The Magic

Part of the fascination of songwriting for me is in the way the sounds of melody, chords & words come together to form the thoughts & emotions I'm trying to impart.  Sometimes it becomes sort of like a chess problem in trying to make it all work.  That's when I have to be careful not to let it get too intellectual in my efforts & remember the initial emotion I am working from.  But when the sound of the words within the melody within the chord finally all comes together, the hair will stand up on my neck & my eyes become teary...perhaps that's the reason I continue to do this...for those moments.

Lyrics especially are usually the hardest part for me.  I have a hard time with just saying things simply or in ways that have already been done so many times before.  I may be cutting my own throat in that way, as I get critiques back after submitting a song somewhere saying that the lyrics are not enough to the point or that I should state exactly what my characters are thinking or doing rather than using imagery.  But I just seem to continue on in my own way, despite them.  The Stubborn Artiste in all his glory...

I think there's a balance somewhere as I need to keep in mind whether a song could be commercially viable (in my own personal estimation of what commercially viable is...) & being true to the way I personally want to hear the song; lyrics & music.  So, all the comments run in the back of mind while editing a new song, and conscious decisions are made along the way to try to appease those critiques.

That magic that happens when it all comes together; when we finally hear it coming back at us from the studio speakers after all the overdubbing & arrangements & mixing & editing & leaving the wife to be by herself in the early evening hours & when I can still endure listening to it?  That's why I continue to write.  That's the magic.

I think it was John Sebastian who said 'The magic's in the music & the music's in me'.  Thank you, John.

See ya's