Summer Vacation

I'm sending this blog on a "summer vacation" of sorts.

I'm taking the summer off from writing it, because I want to focus on learning guitar chords better. I think that'll make me an even stronger songwriter when I come back. 

I also want to spend a lot of time hiking. I love hiking, but I need to do more of it for a special reason: I want to go hiking in Scotland as my graduation present to myself when I finish my bachelor's degree in graphic design in two years.

I need to start prepping now. The Scottish countryside is not kind to people who are not ready for it!

So I'll be back around Labor Day. 

Try not to miss me!!!😂

The Ultimate Storyteller: Jim Croce

Songwriters are often told they should be "storytellers," and weave colorful tales of characters and situations. One very special master of this is Jim Croce.

Jim Croce was a rising singer-songwriter in the early 1970s who was scorching the charts and the radio waves with raucous "fightin' songs" like Bad Bad Leroy Brown, and ballads like Operator, and Time In A Bottle. I Got A Name is a strong declaration of how one man wants to live his life.

Unfortunately, Jim was killed in a plane crash in September 1973, at only thirty years old, leaving behind a wife, a young son, and heartbroken fans who were just beginning to enjoy his treasure trove of music. Jim was a huge favorite in my family, and I still remember my shock when my sister told me what had happened.

Many of his songs were released posthumously, like the sweet, emotional I'll Have To Say I Love You (In A Song), which he wrote after an argument with his wife, to make up with her. That's my favorite of his. Toss me a hankie, because I always cry when I hear it. 

Jim's specialty was his ability to draw the listener in with vivid descriptions of people and situations. Operator describes an attempt to call his ex-lover and the man she left him for: "Operator, could you help me place this call/See the number on the matchbook is old and faded..." 

In Roller Derby Queen, he describes a roller derby skater he has a crush on as being "built like a 'fridgerator with a head." The breakup song Lover's Cross makes it clear why he left a lover: "It seems that you wanted a martyr/just a regular guy wouldn't do..." Ouch. 

Time In A Bottle had such an impact on my family that two of my sisters had guitarists play and sing it at their weddings after Croce's death. It tells what Jim would do if he could indeed "save time in a bottle." Only Jim Croce could make people care about that.

He still makes people laugh, smile, cry, and care about the characters in his songs with his magical storytelling. He will always be one of the most beloved storytellers of all time.

Songwriting Ain't For Shy People, Either

I named this blog Songwriting Ain't For Sissies because, well, it's not. It's fun, but it can be one of the hardest things you do in music. 

But you know what?

I could also say "Songwriting ain't for shy people, either." 

I got into songwriting because I am...cover your ears, ok????...a shy introvert. I don't want to perform, or record. I hate being on camera. I don't even want to be noticed when I walk into a room. I am not exactly overloaded with charisma. So I clearly do not want to be a public figure. 

That means it's taken a long time to figure out my place in music, which is extremely "public" by its very nature. I love songwriting partly because I can be creative, and get to "hide" at the same time. I'll let the singer and the flashy guitar player get all the attention. 

I'm actually very social and friendly, and believe it or not, I love a good party. So, yes, you can be a shy introvert and still be a normal person. I won't act like a bashful four-year-old. I am a grownup, and I will act like one.

The secret is consciously deciding not to let it get in your way. You have to be brave, and get out there. And introverts' social skills are based on listening, and being interested in people enough to "tune into" them. 

I was also raised in the South. You better not let being a shy introvert get in your way there, unless you want your mother lecturing you about being "nice to everybody"!

But while it's great that people won't be mobbing you for autographs during dinner...you can't hide completely. Being a songwriter does not let you wear a Harry Potter-style invisibility cloak. You still have to "strut your stuff." 

Repeat after me: "I have to tell people I'm a songwriter." Try that a few hundred times. 

And if you intend to make a career out of songwriting, you definitely must let people know you have the goods. They're not mind readers.

So if you're a shy introvert, there's still a place for you in music. Simply be willing to extend yourself a little...then go back into your shell. 

Let Katy Perry deal with the autograph seekers during dinner. 

 

One Bite At A Time

You know how you get this big platter of your favorite food, and you can't wait to dive into it?

Then your brain just has to be a buzzkill and say "Wait! I can't finish all that!" And your tastebuds and your stomach say "Knock it off!" 

Songwriting can be like that for me.

I can start off with this great idea...and then watch my enthusiasm fizzle like canned whipped cream on a milkshake when it finally sinks in how much work I have to do on it.

So I might get some work done on it...then lay it aside and make it part of my plans for oh, the year 2093. 

This afternoon I made some major progress on a song I've been working on for a few weeks now. I'd love to be one of those songwriters who wake up in the middle of the night, write a hit in ten minutes, then go back to sleep. I heard that's how it happened for Sting when he wrote Every Breath You Take. (That song creeps me out, personally, but I digress...)

But I'm starting to have a little fun with this. I'm imagining the song as a huge platter of lasagna - my favorite food, besides peanut butter. I've already taken a serving out of it - the chorus. Now I've taken two more - the first and second verses. And I'm finishing the servings one bite at a time.

That's three servings out of that platter. At this rate, I still have a few more left - the third and fourth verses, maybe a bridge, and the final chorus and fadeout. 

I'm gonna be fat and happy when I finish this!

🍽️