Is anyone ever truly satisfied? I made a salad for dinner last night and, as I’m eating the last bite, I realize “Oh damn. I could have put grapes in here.” My night was ruined.
How many of you out there write a song that makes you say “Yup. Every ounce of my talent is right there on the page and in the notes. Couldn’t do better if I tried.”?
I wrote a song last week that is as good as any song I’ve ever written. It was an amazing feeling. At my age (I’m a young and feisty 107) I am kind of amazed that the melodies and words keep coming. Lucky for me my co-writer had a great start that inspired me. The song was basically completely written except for punctuation. Just kidding. But he DID have a North Star and a couple of very wonderful lines to grease the skids and get us going. And it was for a project so the finished song had a reason to exist!!!
That is the problem these days. Two writers in a room writing a song are pretty much dooming the song to be trapped like Rapunzel in the tower of good intentions. These days we need to be in a room with someone with a record deal so you have a target to shoot at.
That’s what we had here. A target to shoot at. And we hit it. We hit that sombich good. (Sorry. I promised to clean up.)
That song was a week or so ago. Now I am back wondering if I remember how to write a song!! (I actually am a very confident man in that regard. I always say that I can write about a toothbrush if I thought that might be the latest song craze!)
I play shows and, if I am playing in the round with three other writers… sometimes when it gets to me, my song sounds like a ten year old wrote it. Yes, sometimes I hire ten year olds to TRANSCRIBE my songs.… but I do the actual writing.
If I listen to country radio I might hear five songs in a row that sound like… songs. Then I hear one of MY songs and it sounds like the song you would hear when you wind the crank on a Jack in the Box you bought at a mobile home yard sale. It must be because I was there when the song was made up. So it sounds… made up.
I have recorded three albums. Mariannes (My “POP offering)… “Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One” (My live “all the hits that fit” album….and “Juggler’s Logic.” (My more acoustic folkier thang).
Yet I feel like I haven’t made the album I was put here to make. This year I am pledging to myself that I am going to make that album. I am stockpiling songs that I am proud of and putting away my pennies so I can go into the studio and make some art. Or go into the studio WITH art and make some music. (Art is my engineer)
Will that make me satisfied? Will grapes in my salad tonight make me satisfied? Am I destined to being dissatisfied hitting triples when I want to hit home runs? Am I an egomaniac to think I am hitting triples when I’m probably hitting bunt singles? I guess it’s a good thing when it comes to the arts. Otherwise you just string a few words together and say “There. It’s a song. I’m going to go watch TV.”
I never want to be one of those guys.
There. It’s a Monday Musing. Now I’m going to go watch TV.