konalavadome

Songs that dictate their own direction

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Wicked Deeds

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« on: May 23, 2017, 02:55:22 PM »
I had a day off from work and so I thought that I would write my beach song.  I found a lovely marimba sound and played something that suggested the movement of a crab on the sand (I know that sounds bizarre!)  So far so good!  I had a plan in my head since I went to the South at the beginning of April and unfortunately had an awful argument with my girlfriend.  I thought I'd write about the argument and also the time that we spent at the beach, maybe talk about a car journey to the south and how the summer is just around the corner.  Anyway, I threw in some imagery that included driving to the sound of Corrine Bailey Rae - 'Girl Put Your Records On'.  The surfer dudes made an appearance, as did the seagulls flying overhead. Once again, so for so good!  I thought to myself that this song has got to get into gear but something said to me embrace the percussive marimba sound, which I did.  I then added some lovely strings which demanded a melancholy mood and not the upbeat style of a summer beach song.  I had a working title, 'April Began'  - "The Summer's Almost Here." This song steered itself, and demanded i embraced a theme of yearning to belong, beginnings that go badly wrong and a memory from when I was 3 years old, suddenly found it's way into the picture.  Bizarre, since I'm usually quite good at adopting a disciplined approach to writing.  The song is now finished and it is in no way an upbeat, light-hearted summer theme song.  It is moody and I think at times, beautiful .  it is also a little uncomfortable to listen to, in a good way.  By the way, the song ended up with the new title 'Summer In Spring' based on the idea that beginnings can often seem so perfect and so the best part of a relationship can sometimes be experienced then.  Holidays are sometimes a little like that too!

I'd be interested to hear your thoughts about writing.  Maybe you'd like to talk about a disciplined approach or perhaps have a similar story of how a song seemed to demand that it was written in a particular way.

Paul

 
« Last Edit: May 23, 2017, 03:22:53 PM by Wicked Deeds »

Ramshackles

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« Reply #1 on: May 23, 2017, 04:34:34 PM »
My philosophy is that all songs dictate their own direction :)
When I start a song I try to have no preconceptions about style, direction etc. Of course sometimes you are obliged to write a song for a certain genre or about a certain theme, but the wonderful thing about writing for yourself is that there are no constraints!

I write the song and then generally play it to death waiting for ideas about arrangement to form. Sometimes it happens quickly (as I write the song), sometimes very difficult...I have a few songs that I have been playing around with for the best part of a year or more which I havent recorded or decided how they should be arranged yet!

I think its great if you start off intending to write a song in one style and end up with something totally different! Some sort of subconscious inspiration at work there! I'd say keep attempting to go for the intended style but dont force it - eventually one will pop up!

Wicked Deeds

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« Reply #2 on: May 24, 2017, 07:58:28 PM »
Hey Ramshackles,

I totally get the 'playing a song to death' angle.  I totally immerse myself in the emotion of a song and imagine musical parts.  Increasingly I'm writing and producing in a very sloppy manner, inventing parts and song sections as I go.  I then lose interest in playing the parts again and setting up levels.  I suppose that my interest in songwriting is starting to eclipse my desire to record properly. 

As for this song, it certainly has developed into something completely unexpected.  I totally understand the subconscious inspiration comment.  Smiley

Paul
« Last Edit: May 25, 2017, 08:28:09 AM by Ramshackles »

Ramshackles

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« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2017, 08:29:13 AM »
I suppose that my interest in songwriting is starting to eclipse my desire to record properly. 
Argh...I almost accidentally edited away your entire reply! I have a 'modify' button right next to the 'quote' button  ::)

Anyway...what I meant to say was:

You need to get yourself a producer!


PopTodd

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« Reply #4 on: May 27, 2017, 08:17:39 PM »
ALL songs dictate their own direction. They are what they want to be.

Wicked Deeds

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« Reply #5 on: May 27, 2017, 11:03:30 PM »
ALL songs dictate their own direction. They are what they want to be.

I don't get that. I've written enough songs to know that mostly, I shape them. I started to write a summer beach song last night and have shaped it exactly according to the brief.  The song mentioned above however has much more depth of emotion and so I believe It had to be written according to my initial idea of beginnings that do not turn out as expected.

PopTodd

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« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2017, 10:35:42 PM »
I don't know. For me -- for the most part -- when I write a song, it tells me whether it wants to be a country song or a pop song or whatever. And I keep writing it until it feels like it's done.
If it needs a bridge, it just feels like it needs a bridge. Or, if it needs any other anything. It just doesn't sound right until it is right.
My job isn't necessarily to shape that direction as it is to find it.

dill

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« Reply #7 on: May 31, 2017, 03:04:07 PM »
I think it's a deeply personal thing. I've gone through phases of adopting both approaches: working to some sort of brief and allowing the song to dictate its own direction. Both can work really well, but we all have our preferences, or rather we discover what suits us best as songwriters. These days I also tend to let the song dictate its own direction. I still have plenty of thematic ideas lying around in notebooks, it's just they barely get used. I find that my best work comes when I allow the material to unfurl without thinking about the style and contents too intensely. This also applies for instrumentation. For example, I was recently given a banjo, and I could have gone in a bluegrassy direction with it, but as it happens something entirely different came out of it.