APRIL 2007

 "Songwriting is a very instinctual process and I don't really understand what it's saying to me." ~Sarah McLachlan

Songwriting at the best of times is a wonderful journey into the unknown. Nothing is more exhilarating than the process of watching a song unfold. But what happens if you can't find your way? What happens if the first line comes, the hook shows up, a phrase echoes in your head and won't leave, but there's nothing else? No easy flow of words and music, no storyline, no more words?

This month I want to talk about finding your way in a song. How do you move forward when you've got a good start but can't seem to get past the first few words or lines? There are lots of ways to stimulate your muse into giving you the words to complete your piece. And they all work - sometimes.

Here's what I do. Quite often, while I'm playing my guitar, a partial phrase will show up. This is when I get really excited. It means I have a potential new song ahead and I don't question it, I don't instantly harness it and try to tie it down, I just let it reverberate. I keep playing the same tune over and over again until I get the phrase in my head. Now comes the fun….
What's it about? Let's use an example. I once wrote a song about small towns dying because of highways being rerouted around them. The phrase was - "since the highway bypassed this town." But I didn't know anything about that so I set out to use my songwriter's bag of tricks.

First thing; I asked myself questions. Where does this take place? Who's involved? Who is speaking - me, someone else, a narrator? When is it happening? What's going to happen? Am I telling a story, stating facts, talking about how I feel? What's the point? Why should I care?

Next, I wrote an outline of how I wanted the story to unfold. I figured out that the point of the song was how sad the town had become because the highway ran right by it. Aha, images of a dying town - that's something I could sink my teeth into. Okay, so is this line a chorus or a hook line or an opening phrase? I figured since my images were going to be about the town dying, I'd sum up what I was trying to say with this line. By adding this line to the end of every verse, I'd created a traditional folk song (A, A, A) (more about that later in other columns). Remember, the first line or verse has to grab the listener and make them want to stay and listen to the rest of the song. You have to sum up your point in the first few words. Here's what I wrote:

In a town slowly dying
On a street from the past
Lies a rusted jalopy
Whose tires are all flat
The houses are empty
Their colours fading fast
Since the highway bypassed this town

See what I did? I painted a pretty vivid picture of what's happening to this small town, since the highway went around it. I was then able to draw my outline….

Verse 1 - images of the dying town
Verse 2 - more images of the dying town
Section B - why this is happening to the town
Verse 3 - images with people about the town
instrumental break
Second section B - what's happening to the people
Verse 4 - images of the town and what's left behind

All I had to do to complete the song was write it. But what if your song isn't a story song? What if it's a relationship song? What if your phrase is about how you feel? You can most certainly use the same methods. Find out what you want to say. Keep to one idea though; it makes the song map easier to manage. Once you've found the kernel, you can write the map.
There are lots of methods to use - making a laundry list, searching on the Internet for ideas about your theme, talking with other writers (my personal favourite), reading books about the subject, looking in a dictionary, thesaurus, writing nonsense in whimsical rhyme, writing crap lyrics. They all work at different times for different reasons.

What if you have words but no tune? Again, you can map your song. When you hear the words, what kind of tune do you think about? Is it happy? Is it sad? Does it cry for a minor key? Is it power chords and rock and roll? Do you hear a sultry sax with stand-up bass? Play with your chording, get a chord book and mess with new keys. Try a different instrument.
This is just a wee taste of what you can do to map your song. Use any method that works for you. Create your own. Play games, be silly, but do it!! If you like you can send me what works for you at: jane@janeandgord.com

FEBRUARY 2007

First of all, I want to say thank you to Teena Clipston and everyone who judged, voted, came out, supported…for the awards I was given at this year's Scorpion Awards show. I was stunned, speechless, (a rarity for me) and totally touched by it all. Thank you. It makes all this hard work, worth the work. And I want to say congratulations to everyone who won, were nominated or just make original music in this Valley. We are all winners. Enough said, on to this month's column…

Can you write a standout first verse? Can you, off the cuff, come up with a compelling draw-you-in story line that will knock someone's socks off? Does that feel like a challenge?

