In an effort to get my creative mojo back, I sat down today to try and write some music. Truth is, I have always loved collaborating way more than writing alone and I was struggling. I decided to get started playing some oldies but goodies, and landed on this song (originally by Phil Spector, also performed by Neutral Milk Hotel), "I Love How You Love Me". It occurred to me that my best writing in the past has typically taken place in the midst of heartache, confusion, change. Think of Adele's 21, Alanis' You Oughta Know, etc. Everyone knows breakup records are the best. So what do you do when you find yourself super relaxed and happy?
I chose this song (which I used to perform when I was like 18 at coffee shops and whatnot), because it made me smile. Because I AM at a happy and loving place in my life and I think it's ok to celebrate that.
Also, it gave me an excuse to experiment with Garage Band (a reason we really wanted our Mac but then felt too busy to try and learn). So this is definitely NOT an amazing recording by any means, but I wanted to challenge myself to share with you all and to commit to posting one song a month on here. They might start out as old and hopefully blossom into new tunes.
Hope you like it ;) after all, I am a sucker for a love song.
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label creativity. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 7, 2012
Friday, April 22, 2011
Do It, Write It, Sing It
This week I wrote my first full song since Everleigh's birth, and it felt so good to have one of those moments where the song really writes itself. It has been AWHILE since music has felt so effortless and fun.
Scott has written Evie two singsong-y baby tunes since she made her appearance, and she absolutely loves hearing them both over and over and over. Maybe I'll post us singing these sometime ;) warning: they are super cheesy baby-themed songs. But whatever the kid likes, am I right?
Ok, enough about that. Needless to say, my brand spanking new song is about Ev and all the ways she has changed my life. I was shooting for simple and honest lyrics with a fun, hummable tune, and I think I've almost got it nailed down. It really made me wonder about writers (songwriters included) and how they communicate about their world. I guess part of me was like, "is it lame to write this song about my daughter? Too contemporary country (Taylor Swift-y)? Too Hallmark-ish?" But at the end of the day I knew I had to be true to what I was feeling. To write about MY experience and MY world right now, which (in case you haven't noticed) is very baby-centric.
Then I thought about the great songs I know about babies or children, as well as the artists with kids who haven't ever touched on it. I guess everyone's style is different and the mind is a very complex thing, but it would be tough for me to write about much else right now. Motherhood has changed the way I eat, sleep, think, function, dream, love, think about others, think about myself, and probably some other things I'm missing ;)
In my songwriting history, I've written many a ditty about relationships (mine and other people's), about girls I knew who were tragic and beautiful, about feeling happy, silly, in love, brokenhearted, stoned, confused, depressed, curious, and many many more. But even the songs I've written based on a character or on someone else's story have in some way connected with a part of me.
Writers out there--where do you draw inspiration? (from experience, from pure imagination, from pills (jk)? Do major life events always creep up in your work or not at all?
Oh, and PS:
1) Create
2) create
3) create
Scott has written Evie two singsong-y baby tunes since she made her appearance, and she absolutely loves hearing them both over and over and over. Maybe I'll post us singing these sometime ;) warning: they are super cheesy baby-themed songs. But whatever the kid likes, am I right?
Ok, enough about that. Needless to say, my brand spanking new song is about Ev and all the ways she has changed my life. I was shooting for simple and honest lyrics with a fun, hummable tune, and I think I've almost got it nailed down. It really made me wonder about writers (songwriters included) and how they communicate about their world. I guess part of me was like, "is it lame to write this song about my daughter? Too contemporary country (Taylor Swift-y)? Too Hallmark-ish?" But at the end of the day I knew I had to be true to what I was feeling. To write about MY experience and MY world right now, which (in case you haven't noticed) is very baby-centric.
Then I thought about the great songs I know about babies or children, as well as the artists with kids who haven't ever touched on it. I guess everyone's style is different and the mind is a very complex thing, but it would be tough for me to write about much else right now. Motherhood has changed the way I eat, sleep, think, function, dream, love, think about others, think about myself, and probably some other things I'm missing ;)
In my songwriting history, I've written many a ditty about relationships (mine and other people's), about girls I knew who were tragic and beautiful, about feeling happy, silly, in love, brokenhearted, stoned, confused, depressed, curious, and many many more. But even the songs I've written based on a character or on someone else's story have in some way connected with a part of me.
Writers out there--where do you draw inspiration? (from experience, from pure imagination, from pills (jk)? Do major life events always creep up in your work or not at all?
Oh, and PS:
1) Create
2) create
3) create
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
The Curse of Creativity
Any of you who are creative, or have creative loved ones probably know what I'm talking about. There are good weeks and bad. Times when it feels like a blessing and times when it feels like a curse.
I guess I consider myself to be creative, primarily because I have a passion for music (writing, singing, playing, listening, watching, everything). Plus I've always felt sort of weird/different from other people, which I think tends to be an underlying theme for creative peeps everywhere.
