Friday, December 28, 2007

What came from the song, to conclude yesterday’s discussion, carried far more weight than the notes themselves, and it was my favorite type of realization: a meta-level understanding that’s applicable to multiple situations. It’s an odd way to end the year, at a time when streamers and party hats and celebratory drink would be more appropriate, but I’ve always had trouble expressing confetti in words. If you figure out how to do this well, give me a ring and we’ll workshop this shit.

It’s this idea of creation–creating a painting, a research paper, music, blog post–that for the longest time was elusive and a little unsettling. I mean, how do you fill a blank canvas? Why do you choose what you choose, whenever you reach into the swirling ether of ideas and possibilities, with the deadline a week away? Why pick one thesis over another? What drives you to start and finish a book or sculpt something?

There are external influences, to be sure, and maybe part of why you’re painting or writing or singing is because it pays the bills. Or maybe you crave the audience. Perhaps there’s a due date. The other answer, arguably the most sustainable answer, is the same reply I would’ve given if I were four: it’s because I want to do it. I sure hope this isn’t the only thing to come from $150k sunk into the ivory tower and five years on the workforce, but thems the straits. You take what’s compelling to you, and you try to shepherd it home. This is why we’re here tonight. See you next year.

Thursday, December 27, 2007

All it took was a single, accidental chord to lend some coherence to the bits of song I’ve been kicking around. I can’t tell you which chord struck my fancy, try as I might, because my formal guitar training primarily involves slamming my fingers on the frets in uncomfortable positions. But it sounded good, and that’s really the only compass I possess right now.

Songwriting has always held a certain inaccessibility. How do you turn a page full of blank staves into something pleasing not only to yourself, but to others as well? And it’s not enough to have a catchy tune, you need words to resonate and briefly illuminate life’s great mysteries. On top of this, as if we really needed a third axis, you basically have a limited three-and-a-half minutes to be qualifiably timeless.

People do it all the time, though, some of them extremely, multi-platinumly well, and whether guided by talent or raw stubborness great works are produced. Great works, however, do not describe the output our music factory is trying to create. It’s more like a work. But even doing this produces something far more valuable than the music itself, and we’ll cap off the year by discussing this tomorrow.

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Let’s continue next Wednesday, the 26th.