With finals are approaching quickly, the school year is gradually coming to a bittersweet close. I've been stressed out of my mind, worrying about tests and more tests, this project and that assignment. In cases like this, I often take to songwriting as a primary outlet for my feelings.
It doesn't make sense to most people, how someone could love songwriting so dearly, how piecing together words and rhythms brings a level of such satisfaction upon the soul of one human being. The ultimate goal, as it stands in my mind, of songwriting is to tell stories and communicate them to the world through the language that is not spoken by all, but understood by all. When you do happen to write a song so impactful on another person, especially someone you hold near to your heart, you get this feeling of such pride. All because this is something you did on your own for someone else. When that person appreciates and sees you in a new light because of the song, it can turn your whole world around with joy.
There's something simply magical about the art that embodies songwriting. So you piece together riffs and melodies and chords, and you take to thinking up the perfect lyrics. Will you write about love? About new journeys? About unforeseeable futures? It's up to you, creator. Let your mind be a free being. Write, then show the world. Shout your discoveries from the rooftops! Write for yourself, write for others.
I recently wrote a song for my Algebra 1 teacher. The idea was sparked in one instant, and the song was written in full only a few hours later. The premise of the song lies in the concept of being excited about and looking forward to the future. I wrote this song with an appreciation for her in mind. When I was about to show it to her, I was excited and nervous in a simultaneous flood of feelings. Then I finally got around to recording the song, and I sent it to her. The butterflies took their places in my stomach, and the anticipation came over me in a flash of wild nervousness. When she replied, it was about 8:15 in the morning, about 10 minutes before first period started, and I was sitting in my English class. Right then, right there, I just about cried tears of joy and relief because she had reacted in such a positive way.
Songwriting has an interesting effect on people. Through a song, you can make the strongest of people feel emotional, even catch them off guard. Especially if the song is very relatable to that particular person. My Algebra 1 teacher has never been someone I've really seen as emotional, and yet, when she first heard the song, she told me that she was sitting there listening to it and crying. I can't even wrap my head around that, and I felt so unbelievably honored that she felt that emotional connection with it. That's one of my favorite things about songwriting, showing it to an audience and getting feedback. It really opens a person's eyes when people tell you what they like and what you should write about next. It's a useful tool to help improve your songwriting skills.
As musicians, we are forced to conform to the standards society has set for us, and we are therefore forced to constantly evolve not only our music, but ourselves.
My favorite types of songs to write are those that work up quickly. So quickly, in fact, that they seem to be of a preconceived notion. They appear to be pre-planned. I feel like if you write a song, you simply can't pre-plan it because part of writing a song has to do with sparks of creativity. Writing the choruses is the more routine part, but writing verses? That's spontaneous. It almost has to be for it to be a good song. In this sense, I'm referring to spontaneous as off the top of your head words and lines that fit the rhythms and notes and send the message you want to send. In this sense of the word, spontaneous isn't meant to mean unstructured.
An interesting thing about this song is that I really only had the chords and the subject done. I wanted to write about these things before actually taking time to sit down and write it. My subject in this case was new motherhood, as I wrote this for my Algebra teacher who's pregnant and who's very (very) excited. So I channeled her excitement into this song, and I myself became excited.
Find the elements that you like the sound of and utilize them. Find a theme that you like to write about or have a lot of experience with. Keep in mind that your first song might be rough, mine was. Mine was so terrible, in fact, that I gave up on that particular song idea and ventured on to newer ones. In songwriting, almost anything is possible, you just have to give it a try.
Whether you write songs with the intention of making a career out of it or as a hobby, find your own way to connect with the vast environment that embodies this world. It’s up to you, creator.