Being weird only becomes cool when you hit about 16 and figure out that there are hair cuts and outfits that can help facilitate your weirdness into coolness, and other large groups of people who are also, quote "weird", and some of those people are people you think are amazing. I took my teenage weirdness and poured it into wearing adventurous clothing, writing music, and obsessing over all things "underground". I no longer have the time or the desire to spend hours researching new hipper, less-heard-of bands, or to hit up 6 thrift stores in a day looking for my next vintage find or old prom dress to cut up.
But I DO sometimes wish I had time to write more, to read more, to play more music, to PERFORM (have I mentioned that I pretty much adore performing?). Between work, school, and being a mommy, I really have negative time left to devote to this right now. My recent run- in with a new potential band-mate led to a "discussion" by my husband and I, in which he basically reminded me that I chose mommyhood as my permanent extracurricular for the next several years. That I might really not have 2 extra hours a week to do something new musically until Evie's older. That I should understand this and accept it and not be frustrated by it, because you can't always have it all. Don't get me wrong--I would trade all the music in the world for my beautiful, healthy baby girl any day of the week. I'm just struggling to find that balance still as an artist.
My husband, Scott, is a painter and also a musician, and it's an ongoing struggle for him to be super dad and still find the time needed to be a productive artist. Most days, it results in us high-fiving each other as we tag the other one in. He watches the baby while I work. I come home for lunch every day to feed her while he showers or tidies up the house. I go back to work. When I get home, I watch Ev and he leaves to go to his studio and paint, do homework, or work his part time night job. He spend his days with Everleigh, while I spend my nights with her. On weekends, I either have class (in which case he watches her) or I don't (in which case I watch her and he tries to play catch-up on his homework and paintings). While we do spend some happy, lazy evenings together as family, it seems like more often than not we're parenting relay style.
What's the solution? Some day I will finish my Play Therapy Certification and he will complete his degree. Life will be less complicated. But there will always be work and there will always be this energy that drives us to create. And babies only stay little for a split second.
For now, I guess I'll try to focus that energy into my most amazing creation to date.
PS: Just as I finished writing this, I received a text from Scott that made my eyes well up: "Ev and I are having a good afternoon so why don't you take some grown up time for yourself when you get off work? Luv!" Man, I'm lucky.
I guess I consider myself to be creative, primarily because I have a passion for music (writing, singing, playing, listening, watching, everything). Plus I've always felt sort of weird/different from other people, which I think tends to be an underlying theme for creative peeps everywhere.
Being weird only becomes cool when you hit about 16 and figure out that there are hair cuts and outfits that can help facilitate your weirdness into coolness, and other large groups of people who are also, quote "weird", and some of those people are people you think are amazing. I took my teenage weirdness and poured it into wearing adventurous clothing, writing music, and obsessing over all things "underground". I no longer have the time or the desire to spend hours researching new hipper, less-heard-of bands, or to hit up 6 thrift stores in a day looking for my next vintage find or old prom dress to cut up.
But I DO sometimes wish I had time to write more, to read more, to play more music, to PERFORM (have I mentioned that I pretty much adore performing?). Between work, school, and being a mommy, I really have negative time left to devote to this right now. My recent run- in with a new potential band-mate led to a "discussion" by my husband and I, in which he basically reminded me that I chose mommyhood as my permanent extracurricular for the next several years. That I might really not have 2 extra hours a week to do something new musically until Evie's older. That I should understand this and accept it and not be frustrated by it, because you can't always have it all. Don't get me wrong--I would trade all the music in the world for my beautiful, healthy baby girl any day of the week. I'm just struggling to find that balance still as an artist.
My husband, Scott, is a painter and also a musician, and it's an ongoing struggle for him to be super dad and still find the time needed to be a productive artist. Most days, it results in us high-fiving each other as we tag the other one in. He watches the baby while I work. I come home for lunch every day to feed her while he showers or tidies up the house. I go back to work. When I get home, I watch Ev and he leaves to go to his studio and paint, do homework, or work his part time night job. He spend his days with Everleigh, while I spend my nights with her. On weekends, I either have class (in which case he watches her) or I don't (in which case I watch her and he tries to play catch-up on his homework and paintings). While we do spend some happy, lazy evenings together as family, it seems like more often than not we're parenting relay style.
What's the solution? Some day I will finish my Play Therapy Certification and he will complete his degree. Life will be less complicated. But there will always be work and there will always be this energy that drives us to create. And babies only stay little for a split second.
For now, I guess I'll try to focus that energy into my most amazing creation to date.
PS: Just as I finished writing this, I received a text from Scott that made my eyes well up: "Ev and I are having a good afternoon so why don't you take some grown up time for yourself when you get off work? Luv!" Man, I'm lucky.
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