making songs for about 5 years. I've been playing guitar for 4.5 years of that. The gap explains why I picked up a guitar in the first place. Singing while playing the clarinet proved frustrating.
My songs are born when they are ready. They live an unpredictable life. Sometimes they die. And sometimes they don't. To me, it is a mystery. When I hear someone say that it took them "ten minutes" to write song, I first ask myself whether it sounds like a ten minute song. If it has chops, I often think of a story a client once shared with me. He is a "professional" artist, successfully selling his paintings for thousands of dollars. After 30 years at it, and years of university study, he paints with great efficiency and proficiency. One afternoon at his gallery, a man was taking in a painting on the wall. While it was demure, it carried a substantial price typical of my client's work and status. The man confronted the artist: Man: Wow, that is a lot of money for such a small painting Artist: You think so? Man: Ya, I mean, its really small. How long did it take you to paint that? Artist: 35 years. Like my artist client, the next song, or version, I write is like a marginal tax rate - it is just the most recent musical expression standing on the shoulders of everything that came before it. I may only have been at song-writing for 5 years, but I did a lot of stuff for 62 years before that. My songs wont ever be done, till I am. "Write on." David
__________________
I took up the guitar at 62 as penance for a youth well-spent. Last edited by Deliberate1; 01-14-2024 at 10:34 AM. |
#48
|
|||
|
|||
Yes, I think there are many 'straightforward' songs and poems which are good and aren't to be criticised, but the real mind/soul-stoppers are mysteries. Where they come from, how they develop, how they combine so many strands that often couldn't be paraphrased. I think so many Leonard Cohen songs (for one instance) are like this.
I don't think it's usually a matter, as jwellsy suggests, of getting a message across. |
#49
|
|||
|
|||
A song is never done, but the changes come slower and slower with time. At some point, I commit it to paper and consider it "done" - retaining the right to revise it. The ones which are copyrighted (most of them) are, I suppose, officially finished, since if I made significant revisions, I might have to re-copyright it. And that is both a hassle and expense.
__________________
The Bard Rocks Fay OM Sinker Redwood/Tiger Myrtle Sexauer L00 Adk/Magnolia For Sale Hatcher Jumbo Bearclaw/"Bacon" Padauk Goodall Jumbo POC/flamed Mahogany Appollonio 12 POC/Myrtle MJ Franks Resonator, all Australian Blackwood Blackbird "Lucky 13" - carbon fiber '31 National Duolian + many other stringed instruments. |
#50
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
They're both right. I've taken dozens of creative writing classes. One thing I learned was to ignore the consensus of the class. Michael Chabon, who should know, wrote the book that got turned into the movie Wonder Boys. You might want to check it out. Very funny, and in my humble, it nails what studying creative writing and teaching creative writing are all about. |
#51
|
|||
|
|||
I’ve written songs I one sitting and I’ve written songs that take several iterations before they’re right. Once I record them, that’s usually the final version, but sometimes I find myself adding little nuances here and there. Usually, I end up wishing I had better lyrics and the songs that don’t give me that feeling are usually the best ones.
__________________
1959 Martin 00018 1998 Martin OM28V 1918 Gibson L1 1972 Gibson SJ Deluxe 2019 Gibson J-45 Standard 2022 Gibson 1960 Hummingbird Fixed Bridge …don’t even get me started on electrics - too many to list. |
#52
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
|
#53
|
|||
|
|||
Been writing for almost 50 years. (Never had a Top 40 hit though!)
I’m not prolific and most of the time a lot of emotional and intellectual energy go into the finished product. And then it’s finished. Never had the urge to fine tune once it’s “in the can”. (I may change tempo or style while performing but lyrics are locked and loaded.) But that’s just me…you be you!
__________________
Please note: higher than average likelihood that any post by me is going to lean heavily on sarcasm. Just so we’re clear... |
#54
|
|||
|
|||
Quote:
Thanks, Sloth! I'll do my dernedest! |