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STRATEGY FOR THE DAY: Shake it.

I received a thoughtful email from a songwriter friend and I thought it was worth sharing. He gave me permission to post it as long as I made sure to tell you that he is "very much an amateur songwriter - just one of those millions of older folks with day jobs, families, etc. who are nevertheless cursed with a degree of musical ability that must be expressed in some way!" He records with Cubase LE on his computer using a very inexpensive Analogue to Digital converter, a $99 Lexicon Alpha PC interface which comes bundled with Cubase LE. Sounds like a good deal to me! Colin told me about it and I've been recommending it to songwriters who want to set up an inexpensive home studio where they can record guitar and vocals. To hear Colin's songs and a recording with this piece of gear, check out his new MySpace site at http://www.myspace.com/colinbarley.

"Avoiding the "L" Word in Songwriting
From Colin Barley

I don’t know if this subject is covered in any of your courses or journal entries, but my recent composition raised this issue, and thought I’d write you on it in case it’s any use to you.

I was really proud when I came up with the line, “Capture a wave, keep it alive”, then I had come to the last line in the verse, where I needed to conclude, resolve and consolidate that thread of emotion. I had listed some typical folk-song impossible tasks – “Hold back the tide”, “Hold down the sand” – but where do you go after you’ve captured a wave and kept it alive?

All I could come up with at the time was “Then will I no longer love you”. I had to come up with something quickly, as I was nearing the end of my recording time before the family came home, and singing a vocal into the PC in the living room would not be an option with a four-year-old boy and two hyper Jack Russell terriers looking on.

I’m still searching for a better, more subtle, but still devastating line that can stand on top of “Capture a wave”, particularly one that avoids the obvious “L” word – love. I remember hearing that Bing Crosby would never record a song that had a blatant “I love you” in it (the closest being the line, “If you love me”). Paul McCartney, conversely, went out of his way to rebel against such “street cred” conventions with Silly Love Songs, where the hook was indeed “I love you”.

Yes, love is a powerful, worthy and sincere emotion, but in songs, it’s often so much better to say that in other ways, with other pictures, than blurting out the “L” word, unless, perhaps, it’s done ironically.

So, after I’ve captured my wave, I could say “Then will I turn round and leave you”, which is pretty horrible, as is “Then will I no longer want you” – a weaker version of the original.

Maybe I have to stick with the “L” word. It certainly says what I mean it to say, but I’m still striving to find another way of saying it.

I’m not the first and I’m certain I’m not the last to face this task.

Colin

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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.