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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: Make more art.

I heard a great line this morning. I was watching "Breakfast With The Arts" on A&E and Sean Ono Lennon was being interviewed. He was asked the inevitable question that every songwriter is asked: Are your songs autobiographical? His answer was the best one I have ever heard. He said, "Songs are myths about things that have happened to you."

I can't think of a better way to put it. We all write about our lives, our feelings, the things that happen to us. But the idea of "myth making" is what's important here. Sometimes, when we play our autobiographical songs for other people, we are disappointed in the reaction. Listeners don't respond as strongly as we think they should. The problem is that real life events are rarely as tidy and focused and self-explanatory as needed to make a song effective for listeners. It's impossible to communicate in a single song lyric all the details, the personalities, the specific history that came together to create the Big Thing that happened - the broken heart, the missing friend, the misunderstanding, the great discovery. This is where myth comes into it.

A myth is a story that seeks to explain a larger truth about life. A myth may start with real life events but it shapes them to create a deeper understanding. In other words, the factual reality of events becomes secondary and the expression of an idea or emotion takes precedence. As a songwriter, you have the right to play with reality! Go beyond the facts of what happened and get to the heart of what happened.

One of my clients brought in a song about a friend/mentor, someone she loved and admired but was now separated from. The friend was living half a world away, truly unreachable. In the song, my client described specific events that were somewhat confusing for me as a listener. After she finished singing, I asked her what the song was about and she proceeded to give me an account of her freindship with this person, where they used to meet, what the person said. There was much that she hadn't mentioned in the song; even if she had, it would have been a VERY long song and I probably wouldn't have been moved anyway. After she finished explaining, I asked again: What is the song about? She thought for a moment and said, "It's a song about losing someone wonderful." Right. So I suggested she rewrite the song and select only those details, images, and examples that expressed that kind of loss. If it meant "opening out" the facts to more effectively express the feelings, then that is what she should do. Let go of physical reality and reach for emotional reality, then your listeners will understand the larger truth about life.

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Read Notes On Songwriting by Robin Frederick for more information and insights into writing songs that reach out to listeners.

Copyright 2007 Robin Frederick. All rights reserved.