I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions, mostly because I know it’d just be setting myself up for disappointment. If I do make them, I tend to set the bar low and/or make them real vague so that any little thing counts as making good on my resolution. (Like the year I resolved to “make healthier choices”. I ended up making a lot of good choices, but I could easily have said I fulfilled it if I just ate an extra piece of broccoli or something.)
For 2012 I broke my trend and made a resolution that might seem small, but to me was a challenge. I resolved to write more music. I had no way of knowing where I would go with it, but at least having it out there in the ether could potentially motivate me past my crippling songwriter’s block and come out the other side with one or two gems.
As long as I can remember I’ve tried to write songs. They were always horrible. The only ones I think were even remotely playable for others were the ones where I rewrote words of popular songs to be about physics for my classes. I’m not performance shy—I’ll get butterflies but it doesn’t stop me—I just hold my favorite bands and artists in such high regard that none of my songs could come even close to comparing to theirs.
But through writing more music this year—and sharing those songs with more than just the pages of my notebook—I’ve made a few breakthroughs. It doesn’t matter if they’re all good. Like any form of art or any discipline, songwriting takes practice. And it might be a point of contention for some, but I think songs are meant to be heard. I can keep my songs to myself, but the moment I share it with someone else it takes on a new form. It takes on new life when someone else’s ears hear it and they make their own meaning of the lyrics.
So this year I’m not changing my resolution. Make more music, Chew. It’s about time I started creating instead of just re-creating. Look for more originals on here. Give me feedback. Share my songs with the world. Or just your dog. I like dogs.
Ok I’m coming to grips with the fact that they can’t all be winners, but just getting into the practice of writing original songs is what I need.
