[hardtwistmusic]

Why do I write songs.   Simple answer is "because I can't NOT write songs." 

A deeper answer lies in an old Ann Murray song that I loved in the early seventies.  I'll reproduce the relevant lyric below. 

Writer
whose been writing all his life. 
Ain't a rich man. 
He's got children and a wife.

But he keeps writing
songs he knows
no ear will ever hear. 
Cause he's afraid that
if he stopped, he'd disappear. 

And he sings
"won't somebody listen to my song?"
"It won't take long."
"It won't take long." 

Won't somebody listen to
the thing that makes me whole. 
Before the children of my mind
become the orphans of my soul. 

Before the children of my mind
become the orphans of my soul. 

I first heard that song - I think it's called "Children of my mind" around 1974.  Don't know who wrote it.  Might have been Chip Davis.  But it expresses how I feel about writing better than my own words could.   

[Royston]

Hey Verlon

very nice song this you are correct on the title I done a bit of research on this it was also recorded by Julie Rogers but I like Anne Murray's version the lyrics was written by Gary Osburne don't know if he wrote the melody he appears to be a lyricist.

Thanks for posting

Royston   

[Darren1664]

Great words hardtwist!

So...Why do I write songs? That's a great questions....why do I?

I've tried to give this some thought before replying. Probably too much. I think there's two questions here for me - why do I write songs? and why do I record songs?

As a child, teen and into my adulthood I have been quite socially anxious and found it very difficult to communicate with my fellow beings. This made it hard for me to handle the difficult and confusing emotions that come with growing up and the situations that I found myself in. I learned guitar after listening to Guns n Roses and I really wanted to be like Slash (evident if you've ever heard me play lead) as I felt this empowered me against bullies I came across in school (I was all like "yeah you call me a whatever but I will kick your ass on guitar") and later I began singing and playing and eventually this turned into writing. I remember the first lyrics I wrote. They were written for my mum just before leaving for university as I knew she was struggling with the fact that I was leaving and so I wrote

You can't see me
but you can ring me
when I'm gone
Away to see the world
Alone
Alone, alone, alone.

Hah. I was trying to tell her that I felt scared too. Anyway from there I just continued to write to express myself - whether that was anger, unrequited love, depression etc.

So, why record?

After years of writing songs about how I felt, no-one had actually heard them. It's as bad as keeping anger locked up inside. Frustrated by my poor vocal and insecurity around performing live, I needed to find another way to finally get these songs off my chest and my mind so that I can finally move on from all this stuff. So I bought some cheap equipment and started to record. This, however, opened up a whole new world and I often feel a bit out of depth. I sometimes wonder if I really have the energy to put into it, there just so much to do and learn. Learning to record has humbled me and I have nothing but respect and appreciation for anyone who puts there hand to it and going from nothing to a fully produced song (just one) is a massive achievement - so if you've ever written an album I'd take my hat off to you if I wore one.

Nowadays, I'm not the person I used to be. I don't really hang on to this stuff as much as I might make out. I find it much easier to get on with living and don't spend too much time dwelling on the negative and I think the topics of my songs have changed for it. I sometimes think why do I continue to write songs? What for? Sometimes it aggravates me but nevertheless I pick up my guitar, start picking out chords, some words come to me and the obsession grips me again...

What a ramble.

[Morefrog Jones]

I often wonder why i bother - it appears to be a complete waste of time

[hardtwistmusic]

I often wonder why i bother - it appears to be a complete waste of time

For most of us, it is in fact a "complete waste of time."  But only when considered in terms of being "useful." 

More than seven thousand years ago, in ancient China Lao Tzu (a contemporary of Confucious) explained the "value of being useless."  No one has explained it better since.  Worth looking up. 

[Marrianna]

This is a question that set me thinking about why I write songs. I found myself thinking back to when I started, and throughout later years from my childhood when I had my first piano and was learning to play it. I think I wrote my first song, just to see if I could achieve a finished work to be able to play for pleasure any time after. The sense of tackling something new and comparing my song with the songs I was hearing and enjoying was an incentive which kept me interested, not just in composing but listening
and loving popular songs. I could sing and learn about choral work and classical music at school, but, to go out and buy sheet music so that I could play songs on the piano was an extra enjoyment.

Later on, I had a new reason to write which was to write something which may be noticed by publishers or record companies. I never really believed that it could happen but when I began getting encouragement from those who knew about my work, I felt challenged to keep trying.

I always loved the feeling I had created something which seemed to be non - existent one minute, and then, a complete finished song or instrumental the next.

By songwriting, I was able to meet all sorts of people, like - minded songwriters, musicians, and members of the music business. Many became acqaintances, if not friends, and I gained a lot of enjoyment sharing my interest with other people.

In later years, with a lot of songs I can still believe in, I get a lot of enjoyment from hearing them and knowing that I wrote them. I sometimes rewrite some of the lyrics and not long ago had them re - recorded by someone who had become disabled. The re-writing of some of my songs gave someone else a chance to go to a studio and sing them. I had never met this person personally, but had been in contact through our shared interest of songwriting. To know that I gave him a lot of enjoyment when he became so disadvantaged was a great incentive to go on writing songs and music. So, I have many reasons why I write, and they vary from personal enjoyment, to the joy of music connecting others and spreading that joy further.

I could never think my songs were a waste of time and every single one has some value to me in terms of a sense of achievement.

Marrianna :-)

[Martinswede]

First as delb0y pointed out there's the itch. I have not found an
ointment for it so I'll keep scratching.

