Wordplay

Wordplay

One of my favorite aspects of songwriting is wordplay.

I almost invariably try to find ways to twist words or come up with clever lines to basically make myself smile.

One of my favorite things to do in a song is a thing you often see in poetry – essentially using the same sounds in alternating lines, but varying the words.

A good example (from “We Really Just Don’t Care“):
Nobody sings a little song just to sing
Nobody brings a little wrong just to sting

Or maybe this one (from “Without You With Me Tonight” – written with my brother Rob):
So I know that I’ll spend this evening lonely
But I can wait ’cause you are my one and only
‘Cause I really think you are the one for me
I would even look past infidelity
My evening just couldn’t be right
Without you with me tonight

It’s little things like this that make me feel like I’m accomplishing something as a lyricist – telling the story, but doing it in a tuneful and lyrically clever way – not just stringing things together in some sort of weird baroque stream-of-consciousness thing (a la Alanis Morissette – but she’s not always like that).

The bottom line is, it doesn’t work for every song, but I find it really fun to find new and interesting ways to make words go together and work together both rhythmically and sonically.

I’m sure if I wrote stories my prose would be quite flowery and precious.

More to come…
TMS

Inspiration

Inspiration

I find inspiration in the weirdest places – it could be a touching scene from a movie, the look on a child’s face, a fruit display in a grocery store…it really doesn’t matter.

The challenge I have is taking that inspiration and turning it into something before I destroy myself with self-editing.

Too many songwriters participate in the folly of denying their gift.

Even if what’s coming out is crap, you should let it out. There is time later for editing and fixing things – turning them into something great. Let the inspiration take you to a place that allows you to create – don’t crap all over an idea before you allow it to come to fruition, or you will end up dazzlingly unsatisfied with your ability to create, and with a healthy helping of writer’s block, because you’ve gotten into a pattern of intentionally blocking inspiration because you’re judging it before its job is done.

Being open to everything gives you far more material from which you can create a masterpiece (at least for you – we can’t all be Lennon and McCartney or Randy Newman).

Personally, I’ve been working past my inherent need to self-edit when it comes to songwriting, and it’s freed me up a lot. Getting ideas out is much easier when you aren’t artistically constipated by your own fears that it “won’t be cool enough” or “won’t be good enough”.

Considering how happy I’ve been with my wife and family, it’s been hard to write things that are emotionally raw, because they feel sort of dishonest (as I’m not really sad) – but we all have things in our lives that drive us to create. And we all have topics that we find easier to write about than others. Heartbreak is an easy and obvious one. Concern and pain for someone you love is another less obvious choice, but that often comes across as preachy. Writing about a subject works well, but only if you’re a good storyteller or good at description.

Basically it all comes down to allowing something to move you to the point that it creates musical inspiration, whether it be a cool chord progression (I’ve always been fond of the motion and tension of C#m-A-E-G#7), some assholes you know (see the song “Miserable Bastard“), certain world leaders, or just your favorite bass or guitar.

Don’t kill inspiration before it has a chance to take bloom. That’s my songwriting tip of the week.
TMS

Welcome!

Welcome!

I Just wanted to welcome everyone to my new Musical Schizo blog.

In this blog I’ll introduce new songs, talk about inspirations for my songwriting, reveal the methods I use for writing and recording my compositions, and share “war stories” about my various gigs around Austin and elsewhere.

I hope you will enjoy it as much as I will creating it!