Emotion

Sometimes I have a hard time allowing myself to be really naked emotionally when I write. I think many self-conscious songwriters go through this. Some hide behind metaphor, some hide in their characters in songs, and some simply don't have to write songs that are personal.

I've spent the vast majority of my time as a songwriter toeing the fence. I want to write really dark songs about the depths of my psyche, but every time I get in that mode, one of two things happens: 1. I wimp out and the song ends up sucking. 2. I go all the way and scare myself to the point where I don't ever share those songs with anyone.

I started thinking about the emotional connections people have to songs. Some relate to the characters in the narrative, some relate to the simple joy of the melody, some really think that the lyricist managed to express exactly what they have been thinking. This was the case for me on the new Rush tune "Faithless":

I've got my own moral compass to steer by
A guiding star beats a spirit in the sky
And all the preaching voices -
Empty vessels of dreams so loud
As they move among the crowd
Fools and thieves are well disguised
In the temple and market place

Like a stone in the river
Against the floods of spring
I will quietly resist

Like the willows in the wind
Or the cliffs along the ocean
I will quietly resist

I don't have faith in faith
I don't believe in belief
You can call me faithless
I still cling to hope
And I believe in love
And that's faith enough for me

I've got my own spirit level for balance
To tell if my choice is leaning up or down
And all the shouting voices
Try to throw me off my course
Some by sermon, some by force
Fools and thieves are dangerous
In the temple and market place

Like a forest bows to winter
Beneath the deep white silence
I will quietly resist

Like a flower in the desert
That only blooms at night
I will quietly resist

Neil Peart, drummer and über-lyricist, captured the "zeitgeist" of my recent emotions in this piece.

My wife often has a hard time listening to music because it affects her so personally - it really gets inside her and moves her. I've never had that same experience - it might be the more clinical approach to music I've had over the course of my life. My daughter is showing signs of being just like my wife. I just hope it doesn't keep her from wanting to play music. I think both she and the boy will be fantastic musicians, if they want to be.

Either way, emotions about and in music are such an integral part of the experience that I thought I'd muse on them a little bit.

Whatever moves you musically is good - and if it sounds good (to you), it is good (to you).

Strike that balance when you create, and it's a satisfying experience.