Afraid to "Pull the Trigger"

[arkjack]

I'm afraid to get in on this subject.... because I'll go on forever.... I think if there is one negative aspect to the constant stream of rejection from my TAXI submissions its that I've started to consider everything I have as being junk and I can't get anything right.... I've wrestled with lyrics and motife of melodies endlessly on certain songs analyzing the crap out of it and still not having a song at the end that a screener or anyone totally "gets" and really likes. I have begun to develop the "George McFly" complex.... nobody's gonna like it anyhow.... Is there a point where you are over-educated to the point you can see every flaw with a tune? and then it hampers your production. In some ways yes.... but in other ways .... it disciplines you and makes you a much stronger writer. gotta go now......ArkJack

[kg]

Casey asked, "...any of you having trouble with paralysis by analysis?"Definitely. I'm writing, but I find myself constantly tyring to figure out whether or not I sound like an idiot, to be frank. There's this one screener that just doesn't seem to like me very much, but that's ok - he/she doesn't have to, however, I find myself wondering if I'm the one without the ability to communicate, or if this person is just being "thick" (even better, as Vikki put it, looking for something to be wrong). I definitely see where I can expand on my lyrics and am 100% working on being a better writer with every song, but I'm totally gun-shy about submitting to any listings as I keep smacking into the high bar during the jump LOL. At least I still have a sense of humor, right

[aubreyz]

Many of these posts sound familiar. Before joining Taxi a little over a year ago, I wasn’t much of a rewriter. I’m fortunate in that most of the time lyrics and melody happen pretty fast. I tended to “trust the muse”. My first rejections were sobering and encouraging at the same time. Most of my career has been in a little box of dealing directly with clients, where I’m making the creative calls because that’s what they paid me to do. Having outside critiques stung of course, but it made me realize how lazy I was, and had been trusting in raw talent more than trying to improve my talent.So I got the recommended books, starting really analyzing songs, fought over every word and note—and came up empty and frustrated.To make a long story short, I still trust the muse – it’s just that I have learned how to better harness it. Ideas come easy, so instead of latching on to the first “good” one I just keep writing. The last song I recorded went through 4 title changes and more verses than choruses than I can count. However, I didn’t pour over it from a technical aspect as if what I had at first wasn’t good enough. I just kept writing, thinking, not thinking – stepping back whenever I hit a wall. If it’s not flowing easily I stop. If it’s flowing, I keep going and write much more than I used to. What “it” is, well that’s a whole different topic.IMHO the technicalities of songwriting is like football practice, but actual songwriting is like a football game. In practice, you learn the plays and condition yourself to do the right things. However, in the game a great running back doesn’t always run the route the play calls for. The great ones have the ability to start one way, see an unexpected opening and capitalize on it. That’s the art of songwriting. I don’t consider myself a “great one” yet, but I am better than a year ago.This is still art. It’s not something that a formula or technical specs can define. Use the muse, but don’t settle for one lightning bolt. Keep playing the game until that seam in the defensive line allows you to unexpectedly make an amazing play.Another thing that has been helpful is to focus on what I FEEL, not what I think. The best example is our song Psychedelic Sneakers. It has become “the” signature song for our band. Technically it was written about the MLB Allstar game in San Francisco for a listing. But I didn’t write a song about baseball. I don’t even like baseball I did research about San Francisco and the time period and used that kind of lyrically imagery to express something I felt. The song is about stepping back to a time where everything was changing and how I vicariously feel more a part of that time than a part of today. I’m here now, but I’ve got my psychedelic sneakers on – ready to hit the road of change.It’s easy to get bogged down in the details and get frustrated. It’s not very satisfying to try and paint by the numbers. Study, practice, learn – but enjoy the game of songwriting!Aub

[clonsberry]

Quote:..but I'm totally gun-shy about submitting to any listings as I keep smacking into the high bar during the jumpI'm submitting to fewer listings all the time. I keep smacking the high bar, tripping over the low bar and falling into the pile of rejections. Obviously, I was a MUCH better songwriter before I joined Taxi and I like to think I'm smarter than Pavlov's dogs. So now I stay away from country.. pop.. A/C.. R&B.. electronica.. polkas.. There's sort of an upside. I seem to be doing pretty well with straight acoustic instruments lately. But that's not really why I came to the party. Actually, I think my writing has gotten better. As long as I hold on to that intangible and, apparently, unmeasurable aspect, I'm still hopeful. I'm still writing like a maniac. I'm just submission shy.

