47ron........Art is not self expression? There is a difference in art and self expression?
art is entirely self expression....even when you write from the perspective of a narrator or charactor you're still the one who is making the charactor or narrator up, right?......So art is self expression by default; there is no way to get around that
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Here, look at it this way...Lets say you and I both have twenty songs each; all written from the point of view of charactors we have invented...I would be willing to bet everything I own that we would see patterns with in our repsective songs that are highly typical of the ourselves; ....You would undoubtabely come up with certain types of charactors and I would also come up with certain types of charactors....In otherwords, We both would have tendencies to write about certain things regardless of the perspective and point of view in the song. AND the determining factor that would establish the difference between what you write and what I right would be the "Self." It would be the difference between how you choose to express Yourself and how I choose to express myself.............Your selling art short by not admiting that it is self expression.....Art does not exist w/o self expression........Every story you tell is just that; "a story you tell."
From a psychological standpoint, often times charactors that we invent often reflect parts of ourselves that we wish to unleash or parts of themselves that we haven't reconciled with........In other words every charactor in a song is nothing more than an archetypal figure representing the self; much in the same way charactors in all ancient myths are archetypal figures of the self....And Much in the same way as how every charactor in your dreams is essentially a different manifestation of yourself......Most all great fictional authors recognize that all of their charactors are on some level represenatives of the "self." I could go on and on about the origin and psychology behind art but I won't......I don't want to start a flame war.....Just thought I give you another perpsective to ponder
Anyhow SSeals....Sorry to go off on a tangent in your thread.....I don't want to disscount what 47ron said either....He does have a point; writing from the point of view of a charactor could be beneficial for you......Often times when one is brutally honest with him/herself in their song writing and they are writing directly about themselves they will almost always come to the conclusion that you have drawn; "my stuff sounds cheesy."..(even though I would say that this feeling is indicative of the fact that you are probably on the right track!).....Anyway this feeling of cheesyness, from a psychological point of view, is what makes writing from the point of view of another a viable option; allowing you to feel more comfortable about self expression by telling a story through the eyes of another....One could actually make the argument, that psychologically, this is the reason why stories are traditionally told this way..............It is natural for us to do this.......our dreams are proof of this........All your charactors are essentially you; only your wearing a mask and nobody knows it is you...and so you don't have to worry about being cheesy.....Ever notice how people act much different at holloween parties when they are dressed up in costume and nobody knows who they are?......They tend to act in a more innocent child like fashion....Infact, you could make the argument that people actually act more like themselves in these cases.....uncontrived so to speak............The same principle is operating when you write a song from the perspective of a charactor.......So when we write songs from a charactors perspective we allow ourselves to say and do things that, out of fear or other reasons, we would not ordinarily do..........A charactor, for some people, is what they need inorder to be themselves........For these people, their charactors are often more like themselves than the songs that they actually write about themselves; which are usually contrived and unhonest, for whatever reason..
On another note.....I wouldn't bother listening too much to what's hip this week for inspiration........What isn't cheesy? Everything is.......What's cool this week is cheesy the next.....Ya know? If your true to yourself than at least you can always hang your hat on that!!!!!!!
- nave