How do you get over being sick of your song...

T

TeleMasters

New member
After I write a song and change a few lines here and there then put it to CD for a demo then go back a change a few more lines the go back and re-do the demo.. After a week or two of that I am sick of it and can't stand to look at it or hear it. Now this doesn't just last a few weeks. I can't just put it down and let it go for awhile because even a year later I am sick of them..

What are some of the things you all do to keep the creativity flowing?
 
Ya don't... I have the same problem, but I learned a valuable lesson from an old friend of mine.

A buddy of mine used to play bass for Kim Mitchell before they became famous... they had fairly recently written the song "Might As Well Go For A Soda" and had practiced the crap out of it. Well everyone at the local bars loved it and kept requesting it several times a night. Bob (my buddy) was so sick of playing that song over and over he decided to quit the band... about 2 weeks later they were signed to a label. Now Bob works as a doorman at a local strip club (Not the worst job in the world, but still.)


The lesson of the story: No matter how much it starts to suck... keep at it!

- Tanlith -

Webmaster: Super Loop Library
 
hehe.. basically i start new songs when that happens :D

although this might not always be the right idea.. since last year (when i started writing) i have LOADS of songs that i "started" to write, and only a very few done..

oh well it got better than it was tho, but i still take a long time writing a song usually, and if it goes slow i always work on at least 2 songs at a time (to avoid getting too bored of one)..
 
ron82 said:
i always work on at least 2 songs at a time (to avoid getting too bored of one)..
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EXACTLY..this is exactly what i do ...i have around 7 or 8 floating around in different stages of completion at all times...i sit down pick a little on whatever happens to be in my head at the time..and see what starts flowing...for me ...songwriting has never been about sitting down to start writing ...it usually happens that some phrase or progression hits me about 2 am and i have to get up ...and go hum it into the recorder...then i sorta gloss over whatever songs i have in the works at the time..and see if it triggers something...if its working it usually goes pretty quickly.
 
ROFL ...I have SOOOO many unfinished songs for this very reason.

Heres a good Idea, post the song here, unfinished or not ...tell every one your "sick of this song, and need honest opinions, good or bad". Some of the comments you get back might give you more inspiration or just give you the finial reason to can it.

If you have some one you know listen to it they very rarely give you the truth ...you know what I mean??
 
Jamal Bucket said:
...i have around 7 or 8 floating around in different stages of completion at all times...
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I do this as well. Very often I will combine some of those ideas into one song. As far as boredom is concerned I find the songs I write fall into 2 categorys:
1) Songs I understand from the very beginning with a very specific idea. These are like building a house with certain steps to take in a certain order.
2) Songs which I have absolutley no idea what they are about. These are more like building a fort or a tree house using anything handy with the main goal being it stays in the tree. To be truthful I write more of the second type and am amazed how often these songs will reveal their meanings over time. The question mark which surrounds this type of song really helps keep it interesting for me.

-b
 
Jamal Bucket said:
EXACTLY..this is exactly what i do ...i have around 7 or 8 floating around in different stages of completion at all times...i sit down pick a little on whatever happens to be in my head at the time..and see what starts flowing...for me ...songwriting has never been about sitting down to start writing ...it usually happens that some phrase or progression hits me about 2 am and i have to get up ...and go hum it into the recorder...then i sorta gloss over whatever songs i have in the works at the time..and see if it triggers something...if its working it usually goes pretty quickly.
Click to expand...

That's how I have worked in the past. Problem is I never seem to finish anything (or not much). I just recently started to try to discipline myself into starting a song and finishing it. Even to the point of giving myself deadlines. So far, it seems to be working. I am learning quite a lot about my writing strengths and weaknesses this way.

That doesn't mean I don't let the muse play with me a little during that time, but I make a note of the idea and then focus back on the song I'm working on.

I figured this is good practice for that staff writer job someday ;) :D
 
terocious said:
I do this as well. Very often I will combine some of those ideas into one song. As far as boredom is concerned I find the songs I write fall into 2 categorys:
1) Songs I understand from the very beginning with a very specific idea. These are like building a house with certain steps to take in a certain order.
2) Songs which I have absolutley no idea what they are about. These are more like building a fort or a tree house using anything handy with the main goal being it stays in the tree. To be truthful I write more of the second type and am amazed how often these songs will reveal their meanings over time. The question mark which surrounds this type of song really helps keep it interesting for me.

-b
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Interesting analogy :)

I just thought of something I did to finish off all my unfinished works. And now that I think about it, it makes sense and might be just what you need to do.

