Afraid to "Pull the Trigger"

[Casey H]

Has this happened to any of you? When it comes to writing new songs (or at least getting them demo’d), I’ve become afraid to “pull the trigger”. This applies mainly to lyrics. Before I learned so much about the “right” way and got a lot of professional feedback, I didn’t analyze all that much—I let a lot of lyrics flow out of my head as I naturally felt them. It IS true that some of the lyrics were not really up to snuff, so I am NOT at all negative on honing the craft. We all need to. But now, I keep looking at my lyrics and analyzing, looking for every “hole” that could be criticized. I am like a High School student’s worst nightmare English teacher thrust upon myself.I think this is one of the reasons I’ve written so few songs lately. I've become gun-shy. A great example relates to my other thread about my lyrics to “Just Another Slap In The Face” being quoted. A few of you were very complimentary about those lines. Thanks! Someone asked about the context of those quoted lines. Here goes the first verse with the quoted lines:It’s just another slap in the faceFor a boy/girl who loved youYou caught me with my cheek unturnedAnd my inner soul exposedToday, I would never let those lyrics make it to the final edit! Although one might get that I am saying I didn’t “turn the other cheek”, the phrase, “my cheek unturned” is completely unnatural. People do not talk like that, hence, bad lyrics. If one of you posted them, I’d probably suggest changing them to be more like natural conversation. So, have any of you having trouble with paralysis by analysis? Vikki mentioned today that one issue with critiques is (sometimes) the reviewer is intentionally looking for things that could have been done better—searching for the negatives. The result sometimes is we expend a ton of energy trying to completely “bullet-proof” our words. And there are no bullet-proof vests... CaseyP.S. I was listening to Sheryl Crow’s “You Don’t Bring Me Anything But Down” in the car yesterday. In the bridge she says:No more playing seek and hideNo more long and wasted nightsCan’t you make it easy on yourselfC’mon Sheryl, people say “hide and seek”, not “seek and hide”. You are NOT allowed to change that just to make a rhyme.

[Mark Kaufman]

Well, being new to the club, I have a lot of concerns about over-analysis. You may have noticed Sheryl is doing all right...and I think of weird lines like the one in Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" where she sings---in the chorus, no less---"when the rain wa-SHEZZ you clean you'll know..."But already established artists don't really count anymore...they'll get recorded, warts and all---this game is for the hopefuls who want insiders to feel safe about a song. This tougher process is probably the only way to go. But it sure makes you less open to the winds of chance, and much more cerebral about what those lines should be.

[Casey H]

Quote:Well, being new to the club, I have a lot of concerns about over-analysis. You may have noticed Sheryl is doing all right...and I think of weird lines like the one in Fleetwood Mac's "Rhiannon" where she sings---in the chorus, no less---"when the rain wa-SHEZZ you clean you'll know..."But already established artists don't really count anymore...they'll get recorded, warts and all---this game is for the hopefuls who want insiders to feel safe about a song. This tougher process is probably the only way to go. But it sure makes you less open to the winds of chance, and much more cerebral about what those lines should be.Yes... We never can compare ourselves to those out there selling their own music. We are held to a different standard as new songwriters. The Sheryl thing was thrown in there just for a joke.

[hummingbird]

We're actually talking about the creative process. Anytime you pick up your pen/guitar/brush/keyboard and you focus on the end product, you kill your creativity. Any artist knows, writing is actually rewriting. If you focus on "correctness" or "rightness" or "being goodness" then you kill your muse dead. We have to allow that the words can be rewritten, that we can adjust the melody, that we can paint over the glitch or start a new canvas, that we can do another take. We have to allow that human beings are not perfect - ever - and focussing on perfection kills spontenaity and creativity. In other words, we have to begin by writing for ourselves without structure and without target... and allow the muse to lead us.... and then begin the process of making adjustments so that it's viable. Now I'm the perfect example of someone on the other end of the spectrum, Casey - I write a hodge podge of stuff and I write every day, knowing that what I'm doing is technically imperfect and often makes no sense. But I believe the creative act is leading me somewhere and that I am growing the skills to take the raw inspiration and knead some of what I produce into something that's commercially viable. (Or maybe I just need to find a market for my craziness )My challenge back at you is to just sit down every day and write all or part of a song for the sake of writing a song - not to pitch it for film/tv or artists, but just for the joy of writing. Sit on the bed with a notepad & the guitar and just do what comes naturally. Worry about the end result later. And you can listen to all the other cooks who comment on your recipe afterwards - feedback is good, however, at some point you have to decide yourself at what point rehashing an existing song is worth your while. I'd just take what you've learned into your future writing, starting today, instead of recooking what you already have.H

[ggalen]

Casey,Are you primarily writing country music, where it's all pretty constrained by many rules and expectations?

[Casey H]

Quote:Casey,Are you primarily writing country music, where it's all pretty constrained by many rules and expectations?Hi GNo, not country ... I do mainly rock... You CAN get away with a lot more, but still you can't get too sloppy. If I did country, I would be in a straight-jacket by now... Casey

[leemusic]

I think you can over analyse lyrical content Casey, some songs just dont need to be perfectly written lyric wise,take Queens Bohemian Rhapsody for instance (never did like that song myself) but it turned out to be one of the best selling pop songs in this century, and Robbie Wiliams Angels, a massive selling song all over the globe except for the US, and its still belted out as the fave anthemic party song most drunken saturday nights for kids all over the UK and Europe, but the lyrics on both songs, absolute gobbledegook !!did the punters care naaah !! they still bought it in thier millions ! go figure ?E

[edteja]

I think Bird has it right, Casey. You write the lyrics just like you fool with a melody or some chords. LATER, if it is junk, junk it. But keep the good bits. And get & keep writing. Worry about whether the lyrics are any good before you have a song is premature.

[tedsingingfox]

And BTW, Casey, I sure hope you're using "Pull the Trigger" as a song title. SO many great possible angles on that one... Ted

[Casey H]

Thanks for all the repiles... Leemusic: One thing we have to keep in mind is we can't compare our work to what we hear or have heard on the radio. As newbies, we are held to higher standards. And today's market is different. So, the fact that "Whiter Shade of Pale" has dribble for lyrics doesn't mean anything for songwriters like us. Ted: You are so right!! Out of this simple post, a great idea for a song might be born! Whenever a phrase or idea comes in to my head I try to voice record it into my cell phone so I won't lose the thought. These thoughts are like dreams. If you don't write them down, they fade forever. I have a collection of these words and/or phrases... Fortunately, my observation is that when writing rock music for the film/TV market, the finer details of lyrics are not scrutinized. If the song has a fairly universal subject theme, and a hook-y chorus with words many can relate to, an "oh sh*t" or two in a verse won't matter much.OK, 'nuff said.... I gotta go write some material for The Dots. I hear they are playing LA next week.... Casey