other songs

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NationalSandwic

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hi, i've got a question on my mind, and I wonder what everyone in this forum would say.

often, I feel that all the songs I want to write have already been written, and I can easily point them out. Does anyone else get this feeling, and how do you deal with it?

:D
 
When you come out with what you want to say, in the way that you want to say it, it will be new. It will be something nobody has ever heard before.

People have been saying that everything that can be done, every tune that can be written, everything that can be said, every song that can be sung, has been done, written, said and sung already. But new stuff happens all the time. Most of it's crap, some of it's OK, a tiny amount of it is worthwhile - but that's always been the case as well.

So it's just up to you. I reckon the fact that you worry about this is a good sign.

But just go for it.

(I used to visit Centurion Lake and Pretoria a lot to do lectures, don't get there so much these days. I liked it very much. Saw prettier penguins than these ones in Cape Town :))
 
I think Mr. Sharp sums it up very well. I would add this, that while our experiences in many ways have much in common they are never shared at the same time or same way for most people. To use a line from one of my songs; "It really aint nothin new, it's just the first time it's ever happened to you." The turn of a phrase, the energy transmitted to your instrument, can all come together to make an experience or song unique. There is also one other part of the experience and that is the audience or whoever hears your music. Your audience, emotionally, is never on the same page at the same time in life. Unless they are all jaded and have lost their humanity. It can get old and difficult to try and find a new way to say "I love you." But if you have ever truly loved someone does it ever get old and difficult to tell that special someone that. When you are in the moment or the "zone" I think most people instinctively pick up on and share that experience and it never gets old or difficult to repeat the well used phrase of "I love you." (IMHO)

I hope this helps. Keep the fatih. Ozlee
 
While I in part think that just about everything that can be said/played in song has been done (there are only so many notes, so many words and so many emotions).

However, we all still have our voice and our vision, and some of us have a calling to express thoughts in songs. There must be a million plus love songs - but people still fall in love every day.

As writers, we should continue to tell our stories in ways that can move others. While the story may not always be new (love songs, party songs, etc. etc) hopefully our way of telling the story can still touch someone.
 
hmmm... it seems that everyone has pretty much the same take here. a problem i often encounter is that when writing, i know other songs so well that my brain automatically recognises the similar content... and i end up drifting my style to that other song's.
still i understand that we all have unique voices, and unique experiences (even if they are of similar things). i often wonder about the audience, and how my personal perceptions have anything to do with them. it's a tough gig this, i really want to nail it, though. :)

garry: there's a lot of pretty stuff in cape town :) can't say the same for pretoria or centurion tho!
 
just do you!

yea a lot has been said here regarding this issue but i wanted to add my 2 cents. everything hasnt been said because we have heard what you have to say i agree with mikeh when he said, we all have our own vision and voice and until every voice has been heard everything hasnt been said.

when you write just say what you have to say the way you would say it and i can tell you that it wont sound like anyone else. i have started taking life experiences big, small whatever and making a song out of it because eventhough there maybe another song out there saying something simular to what i have said someone else may not get the chance to hear the other song or writers experience but they will get a chance to hear mine. i hope that makes since.
 
NationalSandwic said:
garry: there's a lot of pretty stuff in cape town :) can't say the same for pretoria or centurion tho!
Click to expand...

I had to go to Zim after my last stay in Centurion - it's all relative ;)

Actually I ended up playing with the house band at my hotel in Harare - that was a great night :D Heartbreaking to see all those lovely people getting fucked over. :(

Just keep going on the writing there.

Garry
 
NationalSandwic said:
often, I feel that all the songs I want to write have already been written, and I can easily point them out.
:D
Click to expand...

Try approaching those situations as a challenge to write a 'better' song. Every time you think 'that song fill-in-the-blank already said what I wanted to say', think about a dozen other songs that also said the same thing - why did one song in particular strike you as 'already been done' rather than another with the same subject matter? In other words, try to do it better.

There's a reality show in the States about a struggling band from Nashville that has a record deal, but hasn't broken through - one of their writers said "it's easy to write songs - it's hard to write good ones." Strive to make some other writer feel the same way about your song as you do about 'other songs.'

Hey Garry - it's been a while!
 
Mr X - you won't believe this, but I was just thinking about you today. Ain't that weird? Gonna be posting some new songs in a few weeks, so hope you hang around for some more torture :)
 
Garry - looking forward to new material!

(We're in the process of moving, so I've been stagnant - but I'll have space for a proper studio so I figured it was time rejoin the community of writers and recordists (is that a word?))