You say you lost interest in the song cause you've played the crap out of it (basically) right? Maybe what you need to do to spark your interest in it again is to find someone to collaborate with... I posted something here some time ago about collaborating with an old friend of mine to finish my unfinished works... and as I remember, I don't recall being more "into" those songs than I was when I was working with him.

Only thing you really need to do is have an open mind about it. He might take the song in a direction you didn't think of... or maybe a direction you didn't really want to go... but if you're open it might work well for you.

- Tanlith -

Webmaster: Super Loop Library
 
terocious
1) Songs I understand from the very beginning with a very specific idea. These are like building a house with certain steps to take in a certain order.
2) Songs which I have absolutley no idea what they are about.
Click to expand...
haha yea! :D

thats true for me, too! i often just start out with this "awesome" riff i just created, and then begin building a song on it.. and then i'm like "uh lets see what could this one be about".. lol

hey, sometimes i even begin to write lyrics then, although i still have no idea what the song will be about ;D
 
It is also good to ask yourself why am I sick of the song? There have been many times when I was sick of my work because I was sick of myself. My ideas, My routines, My job... Whatever. Other reasons have been that the song sounds too much like other songs I wrote, I was never happy with the words or it reminds me of a bad time in my life. Having some insight into the roots of my twisted reasoning has always helped me.
-b
 
Maybe it's just a lousy song.

If you're sick of it, why would you expect a listener to have a different reaction?

Every song we write can't be a masterpiece. Heck, MOST songs we write can't be masterpieces. If one out of every 30- songs is a decent song, that means we have to write 29 "OK" songs (or, downtight awful songs) to get to that one great song.

If you're sick of the song, maybe it's just one of those songs you had to write to get it out of the way, so you could get onto the next song -- which could be the best thing you've ever written.
 
DCMaguire said:
Maybe it's just a lousy song.

If you're sick of it, why would you expect a listener to have a different reaction?

Every song we write can't be a masterpiece. Heck, MOST songs we write can't be masterpieces. If one out of every 30- songs is a decent song, that means we have to write 29 "OK" songs (or, downtight awful songs) to get to that one great song.

If you're sick of the song, maybe it's just one of those songs you had to write to get it out of the way, so you could get onto the next song -- which could be the best thing you've ever written.
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Yeah... and the glass is half empty! :p

Sorry man... couldn't resist hehehehe

- Tanlith -
 
Jamal Bucket said:
...then i sorta gloss over whatever songs i have in the works at the time..and see if it triggers something...if its working it usually goes pretty quickly.
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When I do this with a fesh idea in my head, or my fingers, I often tend to drop it or mess it up with the recorded stuff. So in a way i loose the idea I had from the beginning. Recently I've tried to record all such snippets/ideas in ONE file.
 
DCMaguire said:
Maybe it's just a lousy song.
If you're sick of it, why would you expect a listener to have a different reaction?
Click to expand...

I see what you're saying here, but think about the songs you hear on the radio...I know myself that I can start out loving a new song, but when I've been forced to listen to it 9738734 times, it gets old and I hate it. Things get boring when they're repetitive and the newness wears off. When I feel like that I put things to the side and start something fresh...its always more interesting when you haven't had to look/listen to it for a month.
 
Writing is tenuous at best. If we think we are going to hit the mark 100% every time, we are fooling ourselves unless we happen to be some kind of of super musical genius.

When I get a song going and start to get sick of it, it means there is something wrong--with the lyric, the structure, the melody or maybe all of those things. I put the demo away for a few months and come back to it with fresh ears. Sometimes I can hear it much more clearly then.

On the rare occasion that I work on something and never stop liking it, it tells me that I have something good. Thats really my guage. If I can hear it over and over and not get sick of it, then I know the song has more than potential--its at least decent and sometimes great.
 
crawdad said:
Writing is tenuous at best. If we think we are going to hit the mark 100% every time, we are fooling ourselves unless we happen to be some kind of of super musical genius...
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Russ Ballard comes to mind... nearly everything that guy wrote / produced &/or performed went gold or platinum.



- Tanlith -
 
tanlith said:
Russ Ballard comes to mind... nearly everything that guy wrote / produced &/or performed went gold or platinum.



- Tanlith -
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He's the exception; not the rule. Also, I didn't say that super musical geniuses don't exist. :D Its just that they are rare but they are out there. All I know is that I am not one of them!
 
crawdad said:
He's the exception; not the rule. Also, I didn't say that super musical geniuses don't exist. :D Its just that they are rare but they are out there. All I know is that I am not one of them!
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Me either... if I were I wouldn't have time to hang out here... I'd be in a hot tub somewhere with naked peoples... preferably of the opposite sex...

... ok wait... preferably female... heh... these days when a guy says "opposite sex" that still leaves 2 categories :p

- Tanlith -

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