Creative Process

I’m trying to finish writing a song. I’ve got a beautiful melody, some really cool sounding chords and about half the lyrics. Lyrics… something to say… for me is sometimes the most difficult part of the songwriting process. I love writing. I love writing poetry, but sometimes that flow doesn’t happen for me with words. So, I go to my old journals…

I’m struck by the way art is so often formed in my world. I used collect rocks and metal bits that I would find on the street and in the woods to make found object art. I would keep odd items in coffee cans, saved for future creative projects involving glue and melting crayons, soldering irons and wire. I still have some of those objects waiting for their art project to call them. I guess that’s the way I form songs as well. I little piece of melody here, a tiny chord progression here, a thought drafted onto paper and a form to make it fit into.

Off I go to the flip through old journals…

The creative process is a strange and mysterious one, even to those of us who do it every day. I wrote this song a couple of days ago, or maybe it was a couple of weeks ago. It’s hard to remember these things. Little tiny ideas floating around in my head finally make it to the piano and page and then to the form of an mp3.

I was feeling particularly pensive and intense and the music seems to reflect that. I wanted to make something that had a driving rhythm to it and yet convey poignant longing. It started in G minor, but it soon became apparent that it wanted to live in D minor instead. I’m okay with that. The music often tells me where to go, sometimes where to shove it and often deservedly so.

I hope you enjoy part of this little song that I wrote in the very near past. Let me know what you think!

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