Songwriting 101: Are You Afraid Of Writing A Bad Song?

[JWhis]

Well that wouldn't exactly be the opposite now would it I agree with your statement, any normal person will put songs in the trash, my point was if EVERY song you write you hate, then maybe not such a fun hobby. Likewise if you love every song you do, you are either a legend in the making or afraid to critique yourself.

[xultrabluex]

Originally Posted by BillyShears

I think a fear of writing bad songs is like fearing death - a waste of time because you can't avoid either of them.

It doesn't matter how good a songwriter you are, over the coarse of your life you are still going to write bad songs every now and then. Look at John Lennon (one of my favorites) here's a guy who wrote Strawberry Fields and I Am The Walrus and then years later came up with Sometime In New York City which has some absolute horrors on it.

Just about every band biography I've read has mentioned how the main songwriters had to write dozens a bad songs before they found there feet. Paul McCartney reckons he and John wrote about 100 songs (probably an exaggeration but it would have been lots) before they wrote anything they really liked.

and wouldn't you figure, best songwriting duo of all time

[MetalDave]

Writing a song is alot like sex. You don't know what the person recieving will think until you do it. it is sort of scary at first. it makes you feel good and even more when it makes the other feel good too. It forces you to be creative... try new things to make it interesting. It takes special care. it isn't as fun when you are the only one involved LOL. Some people are so good at it they can make money doing it! You can't stop in the middle or there is no climax! So everyone here should have more sex... it's fun! As Nike' says Just Do It!

[brandondrury]

That's BAD ASS, dude!! Did you make this up, yourself? If so, I'm putting it in an article. This is FUNNY!!!!

Brandon

[Captain Molotov]

I think this article is really gonna open up doors for me in a way. I've always known that I'm my own worst critic but I've never done anything to change it; I've just kept on criticizing myself.

For instance, I think my voice sounds like ass. Once I eventually do solve my problem of getting my vocals to sound, quality-wise, the way I want them to, I STILL won't want to lay down vocals much and listen to them back, because I'd rather stab my brain with a que-tip than listen to myself sing. Makes my weeny shrivel, actually.

But everyone else tells me I sing really well, and I only ask people that I know wouldn't bullshit me. My girlfriend, a few of my best friends who I've known for years. I tell them to be honest with me because if I sound like goddamn William Hung I don't want to be out there making an ass of myself. There's a coffee shop up the street who I basically have an invitation to play for whenever I want, because they say that me and one other guy are "the only good musicians who come through here."

As for songwriting - which is what this is about, sorry I digressed - it's the same thing. Sometimes I actually do like my songs while I'm writing them and for a short while after, but I can't tell you how many I've thrown out before completion or shortly thereafter. And the ones I didn't, I still wind up hating. Every last song. And yet, my least favorite song that I don't really like that much anymore, EVERYONE FUCKING LOVES. Everyone. People ask me questions about it all the time, they seem really interested in what was going through my head when I wrote it, and the bitch of it is, it's a two and a half-minute, simple song, C, E, F, G for the verse and F C G for the chorus that I wrote in under an hour at three in the morning. The only reason I even play it anymore is because there's several people who would have my ass if I didn't.

The moment I really knew that I was nowhere near as bad as I think I am was after one of my gigs. One of my best buddies, who is a pretty "accomplished musician" around here and who I've known since I was five and is perhaps the person I can count on the most not to bullshit me, came up to me after having seen me play for the first time (he had just moved back from out of town so he'd never seen me play before) and told me it was fucking great. That is the highest compliment I could have gotten from anyone.

Sorry I'm rambling, but I'm really gonna take this one to heart. I'm gonna just go crank out tunes. I'll probably still be my own critic a little bit - once they're done, if I think they suck, I probably just wont play them, but I'll try to force myself into breaking out a few at the next gig. Fuck it, I'll at least get them through the writing phase.

Thanks.

[Captain Molotov]

Well, I'm off to a decent start with being less critical of myself and as a result I wrote three songs in two days, which, for me, is pretty epic considering how long I used to take to write.

[sparqee]

If you're interested in delving into your creative psyche check out a book called "The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron. Changed the way I think about my own creativity.

[Captain Molotov]

Thanks a lot, I'll definitely check it out.

[MetalDave]

Originally Posted by brandondrury

That's BAD ASS, dude!! Did you make this up, yourself? If so, I'm putting it in an article. This is FUNNY!!!!

Brandon

Yeah Brandon I did think that up right as I wrote it. Feel free to put it in your book. I would like it if it was quoted by me. I could show my friends... LOL.

[Sam Joxer]

I used to not be able to make any song, but then I just started putting riffs together. You cant be critical, what comes out is something, its not necessarily good or bad.

A couple of weeks ago, I spent a week on a song, that I ended up hating.

One of my favorite songs I ever wrote was written and recorded in less than 6 minutes(its 2 minutes long).

The most growth I think I have ever had is when I try and force myself to make songs. For a while I was making a song per day(short songs). Maybe Ill up it to more sooner or later.

Songwriting isnt an inate talent, it needs to be developed. You need to work for it to be cultivated.

There will be people who will tell you what is right and wrong. one of my favorite people in the music industry, Rick Rubin, has been known to just let the artists record, and then pick and choose which songs make it(its an exageration, he does a lot of other work during the process).

So if you really think you can tell from listening to a song whether it will be a hit or not, or whether it is "Good" there are a lot of jobs out there for you that require less work than being a singer/songwriter/studio technician.