Hello Songwriters!

As songwriters, beyond contending with the blank page, we also struggle to tell the right story with the right details and the right philosophical ideas to get at the truth -- the emotional truth -- of the song. Here are three videos, from three Songwork teachers, that may help in the quest for getting at the truth of a song.

Fact vs. Truth: Basing a Song on Real Life Events (0:10:56)
Steve Seskin

You don't have to take a lie detector test, so don't let specific facts get in the way of your song's truth. After all, don't you want your song to be whatever it needs to be so that it tells your truth? Steve gives a great example of a co-written song where elements of reality are woven together to get to the emotional well of truth.

Object Writing (0:26:27)
Pat Pattison

Unique creature that you are, you can energize your (inherently lazy!) inner writer to quickly get to sensory places where you write from yourself, not about yourself. Pat presents a daily exercise focused on the sensory experience associated to objects. 

When you present a sensory experience like, "running down the beach, my bare feet slapping against the wet sand," the details allow your words to become full of your listener's experience, and therefore your listener finds it interesting.

Writing Without Limits, Part 1: Destination Writing (0:18:39)
Andrea Stolpe

When we sit down with pen and paper, original lyrics, clever ideas, and twists of metaphor may elude us. Andrea presents an exercise to help you develop your ability to use ideas that carry a taste, a touch, a sight, a sound, or movement, and that help you show your listener how to feel (rather than telling the listener how to feel). Develop your ability to evoke emotional experience from providing the right details ... so that your lyrics become more original.

Enjoy!