Songwriting

Reality and Possibility

I’ve started writing the material for a new album. My method is as it always was: completely immerse myself in deep traditional folk music from a variety of traditions, have a few drinks, and then see what my brain spits out. I’ve got some melodies going and a couple of song ideas. I think the polka-punk song that should open the album is almost done. You know. It’s a living.

But there’s an experience I always have that makes the whole process so daunting; maybe some of you can relate to it. When I look at our current set list and at our catalogue more generally, I’m mostly satisfied. I think to myself : all of this is good enough, it gets the job done. But is it brilliant or spectacular or earth-shattering? My heart says: no.

And this isn’t just some vague feeling, I have reasons. For example, we use a few formulas a lot in our songs. A lot of them have a third verse that’s very quiet before an extra loud final chorus. Visually, using MS Paint, they look like this:

We also heavily overuse certain riffs: if you sing “ear-lie in the morning” from the well-known and extremely stupid Drunken Sailor you will hear a melody line that is used in about 27% of our songs.

More devastating though is the lack of creative dynamics. We should stop and start in more interesting and unpredictable ways. A lot of our songs just plod through and then stop. There should be crazy, weird noises that accentuate the vocals and make things more interesting. The choruses shouldn’t be so complex; Cider Holiday and A Rambler’s Life and Dusty Ground and Roll and Go are just words words words more words more words instead of just a simple HAI-YAH! style chorus.

I am not fishing for compliments about songs here. Do not leave compliments in the comments. I am describing a strange experience: to look at a song that some people seem to like and see it failing on so many metrics, seeing this whole universe of unachieved possibility that towers over the boring reality.

But this perception is paralyzing. When I sit down to write, I’m shooting for the stars instead of just getting a damn song out. I’m trying to make the perfect song. This is bad; overthinking art in an attempt to be the most world-destroying, genre-defying, life-changing artist of all time is what leads to things like this:

Sometimes you gotta just play the song, man. Whatever it is.

Anyway, luckily for me polkas and waltzes and jigs and klezmer dances and cumbias and kolos and tarantellas have a way of shutting off the analytic part of my brain and inspiring new stuff. Is there anything you think we should be doing, any bands or artists or songs we should be emulating more? Drop a link in the comments and maybe I will drink eight beers and listen to your song over and over again and write…. THE GREATEST. SONG. EVERRRRRRRRRRR