The Power Of Words

[carlrich]

Hello All,

A friend of mine yesterday sent me a link to a Youtube video. I've just watched it and I have to admit I cried, but in a nice way.

Please watch

Having watched it I got a reminder of why I started songwriting. I have great difficulty in expressing how I feel whether it be to my wife, family or close friends. When I do try to say how I'm feeling I end up making a mess of it, so writing songs gives me an outlet to express myself. People songwrite for different reasons but for me it's primarily to say how I'm feeling in a way I'm unable to do through normal speech.

The main secondary reason is to create an emotion, a positive emotion. Lyrically my aim is to write uplifting and positively charged songs, of course there will always be some exceptions to this. Like the Youtube video (hopefully you've watched it!) it's amazing how the power of words can make you feel and it's the same with songwriting. The lyrics in a song, combined with the music, can make you feel happy, sad and every emotion in between.

The Power of Words - Use it Wisely!.

[carlrich]

Over to you, why did you start songwriting?

[SingSangMatt]

That's lovely.

A total accident on my part. I majored in lit at uni, and when I started researching narrative in music, I found I could apply everything I learned about prose to songwriting. As soon as I realised that, I was already noodling around on the guitar that it'd just be very improbable that I wouldn't end up writing some of it down. Besides, gotta do something, right?

[quadrant5]

I started writing lyrics because I had a crush on a friends sister and was too affraid to tell anyone, so I told it all to a pencil who told a piece of paper and the rest isn't history.

[gradual]

Interesting thread. I don't remember a time when I consciously "started" songwriting, as I remember making up little songs ever since I was a little kid. It just seems to be something I've always done naturally.

Why I do it today: I suppose I'm in the minority, in that I don't necessarily use songwriting as a way to express my feelings. I do think I am able to express myself better in writing than verbally, but when it comes to songs, I'm more interested in the craft side of things. I find that my feelings and experiences do tend to wind up in my songs anyway--I think it's impossible to write songs without drawing from your own life to some degree. But for me, trying to write a good song is really my only goal, whether I need to draw from my own experiences, or someone else's, or just completely make something up. If I don't think a particular feeling or experience of mine will make a good song, I'm really not that interested in using it.

I had an interesting conversation with a fellow songwriter--he said he has trouble writing when his life is going well--that some form of turmoil fuels his best stuff. I found it interesting because I'm the opposite. I tend to shut down creatively when things are bothering me. To be motivated enough to write, I feel I need to be reasonably calm and content.

[Shane]

I've always loved music and dreamt about being in a band or something...but always distanced myself from the idea of writing lyrics. But then once i actually started to st and listen to lyrics in songs i loved a lot more, analyse them for meanings etc i guess was about the same time i began making lyrics up in my head. I couldn't help it; i'd hear a particular line in a song that stood out from me, and make up a line relating to that or something and go on from there. So eventually i just began putting these lines to paper and building off from them...and i guess what made me stick at it is it's quite tedious to manage to write a full lyric, but that's what makes it fun

I've also got a lot on my mind, from family, friends, to just general political topics, so i tend to write about that.