Song writing

OK, I am a writer.
How hard could it be to write a song?
Plenty tough, let me tell you.

I'm trying to write a song. Because I want to. Because I want my buddy who is in a band to put it to music and sing it on stage (which would be way cool).

Because I've never written a song before.
Yeah, a song is basically a poem. I've written plenty of those, ever since I was 8. But this songwriting thing. Whoa. Much more of a challenge than I had thought.

That's when you really start to admire all the cool songs you listen to for the lyrics (sorry, Max Factor, it's all about the lyrics - still) and begin to appreciate what the thought process was to bring that song to fruition.

So I've been playing with lyrics for a few days. It probably doesn't help that I've been listening to a bunch of Social Distortion, either. Mike Ness is a poet of some note. He writes about angst better than anyone I can think of.
And angst is where I'm at.

So, here's what I'm up against, Mike Ness' "Reach for the Sky," from Sex, Love Rock 'N' Roll:

When I was young I was invincible
I found myself not thinking twice
I never thought about no future
It's just a roll of the dice

But the day may come when you got something to lose
And just when you think you're done paying dues
You say to yourself "Dear, God What have I Done?"
And hope its not to late cause tomorrow may never come

Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come
Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come

Yesterday is history
And tomorrow is a mystery
But baby right now,
It's just about you and me

You can run you can hide
Just like Bonnie and Clyde
Reach for the sky
ain't never gonna die
And I thank the Lord for the love that I have found
And hold you tight cause tomorrow may never come

Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come
Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come

So if you please take this moment
Try if you can to make it last
Don't think about no future
And just forget about the past
And make it last

Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come
(reach for the sky I ain't never going down)
Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come
(reach for the sky I ain't never coming down)
Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come
(reach for the sky I ain't never going down)
Reach for the sky cause tomorrow may never come

But I promise, good or bad, I'll post my song.
But only when it is finished.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Of course, a perfect poem set to gorgeous music creates the ultimate song. Unfortunately, those are rare when compared to the plethora of songs composed in this world of ours. In absolute terms then, I would much rather LISTEN to incredibly beautiful music set to unimaginative lyrics (in your punk world, the Talking Heads immediately come to mind but I'm not a punker so that may not be the best analogy) than an exquisite poem set to god-awful music--lacking in melody, rhythm, harmony, and/or skillful playing. Who wants to LISTEN to god-awful music over and over again? Let those people publish a poetry book!

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