I don’t know what it is about writing songs for singing solo, but when for so long you are trained in the art of guitar karate it’s actually very awkward to learn vocal tai chi.
Fortunately for me, the internet is full of accessible musicians who are not necessarily famous even though the quality of their musicianship would lead you to think otherwise.
Among many others, I’ve taken some cues from Chelsea, Mixtapes & Meltdowns, and Courtney. NO I’m not ripping them off! I can’t sing as well as any of them so we won’t be having any trouble with that kind of flattery. Besides, these three are actually too disparate from each other for me to imitate them all.
The point is, I am learning a shit ton from listening to them and getting to know them as people by reading what they write in text.
What are the thoughts of a singer-songwriter? Well, they’re human.
Holy crap, I’ve forgotten about being human! And listening to the aforementioned three has reminded me exactly to do just that.
Maybe I’m setting my goals too high, or am making inaccurate conjectures; but I’m trying to emulate them in the sense that I believe their writing is an indication of the thought that goes into their music. So I hope this method of thinking works. I mean, nobody can really learn how to be a singer-songwriter, it just has to come from your gut. Right…?
And as Courtney reminds me, lyrics are very important. Lyrics! I am so inexperienced with this! And moreover, it’s hard to write lyrics like how I… blog, I guess. I feel like my style of writing does not lend itself to being poetic.
But as a human, I’m going to use my real name to denote songs that sound like the following. Because the awkward growing pains in learning how to sing — I have to own them. And after a bajillion drafts of these songs, I feel like these songs might be done.
Here goes nothing.
“debt”
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“no reception”
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Nico, this is RAD. I really dig your lyrics. I actually think there’s a lot more to lyrics than just writing a poem and sticking it to music. Lyrics should be musical! And I think yours are.
Have you considered doing February Album Writing Month? (fawm.org) Are you already? It’s SO much fun and is a great way to meet other musicians and get feedback on your work– plus, there’s nothing like a deadline to get you writing.
it just occurred to me that i need to be subscribed to this page separately from the rest of your blog because hello! this is not popping up in my feed reader and if it’s not in my feed reader, well then it might as well not exist.
anyway, this entire narrative, while saying much about you and your musical journey, is also a big piece of flattery directed at me and a few other ladies who i am just floored to be placed in the same category with. thank you for that. i hope you know that your attention and encouragement has done wonderful things for me musically as well. plus, well, you’re just a good friend and stuff.
like laurie said, your lyrics actually work quite well, especially for the style of music you’re using them in. the thing about lyrics (as with music in general, i think) is that you can’t really try to be anyone else or write anybody else’s songs when you’re writing them– they’ve gotta be you or they won’t work. writing in other styles is always a helpful exercise because it kind of helps you figure out who you are and what elements of writing you enjoy using and can use effectively–ultimately it helps you grow–but when i do that i nearly always end up throwing those “exercises” out because even if they’re decent, they’re never GOOD and never feel like *me.*