Submerged in a Song

Since about 1 p.m. today I have been intensely preoccupied by a new song. I think it's finished now, which means it's taken about nine hours. I've taken a few breaks, for dinner and family activities, but I know I haven't been very good company. At dinner, I apologized for seeming distant.

My best songs are always born this way: quickly (over twenty-four hours or less) and very intensely. I compare the experience to falling in love or giving birth. It feels exhilarating and exciting and also disorienting, physically demanding and somehow painful. There's no stopping it. Eveything must yield.

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Because I'm just finishing the process, I can sketch out that process right now. I want to do this for myself, because a few days from now I will have completely forgotten how the song was born. (If you think this is too 'me, me, me', stop reading now!)

Earlier in the day, as a diversion, I started writing a (separate) silly novelty song on a related topic. I finished it during a break from the Big Song, so I ended up with one funny and one serious song on the same general idea.

Here's how writing of the big song went. I can't remember if I had the chord pattern or the title line first, so they must have come together. Because I'd used the same pattern before, I decided to change it a little so as not to repeat myself. I did something similar with the melody: started with something simple and made small adjustments to make it more interesting, experimenting to see what sounded most original and natural to sing. I also kept adjusting the tempo and strumming pattern, and though I'm getting close to deciding, right now I'm still debating two tempos/feels.

The lyrics started with a title/hook line and really got going with a metaphor that seemed fresh and surprising to me. I took care to ensure that the verses developed logically and told some kind of story and that there was a revelatory twist at the end. As usually happens when a song goes well, two "bingo!" surprise lyrics fell into my lap like perfect puzzle pieces, without any conscious effort.

Over the past few days, three songwriters have been on my mind: Jimmy Webb , Neil Young and Ron Sexsmith and I understand how they all influenced the song (though I doubt anybody else could tell, and I hope they can't!)

Another sign of a good song: I must play it soon in public.