Are your songs trying to tell you something?

Over the past week, I've been dealing with the recurrance of lower back problems. They haven't bothered me for several years, but at one point in my life they caused me a lot of pain and limited my activities.

This recent back strain (which seems to be less serious and is healing well) came about completely unexpectedly, with no warning.

Or had it?

I always have a few songs on the go, but most of them will never be finished nor played in public. These drafts tend to be forgotten and eventually discarded.

In the days leading up to my recent back problem, I had been steadily working on a new song called "Get Back to Me". A mildly interesting coincidence...which seems more interesting when I realize that the previous song I'd been working on was called "Gotta Cut Back on That" and another recent song from a few months ago was called "Right Back Where We Started".

Judging from that pattern, it's not surprising that my back issues would recur...that they would, in effect, "Get Back to Me".

Would I be dealing with vision problems if I'd been writing songs called "See You Later" or "Something I Can't See"? Skin ailments for "On the Surface"? Now that I think about it, why hadn't I been writing songs using vision metaphors...or songs relating to breathing, taste, hearing or speech?

Is it possible that my choice of lyrics programmed my illness? Perhaps...but I have another theory.

I think it's more likely that my intuition was speaking to me through my songs-in-progress, to try to get my attention.

I believe my intuition was trying to signal me that my back needed attending to...because that inner wisdom, something I access through songwriting, was more tuned in to my body than my conscious mind was.

With that in mind, I might see my half-written songs a bit differently. I might start watching them for coded messages...viewing them as signposts.

This way of seeing songwriting practice has more in common with dream analysis than it does with approaching songs as products to be marketed or as accomplishments. If we recognize the importance of personal growth and healing, it's a perspective that could be significantly more valuable than any commercially-minded approach, especially over the course of a lifetime of creative work.

If artistic expression has the power to allow inner wisdom to speak to the conscious mind and to the body, we may be able to steer a healthier course for ourselves by simply paying better attention to these "notes" we write ourselves.