[squidlips]

Quote:Quote:..but I'm totally gun-shy about submitting to any listings as I keep smacking into the high bar during the jumpI'm submitting to fewer listings all the time. I keep smacking the high bar, tripping over the low bar and falling into the pile of rejections. Obviously, I was a MUCH better songwriter before I joined Taxi and I like to think I'm smarter than Pavlov's dogs. So now I stay away from country.. pop.. A/C.. R&B.. electronica.. polkas.. There's sort of an upside. I seem to be doing pretty well with straight acoustic instruments lately. But that's not really why I came to the party. Actually, I think my writing has gotten better. As long as I hold on to that intangible and, apparently, unmeasurable aspect, I'm still hopeful. I'm still writing like a maniac. I'm just submission shy.((((((((((((((((Chris)))))))))))))))))Well, I like you. And I feel your pain, brother.

[guscave]

Hey Casey,I have to agree with Hummingbird. Don't sit down to write a masterpiece upon your first couple of drafts. Re-writing is where I believe the real craft of songwriting comes into play. I usually will sit down and just write whatever the main idea is: Song topic, melody, chord progression. I'll then come back later (a day or 2) and concentrate on re-writing. I think that a lot of us fall in love with our first drafts because getting our message out and onto paper can be both exhausting and exhilarating. Its a bit hard to think that there is a better way to say something that has already taken so much effort to say in the first place. For me, this is why coming back a few days later to re-write is better. I think however that as you get more & more use to writing lyrics, the re-writing process becomes easier to do.

[Casey H]

Wow, a lot of replies.... Thanks all for chiming in... Non-performers have it a bit tougher (not complaining!) because "pulling the trigger" means paying $$$ for the demo. So, even with feedback from respectable folks and some re-work cycles, you can get cold feet. Most of the time for me it's about lyrics; I'm usually can tell on the music side if I have something good (a few clunkers did get through, though ). On the up side, getting just the vocal re-done for lyric improvements only runs me $100-$150. Not trivial, but not the worst either...It's not during the creative process I get anxious as much as when it gets close to, well.... pulling that darn trigger.Anyway, I am babbling on... I have 1-2 songs in the queue. Some think they are worth doing, some don't... But I'm gonna shoot out at least one by early next year. And then I'll take a Valium (or two) and post them for the world to hear... Casey

[jchitty]

Here's how I look at songwriting.....it's like taking a multiple choice test. You check off the easy answers first, and then you tackle the tougher questions toward the end. The main thing you want to do is lay out a framework first.....just 'get it out there.' I agree with Vikki in this sense. The mind can play tricks on us if we let it. It can tell us that we can't write, that we can't even start unless we start with 'perfection.' But I find that 'perfection' comes when you let a song simmer for a while. I am constantly writing, but it takes me six weeks to write a song. I usually have six or seven songs going on at once, and I may write a line or two a day on them. In the end, I average one song a week. I've never had a song start off that well.. It's only through constant rewriting that I'll fall in love with a song (as Guscave points out)....I never fall in love with the first draft. If you write with the intention that you know your first draft is meant to evolve, then you won't be so hesitant to throw away parts of your lyrics which don't fit. I am always trying to come up with a better line. Yes, it's extremely frustrating sometimes. Writing is like bloodletting, but in the end, there is nothing better than saying, 'wow, look how the song turned out, I'm glad I did pull the trigger, but I'm also glad that I could scrap that line I wanted to hang onto.' Because many times, it turns out to be a better song. That being said, some of what I write is pure crap, but that doesn't matter 'coz even the crap keeps the songwriting muscle firm.

[ggalen]

I look at like this: for every line in the song, there are many variations that are all just as good. There is NOT 1 perfect line that you must find, no matter how long it takes.You just need to find one of the many possibilities that works extremely well... and move on. Overall, the goal is moving the audience with the entire song...lyrics and music together in that wonderful combination where 1+1 = 10!

[arkjack]

The one place I find that I reject a lot of ideas is because of the "feeling" I get that the screeners will say.... "yeah,.... nice song, but you haven't said something new in a different way that makes it special....." I probably write a song every time I go into the studio during practice, but unless the ideas in the initial jam present that potential that its something special and not just another song about girls or boys or marriage or divorce or partying or being blue..... I just catalog it and move onto the recording of one of the works in progress. Also from the melodic and chord structure POV, I tend to reject my ideas that point to a "been done already" feel.... like too much I IV V or She'll be coming round the mountain/amazing grace element...... I guess as being an unknown with so many TAXI rejections I am more than gunshy and tend to super-analyze what I'm producing. That's where I think the divergence from "art" vs "commercialized" appears. I am very aware of what tools and tricks I have employed and used intentionally. As opposed to the Jason Blume school that says make sure you have a simple melody and walmart style of saying something. That's where I second guess the screening process.... as in ... I wonder if they recognized that little "Jack Bruce" signature line through the song that was just plain over the top unique and brilliant in making it a great song.... when they come back with comments like " the lyric seems abstract.....".... that's what makes the writing and rewriting tough and hard to pull the trigger...... ArkJack