I've been playing a game of late, trying to write outstanding first verses that will instantly grab the listener and propel them into my story. It's hard, harder than I've ever done before. Even starting with a good idea, I can't always come up with something fresh and attention getting to say about it. It's that opening statement that's a killer.

I have a friend who writes the most amazing first verses...he can take a line and form it into four lines of spellbinding intensity that instantly has me wanting to hear the rest of the song. Me, I start with an idea, a title, a chorus, a line and work backwards from there. I have to really think about what I'm going to say to interest my listener.

So how to do it? Start with a title. It may be just a working title, but start with an idea in a title format. Now write your first verse. Grab the listener's attention. Start strong and establish who, what, when and where. Throw the listener right into the middle of the action. Here's an example from Roger Gabriel, a local songwriter for his song, "Week or Two",

I got a window with a view of grey skies
Not a patch of blue
And it's been too long, I guess
Since I've seen you
About a week or two

The thing I like about this is instantly I can see this guy in a room looking out the window at grey skies, missing his girl who's been gone about a week or two. See how easily that sets up the song? Now this song could be about anything…. it could be sad, happy, it could be a lot of things. But we're instantly drawn into the story line. Piece of cake?

What do you do after you get that great first verse? That's a good topic for a future column. Best advice? Get a great chorus next. Give the listener the point of your song. Keep them interested with a great hook, a strong melody and something they'll remember and the foundation of great commercial songs, a tuneful catch that reverberates in the listener's mind for days and days.

Here's a challenge, if you want to send me your first verses, I'll publish the best of them in next month's column. Just send to jane@janeandgord.com.

OCTOBER 2005

Silence gives consent.
~ Canon Law

Propaganda, to be effective, must be believed. To be believed, it must be credible. To be credible, it must be true
~ Hubert H. Humphrey (1911-1978),

Hurricane Katrina wrecked havoc in the world and we all watched. New Orleans, the birthplace of so many musical genres, lay under meters of toxic floodwaters, bodies were floating in the streets and thousands waited for rescue. When events like these happen, as songwriters, we can't ignore them. It is almost our duty to journalize with words and music what has occurred.

After September 11, I was so stunned by man's inhumanity to man. I had a very hard time writing about it. I did write a song called "One Voice" which asked the world to band together but it fell short as a true political song. I think one of the hallmarks of a great one is its ability to galvanize the listener. Think of the 60's protest songs that made a difference - We Shall Overcome, The Times They Are A'Changing. These songs made you feel you could actually do something.

So how do you tackle a political song? What do you say that is going to have impact on your listener? Go back to the basics of songwriting, the one idea. Finding that kernel that will anchor the song. What is the central idea you're trying to write about? I wrote a song called Ruckus in the Henhouse, all about Bush and his incompetence. The kernel of that song is the need for change…. "What we need is a miracle". So all of the verses are about what he's doing wrong ~ the war in Iraq, dealing in God's name, making deals ~ that sort of thing. It's clearly a protest song about George Bush.

There are many great political songwriters who can inspire your own writing. Look to early Bob Dylan, Phil Ochs, Joan Baez, Buffy Saint-Marie, Pete Seeger, Malvina Reynolds, Martyn Joseph…to name just a few. Read their lyrics, listen to their music. Often political songs are very simple in chording and pattern, it's the words that matter.

Above all else, don't be apathetic. It's your duty as a songwriter to document the world around you. Don't be afraid to say something. Change can only occur if you take a step. Try it. If you're bugged about something, put it in a song. Try to stay focused and clear about what you're trying to say. Don't preach, don't use hateful words. Be strong in your convictions. Make a change.

I would like to leave you with a few words from Andrew Smith's powerful song, Democracy for Money. It is a searing vision of Lady Liberty drunk with power.

"Lady Liberty's on the prowl
She's got a super-power hunger
Armed and dangerous with the truth
She's coming after your poor,
your weary huddled masses
She's gonna make a market out of you*

Brilliant lyrics. Couldn't say it any better. Until next month, keep writing!!!

*Democracy for Money available on Smith's solo CD, Escape Velocity 2005