General Music Chat

Does your music have a message? Happiness? Anger? Sadness? What is it?
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Someone suggested to me that it's very hard to connect with people with a meaningful message which will express ourselves, and also move them.
But . . . if you want to make a meaningful impact on society, it doesn’t have to be hard.
Oh, sure - maybe it can take a while . . . if you don't keep at it.
Let me suggest . . .
Write something new.
Remove any self-imposed restrictions. Be brave - push the envelope - do stuff that others say you shouldn’t do. Break some rules.
If you've been 'at it' for long enough, maybe you have enough experience now, to rewrite some of those old rules.
Break some rules - write some rules - and then meet your audience half-way. Be ambitious and brave; and still care about your audience.
Everyone will think about it a little differently . . .
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We don’’t have to search for greatness . . .
Instead of setting out to do great things - continue what you’re doing, but also start doing things you always wanted to try.
AND:
do everything 10% better than before
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. . . and make that 10% a habit.
Try stuff you can not yet do.
Just remember: 10% . . .
Keep that up - and, maybe help some folks along the way, huh?
. . . and you’ll leave a good mark in this world . . .
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And - don’t plan to do it tomorrow . . . tomorrow never comes. We can only use today.
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Only plan to do it tomorrow - - - if you don’’t plan to do it at all, eh?

Couldn't agree more...and I say if you feel passionate about anything, say it in a song. Say it directly. Don't sugar coat it. Don't veil it in some deep "mystical" lyrics. Let people know EXACTLY what you're thinking...in a song. If you're angry, make the song sound angry. Sad..make the song sound it. Pissed off enough let the expletives fly. Music is the perfect medium to let it be known what your state of mind is, and what has meaning to you....

Well, humm, I think so, not sure what it would be.

Oh yes now I remember!!

I dunno about that? I like the mystical hidden meaning in songs. In any case much of what you write is you isn't it and it depends on whether you do in fact have a message?

If you don't then its just about the Muso, if you do then it is not likely to be a pop chart wonder but having said that if people get into you it becomes a cult thing and from that all other things come afterwards because you could have a following.

At the end of the day I think its just like a good painting with plenty of detail to try and fool the the viewer or in this case the listener.

I talk in riddles and and actually quite mad.
That will all come out I suppose when I'm complete with what I am doing.

I like to think that everything I write has something to say. Whether you get it or not depends upon how well I say it.

I've even written a few instrumentals, & hope that you get a feeling for what I'm saying there, as well.

Even if it's a simple emotion, I think that most songs are trying to convey something, but I truly doubt that anything I ever write will change anyone's life for the better or worse. I'm not here for that. I just want to create an empathic bond with my audience, not to sway them in any way in their day to day lives.

Sometimes I find it amusing to match up sad words with happy-sounding music, to see what happens. I wrote a real happy bluegrass-ish thing once about this guy who wanted to commit suicide by walking across a train trestle when he knew the train would be coming. He'd run like mad when he felt the trestle start to shake, & he'd make it to the other side just in time. The last line was how he'd found a reason not to die - fear of death - so now he lived for the thrill of it all, & went back every night just to feel alive. Yeah, I know - weird.

I like the way you think brother! However, sometimes when you write things from the soul, some people may not understand the message. If you write the song with deep emotion and meaning, it may only make sense as a message to yourself.
Take slipknot for example: the entire album of the subliminal verses was a completely band related message. They thanked their fans, they told tales of love and sorrow, and the long road that led to their success, noone knew that until they came out and told them.
Another band, Job for a Cowboy: they use metaphoric messages in their lyrics to make it deep in meaning not only for the band, but for their listeners as well. They allow their fans to take their music and make meaning of it for themselves.
I believe that the best music is music in which one can take and find their own meaning in it, it effects them on soo much deeper a level and they gain a much greater respect for the writer.

Great topic man.. As HaleAmano grows, there seems to be a nice balance of writing styles developing.

IZ is our love song master. It's his passion and we all encourage him to write as many as he wants.

RYAN writes everything from love songs to traditional Reggae messages of hope and it's religious rastafari properties as it pertains to Reggae music.

I'm finding myself wanting to specialize in the hope and religious aspects of Rastafari myself. Although being a bald-headed white guy most likely will mean that I won't be taken very seriously by true rasta people who live by the religion and were raised by it's teachings. I'm determined to at least write songs that send the message that I understand it. It's going to take some time though. The mere language alone means learning a second language in the process.

Here's a small example of what I mean by that:

http://www.ddg.com/LIS/InfoDesignF97/malyce/dict.htm

But so far, our main messages are about peace, hope, love, etc.. Along with the struggles to attain it along the way. And we all seem to be picking our strengths and rollin' with it. Oddly enough, no weed songs yet. You would think there would be. I'm sure that's something that will be written about at some point.

Absolutely. Music is an extension, another limb for anyone who has that talent big or small, incredible or sublime.

I write when under stress whether good or bad so I suppose it's about me in my case. (Sound pigheaded) but not meant that way at all.

Someone once said to me. "Do you do this for yourself or others?"
Has to be for me and this mirrors another wonderful thread which I also cannot find at present in which the same merit was awarded.

Just do it! If it works and people like it...... etc.

So glad I found you guys truly.
Sorry for being a miserable ass of late.

Chippy.

to me music loses its meaning when you try to sugar coat things, I've got a song in mind that divulges some conspiracy theory ideas but its in plain english, come to think of it any of the pieces I've half written I don't sugar coat or hide anything with 'mystical' lyrics I'm not ELP, tool or any other metal band, I'm aiming for the every man with my lyrics anyway, and I want musicians to be interested in what I'm going on the 4 string

Yeah but you are a here and now person right Ted?

I think that some people write stuff for another age. I think that is our future and if any Musician should get the global job, and provided he's not nuts.

to me music loses its meaning when you try to sugar coat things, I've got a song in mind that divulges some conspiracy theory ideas but its in plain english, come to think of it any of the pieces I've half written I don't sugar coat or hide anything with 'mystical' lyrics I'm not ELP, tool or any other metal band, I'm aiming for the every man with my lyrics anyway, and I want musicians to be interested in what I'm going on the 4 string

American Pie by Don McLean was a song with a combination of easy to understand lyrics and "deep" mystical lyrics. I read an interview with Don and he said that the mystical lyrics were basically nonsense and didn't mean anything. People read into them all kinds of deep philosophical or political meaning. I personally prefer writing songs that you can understand immediately.

Yeah but you are a here and now person right Ted?

I would be if I didn't look down the road while ignoring the here and now and ending up going nowhere, stupid personality traits

I like lyrics that have 2 meanings. A lot.
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I don't believe in sugar coating or hiding the meaning, either. But, with some songs, I don't want to just hand the message to the listener on a silver platter.
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But - hey . . . lyrics with simple messages are fine. That's what my "Half-Jazzed Blues" is all about (hey - let's have fun!)
I don't have anything posted here w/multi-levels of meaning.
S'ok. I like it all.
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But lyrics with different levels of meaning will grab both the superficial thinkers and the heavy thinkers. The people who don't want to think heavy don't have to.
Hey, the "Stairway to Heaven" is just literally a stairway to heaven, isn't it? Or, is it . . .

See? Nothing wrong w/ different levels of meaning. Does anyone think Led Zep was 'sugar coating' the meaning? 'course not . . . they're gonna say what they want to say.
. . . hell . . .
Whether you thought about it - or even noticed it - or not, doesn't change the fact that it became a super-popular song, in it's day.
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Bottom line?
It's all good . . .