NationalSandwic - can you give some examples of songs that already said what you wanted to say? It might make an interesting exercise to take some of those inspirations and see what other people in this thread might come up with if given a specific thought or emotion as a starting point.
 
hmm that's an interesting idea.
well, let's take a specific issue: loneliness in being seperated from someone you love.
songs that I know that spring to mind, different as they are from each other,
so, off the top of my head: r u lonely? (graham coxon), let me in (REM). not sure if you know these...

but, interestingly, i'm having some trouble now. and i think it's all about interpretation of songs... the best songs seem to be pretty broad, allowing the listener to take what they want from the song. so, a lot of songs seem immediately relevant to me, yet if you were to listen to them, you might not draw the same meaning or significance as I do...

i think this is my problem: that other songs do so much for me, that i'm left feeling, 'well, he's just described how I feel (about whatever issue) perfectly', and so why do i need to say it again?
 
NationalSandwic,

Personally, many times the experience of listening to a song will develop new ideas for me. I understand the feeling you describe. I don't think you should take it as something that discounts or makes your feelings somehow illegitimate. Other people's music has always been a source of inspiration and creation. There is a recent documentary on John Lennon and the Beatles about the creative effect that many of the old blues and R&B musicians had on a number of their hits. In many cases John Lennon took almost exact guitar licks and turned them into His own. :cool:

Also, there is a technique you should try (if you haven't heard of it) that I learned in one of my writing classes, it is called "exploding the moment." It involves using all of your senses to describe the moment. When you get stuck just write down every thing that you see, hear, feel, taste, even your state of mind. By this I mean you try and write down every thing no matter how insignificant, from how your clothes feel on your body, what things smell like, what you see (is it clean, dirty, neat, disorgainized, what color you see, etc.), what you feel (are you barefooted, are you sitting, standing, etc.), where are you located (outdoors, etc.). Your tactile senses can be a vehicle that can help unlock your emotions and creativity. It is important that when you try this that you write every thing down and not attempt to edit while you are in this process, that comes latter.

Keep the faith, Ozlee
 
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NationalSandwic said:
i think this is my problem: that other songs do so much for me, that i'm left feeling, 'well, he's just described how I feel (about whatever issue) perfectly', and so why do i need to say it again?
Click to expand...

Well I think that just demonstrates the kind of sensitivity that marks a (hesitate to use this word, but..) better kind of songwriter. Just don't get too bogged down in it - take some shots and see if your aim needs adjusting. You'll get some good feedback from this board, if that helps.
 
NationalSandwic said:
hi, i've got a question on my mind, and I wonder what everyone in this forum would say.

often, I feel that all the songs I want to write have already been written, and I can easily point them out. Does anyone else get this feeling, and how do you deal with it?

:D
Click to expand...

I've listened to a lot of Bob Dylan's music, so I often feel like everything has been done before, and there's no way I'll write better songs.....
I just turn to him (and others) for inspiration, I've "borrowed" some theme's from him and some lines too. I don't think that bad, as long as you make your own song outta it.
Sometimes when I write something down, I feel like it sounds very much like something I've heard before. I used to start looking for it and when I found something that looked too much a-like, I'd trow it away. Nowadays I just don't care anymore. Everything has been done before so if you're dying to be original you might just as well not write at all (that's an exaggaration, but sometimes it feels like that). It's no crime to be inspired by the best out there.
 
I don't know if this helps...But if you have the basic mechanics of the craft..then don't think so much about it{thats for later when you gotta edit it}Just be "honest" with your lyrics..Who cares if you are "counting blue cars" or drivein' "a Lil red corvette"..or something to that effect.LOL :)
 
"Don't wear your influences on your face, but do wear them on your back"

I forget who said that, or something to that effect, but you see the point. If your writing a progression and half way through you say: "I've heard this song before" just change it slightly. Tweak it with your own ingenuity. Obviously if its just a plain rip off, you're better off scrapping it, unless you're in Jet. I always hear songs where progressions sound similar to another song, or where a little lick is exactly the same.

In the end, it doesn't really matter as long as the song has its own unique taste, which can be achieved in many other ways. One way around it is to listen to everything you get your hands on. If you love one particular genre, I'd imagine it gets hard to vary your own sound. Pick up song classical music, or world music. It may take a while to filter throught he crap, but theres always something worthwhile.

I play acoustic guitar with a singer/songwriter air to it, so for me, listening to something like Stockhausen can be mind-numbing, but with patience, stuff like that gives me something to fall back on to overcome writer's block. An interesting thing I sometimes do is to listen to something I've never heard before once, go and do something else for half an hour or so, and then pick up my guitar and try to recreate what I was listening to. It just gets your creativity flowing a bit...

Hope this helps.

Cheers.
Liam.
 
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