Acoustics

OK, I'll admit it. For decades I've tried to write songs and have crashed and burned each and every time. I'm totally aware of why this has happened time and again. My personal standards. i.e., what I expect of myself are most likely way too high. It seemed like everything I wrote came out like D-class James Taylor or Paul Simon. It was embarrassing and with one small recent exception, no one ever heard my efforts.
But that began to change just a bit a couple years ago when I read Jeff Tweedy's wonderful book "How to Write One Song." I've always loved his music and his book is self-deprecating, often funny but also encouraging. "Hey, maybe I can do this...." is what he wants your starting point to be. He offers many great ideas and writing techniques and everything he says makes perfect sense.
One small glimmer of light I should note. I have about two dozen or so pieces of music I've written and recorded with the idea that maybe, just maybe a couple of them will serve as foundations for lyrics. So, I guess my problem is not really writing songs, it's writing lyrics.
Once in a while I get students who are very interested in how songs are created and we discuss it at length based on what we've read or heard by famous songwriters. So many fascinating concepts are there if you look for them. To me, one of the most fascinating is the idea of cooperative writing. It blows my mind that musicians who don't normally play together but are friends can get together for the express purpose of writing, and from everything I've read they seem to love the process. Wow. My reaction to this is always: these people must really, really trust each other. To reveal deep inner thoughts, to not be afraid to fail, to blossom with the encouragement of another person....I'm convinced only certain people can do those things.
About a month ago Kathy and I were down in Dallas visiting our son Matt and his wife Alli. One of the areas we always love to wander around is the Bishop Arts District. There are dozens of very cool little shops, cafes, restaurants, bars (often with live music) and much more. One of the definitely funky shops we always check out is a must-do because you just never know what you might find beyond the dozens of pairs of used cowboy boots, vintage clothing, old and sometimes bizarre knick-knacks and much more. This time I noticed a big old bowl filled with random very old black and white photos. With absolutely nothing in mind or any purpose I began sifting through the hundred or so old photos. One, quite small but in good condition caught my eye. I looked at it closely, including the pencil note on the back where someone had written: "Aug 15, 1947.    When Walt & Chris married"
Who knows why, but it struck me. There was an amazing amount of small details that instantly had me intrigued. Walt and Chris are standing close together with two dogs at their feet, nose to nose, almost like the hounds were meeting for the first time. The newly married couple seem to be dressed modestly but in their Texas-best, especially Walt in his freshly pressed pants and cowboy hat. Leaning against the modest but tidy ranch house are a pair of crutches. Showing the picture to one of my students he remarked: I know what those crutches are there. Look at Chris's right leg. She had polio at some point in her life.
And lo and behold, I'm sure he's right.
They are not young people. The empty corral behind the ranch house with the plains stretching out beyond made me wonder: Was - or is - Walt a cowboy? If so, where is his horse? In a barn we don't see, perhaps. Or maybe his riding days are long gone.
Chris wears a modest dress and upon looking closely with a magnifying glass, she seems to be smiling slightly. How did they meet? Did she work in town in a bank or a livery where Walt did business?
We'll never know who took the picture. Could it have been a child from a previous marriage or perhaps a close relative of one of the newly married couple? Are there more people out of camera range? Again, we'll never know.
One of my long-term students has been attempting some original music over the last couple of years. I've offered suggestions and with each effort her results have improved and matured. She is very creative and when I suggested we dive into a song about Walt and Chris she has very psyched, as I was. For the last month we've been throwing ideas back and forth and slowly but surely the song is emerging. I remembered a piece of music I wrote and recorded a couple years ago and upon listening to it for the first time since I came up with it, I thought....yes. That's it.
We still have some polishing to do but we're in agreement about the "tone" of the lyrics, a rough approximation of the intro/verse/chorus/bridge/outro sequence and how important it is to avoid cliches. It would of course be pretty easy for it to be a basic country tune but we're trying to not totally take that route. Because, quite frankly, I feel like there is a lot more going on in that old photo than meets the eye and I just don't want to do an injustice to Walt and Chris, even though I will never meet them. We'll see what happens but I'll tell you this - it sure is fun! I may even post the finished product. When it's ready.
Peace & good music,
Gene