Choosing

Writing any song requires choice. Every choice defines and limits us, which makes it a significant thing.

A thousand choices face us as we begin to write. What is our subject? What is the form? The main idea? The melody? The chord progression? And these are only the broad strokes: beneath these come the more subtle choices of notes and words, and beyond that, instantaneous choices we make as we sing and play.

How many of our songwriting choices are truly conscious ones? What do they say about us: about who we are and what we believe?

Try this. When you first wake up in the morning or just before you go to sleep, write a simple song as quickly as possible. Don't worry about whether or not it will be performed for others. Just put it out there, to yourself and the Universe, without judgment and without agonizing over any choices at all. Write at least two or three verses, then stop and look at it.

What does it say? Does it reveal something about your life that you hadn't seen before?

By working this way, we allow our Song to choose what it wants to say, instead of letting our Ego do the talking all the time. Interestingly, the Song might be able to make choices freely (to improvise) more easily than we can, as it nimbly hops from one truth-full moment to another.