I'm not sure I have an intelligent answer to it. I can not make real
sense out of it. It's like 'Why do you breathe?' A smart person might
say 'Because otherwise I'll die.' But frankly a very slow person will
answer just the same. Their both wrong. You breathe because that's
what you do. I'm not saying I'd die if I didn't write, I'm just saying
it's a part of what I do. Every one does a lot of things just because
that's who they are. And they became that way for so many different
reasons.

I've always loved music but I've never been a real talent at it. I've also
always loved food and cooking and it's my merit in life. I haven't even
had a free cup of coffee for playing music but I make a poor living from
working as a chef. But when I come home I rather pick up the guitar
than start making dinner. Only hunger motivates the latter.

What I'm trying to say is that there are so many ways to be creative and
I've found the time for two ways to do so. Being good or bad at something
or finding it useful just can't be the only thing that motivates a creature
capable of self awareness. Pleasure might.

Just a quick reply to the repeated statement that it's kind of a burden.
I'd say that's a matter of perspective. I guess getting stuck is frustrating
but without a deadline who's holding the whip?

So Paulski...
Give us your thoughts!

Martin

[The S]

Well, my answer won't differ much from the rest of you but here goes.

Because I love everything about and surrounding it.

Like others workout, paint, cook, do work around the house etc, this is my hobby. It's constantly in my head and I've given up trying to change that, it is what it is and it's been like this for the past 35 years. It's obviously something I like to do so I've decided to not work against it but rather with it. 

It's the whole package I fell in love with.

Music. Lyrics. Instruments. Playing. Singing. Arranging. Recording. Mixing.

And to be honest, one huge motivating factor that keeps me going and what helps me get through the darker days of songwriting, is the fact that I do get better as the years go by so I know it's not all in vain. 

Peter

[IronKnee]

For girls! 

[Martinswede]

For girls! 

Only a true genius could make such a potent distillate of a topic.

[Hooded Singer]

Fun

Intellectual challenge

Passing time

[Stylus]

  Depends  on which song    Predominantly  my songs are  personal, A release  for  how I am feeling at that moment. some  are for  muse   related  relationship  thing.  some  as an attempt  to  try something mainstream  or commercial.   some  may  be  not necessarily  about the lyrics.....but  the  chords  or melody.  Its about  feeling, emotive  release...  people /listeners interprete  them  differently  so  they have to  please you  the writer firstly.

[Jenna]

I can't say that I've written any songs, but I do enjoy writing and always have. Later in life I learned the value of journaling, especially during a trying time in life. Now that things have settled, I'm finding it a great way to fill the time. And then for every other reason mentioned above. I wanted to write music in my youth, have spent my life at a racehorse pace, and now that I've got some time to kill before the next work marathon, it's time to tell those stories people only want to hear in songs or poetry. I've even written about that.

A Thousand Words

My hands ache
With the pain
of ten thousand heartbreaks

Feeling
the shame
Of a thousand mistakes

Getting lost
 in the pool
That's become a crash-land

what can
 I do
You've let go of my hand

Most days I do well
Holding together
Holding it in

Then other days
I dip my toe in
and I can't swim

I'm dying in a pool of words
That can't be said
and won't be heard
It's more than I can handle
And swallows me whole
Ten thousand words
That bears my soul

Can't let myself go there
Can't dredge up the past
Celebrate freedom
By lifting a glass

Can't sleep
up late again
Midnight pain comes crashing in
Stoned to death by memories
There once lived a woman
Who now whispers through trees

Very rough. I've not spent time working out the details, but it struck note with people on my Facebook wall when no others had. I think we all feel invisible and that nobody wants to hear us at times, yet we all silently bear it and move on with the days.

So . . . there it is. It's an intellectually challenging cathartic release of emotional connection wrapped in the joy of creation. Nutshell version.

[PaulyX]

What a great thread.  I need to spend more time in this Bar.
I recognise all the motivations you guys have listed too.  If I had to summarise, in my case, it is about "being in love with the medium".  As Delb0y put it further up the thread, I think music is the closest thing to real magic we have in this world.  Listening to Bowie, post Punk, the Beatles etc as a little kid, even though I never thought I had a song in me at the time, I was fascinated by how these 3 minute magic spells worked.  Then later on I worked out I could have a bash myself too... who wouldn't want to be an apprentice wizard?  For me it's a kind of homage to the big wizards I guess.

[Stylus]

   Hi Jenna 
                 You've got something there with those lyrics..  I think  each writer  writes  any given song & can   see  a more  intricate  picture  of  what the lyrics  are saying &  how they  fit in a  melodic way. I bet you  could  send those lyrics to  5 different  people &  they  would each interpret  them differently.
        I did a song  called:  Enough is Enough!    &  since  I've had  a  block  on any forthcoming  lyrics.I'm  not sure  if  I myself have created  this block  or  it  comes from elsewhere?  but  I sometime
get a few lines & scribble  them down.  I can  ( but find it  strange)  to  decide    today  at  2.00 p.m I will  write  a song. I've had a  whole song  written  in FB  chat  in  10-15  minutes   &  then  a song  which  took  a couple of weeks  to find the right lines  overall.  I have also  found  theres no  strict  rule to   songwriting  or making music. If it works,fits  sounds ok  to the human ear   then great....Theres  songs  I've heard   where  the   bass  guitar  is totally   out of tune (even  on the wrong key)  but it was a  hit  & in the charts!     some of the  R&B  Hip hop  type of songs  are like this....     Imagine how many great lyrics have   bad music  or vice versa?