writers - was there "a moment"?

[jefleppard]

i was just reading in 'the lounge' (a sometimes scary place where 'lord of the flies' seems like the bible) about bands you would not pay to see. one band mentioned was 'the smiths'. in 1983, i heard them for the first time. i had never written song lyrics but something about morrisey's lyrics made me think that if i were to write, i would write like this. even though i was young (18) and extremely dumb, naive and way under educated in the humanities of any kind, i had a distain for lyrics that were flowery, phony, lovey-dovey or esoteric. i was nauseated (still am) by lyrics that are meaningless, about topics that are not sincere or that read like hallmark cards. morrisey was writing about the things that spoke to me: loneliness, introspection, failure, botched attempts at love etc. in the song 'how soon is now?' (featuring one of the best and most haunting guitar riffs of that generation) was a line that i lived over and over and over. he sang...

"there's a club if you'd like to go,

you could meet somebody who really loves you.

so you go and stand on your own

and you leave on your own

and you go home and you cry

and you want to die."

wow. i thought. i've been defined. if i ever write, that's how i'll do it. i understand those things. i feel them. i'll put them down on paper. sounds easy. don't it?

it wasn't that easy. i felt those things but - wow - is it ever hard to move them from your head to your hand.

i began in earnest what would become my 'years of crap" phase. i filled books full of garbage. none of it was worth reading or hearing. the problem was i was trying to write like him. i tried to write like all my heros at the time. why? because i was no one. yet.

maybe ten years passed and slowly things began to formulate but i still held onto that idea that i needed to write honestly from my own perspective and not just churn out radio-friendly crap. i was a painful and seemingly unrewarding apprenticeship. i trudged through frustration after frustration. eventually, not every song was horrible. one or two would stand out. one or two would not induce vomitting. my failure percentage changed from 100% to 99% to 89%.... the frustration was my apprenticeship.

nowadays (about 15 years after i wrote my first keeper) i have no idea where my efficiency % lies as far as good vs bad is but i have a routine in place that works enough of the time so that i don't ditch it it all, sell it off on ebay or consignment or burn it in the backyard as i cling desperately to the shameful comforts of my horrible customer service job.

i owe it all to morrisey and the smiths.

"well you say its gonna happen now,

well when exactly do you mean?"

[Swicket]

+1

[Murph]

There ya go.

[McDuff]

I don't think there is a writer alive that has a very high success rate honestly. In my experience (as limited that may be) that's the way it goes when writing, you write a lot of crap and slowly pick out pieces that aren't terrible and as you get better you also get more selective. I'm glad to see you have such dedication to it as that is probably what truly separates musicians like your self from dabblers like me. Perhaps I will get to where you stand one day, but for now I am still moving into an apprenticeship.

[Wayne]

Neil Young and Bob Dylan could have had 3 really good albums.

 

I've written 35 songs in 5 years, no more than 5 are any good even by my standards. But my percentage is increasing so I keep doing it. I don't think there is a moment when you arrive and everything you write is golden, if that is what you are asking. You just keep writing and hope there are gems among the flotsam. Return to first sentence.

[Johnt]

I had a pivotal moment in my writing career

 

Was sitting at my desk penning a song

 

and I got as far as

 

 

She loves you, yeah, yeah yeah

 

She loves you, yeah, yeah yeah

 

But I couldn't think of a third line!!

[Murph]

I had a pivotal moment in my writing career

 

Was sitting at my desk penning a song

 

and I got as far as

 

 

She loves you' date=' yeah, yeah yeah

 

She loves you, yeah, yeah yeah

 

But I couldn't think of a third line!![/quote']

 

What a stupid song......

 

It'll never sell.

 

[Johnt]

What a stupid song......

 

It'll never sell.

 

 

 

You see Murph

 

That was the problem with my writing career

 

Negativity!

 

One critique and I cried for a week

 

( Now hang on that ryhmes)

 

One critque and I cried for a week

she was all glory and I was a freak

 

>>>>>>>>!!

 

Don't give up the day job

 

Have your thread back Jeff..... sorry

[Rambler]

I seem to write more often and better when Im working with another writer. Maybe the spur helps. When Im tuned in to the process, the ideas tend to pop up. A song on the cds will suggest something, or a situation arises where you say "here's a song." That's a good argument for having a writing "practice" -- doing it consistently can sustain the process. Waiting for inspiration? Might be a long one.

 

ps Cunk. Agree re arty lyrics. Probably why Ive gravitated to blues and hard country. J

[zombywoof]

Ahhh, I love those canyon of your mind lyrics. As soon as I get off the computer I am going to go put on It's a Beautiful Day's first LP.

 

I spend far more time listening to "singer songwriters" than some guy blowing his brains out on a hot guitar solo. And if songwriting is like fishing, ya don't want to be sitting downstream from Townes Van Zandt, Smokey Robinson or Warren Zevon.

 

But it really depends on what you are going for. During the many years I played with a streamlined Chuck Berry-esque rock band, I could care less about stimulating someone's intellect. I was their to get their asses moving. For me, it was pure poetry when Daltry belted out that scream followed by Townsend's power chord in the final seconds of "We Wont Get Fooled Again."

 

And then there is no getting away from the fact that the single most haunting piece of music laid down in the 20th century had no lyrics - Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark was the Night, Cold was the Ground." If I could get across what Blind Willie did I would finally consider myself a musician as opposed to just a guitar player.

[zombywoof]

Neil Young and Bob Dylan could have had 3 really good albums.

 

You are giving Neil Young alot more credit than I would.

[dhanners623]

Well, Woody Guthrie said that all you can write is what you know. That's always seemed like good advice. That said, some people are just more lyrical and poetic than others. And some just know how to tell a good story. And the end of the day, that's what it's all about for a songwriter -- telling a story.

 

Unless you're going for a "vibe" and just need to get people moving their butts, that is. Then you can get away with something like "Louie Louie" and much of what winds up getting played on the airwaves these days.

 

And while people are free to have their opinions, I think Neil Young's catalog of great songs over his career is quite impressive, and certainly would fill more than three albums.

[Wayne]

And while people are free to have their opinions' date=' I think Neil Young's catalog of great songs over his career is quite impressive, and certainly would fill more than three albums.[/quote']

 

Awww, all I meant was that he has written a lot of bad songs too, that every one cant be gold even when you have written a number that surely are.