Start with a big block of nothing..

Then shave off the layers to reveal the something. That’s how a song is born in my world. There is no executive function, just accidentally overhear yourself while trying not to listen. Let the body decide, the thinking mind is such a superficial mask! Once you are entranced by a musical seedling, unaware of anything else, the most truthful parts of yourself sneak out, then swish, the ever present recording device (say phone memo app) nets it into existence! It’s fishing in your subconscious. Good catch!

But now what?

Well, craft. A cool idea is not a song of course, just the sense “its got legs”. The craft for me is looping the noise repetitiously until more and more previously hidden parts reveal themselves. Often in a flurry, even more often they hide in plain sight, wondering how long you’ll take to see and stack them together. Incoherent but musical mumbles give way to the perfect lyric. This is how “Scrambled Eggs” became “Yesterday”.

Of course there are many lures, unique to each song birth. The modern method of constructing a song with preset pop formulas right in a Pro Tools grid is probably much faster, easeful and successful than all my nonsense. This is the inverse of letting the song lead you. But I wonder if it’s as satisfying as fullly indulging your right hemisphere. Or real. Who can say? Only the listener can. The road to get there is irrelevant if the song still shows up!

I’m learning that a song needs to feel like a conversation you overhear but feel included in it. The words and music should fish around inside you and hook a feeling you don’t ordinarily have access to. Lyrics don’t have to make literal sense, but like a dream, you inhabit their mood space. They may ping at you with insight, memories, release, joy, sorrow, hope, strength. The song is now a conduit to your emotional life. Your friend. Your therapist. Your redeemer.

It’s real self-trickery to write a good song. Spontaniety and vulnerability are really hard to schedule! Tom Petty said “It’s got to boil inside of you then burst out”. I get that burst occasionally, but mostly I find the song always hiding deep in there, fully formed, in that big block of nothing. I just have to keep patiently stepping back to finally see it all.