I have been a guitar player and singer in my and for about a year now. Our lead guitarist is sort of our…leader. She’s got it all. She can write, she can sing, and she can organize like no one I have ever seen. It is my strong belief that every member of a band is an asset and a liability. My liability is that I am more of a beginner/intermediate than an intermediate/advanced player. My asset is my voice. I am no Aretha, but I work really hard and my voice has gotten so much better within the last year of working with my vocal coach. My lead guitarists asset is her songwriting. Like most music fans who have never written a song, I looked at her in amazement thinking, “How does she do that? How DOES one do that? Write music and lyrics and collapse them all into a meaningful, yet catchy song?”
I began my research. I read articles in RollingStone. I looked up how-to books. I searched for advice videos on youtube and blogs. Do you know what I found to be the answer? You simply have to write and write and write and write and write and write and wait for your song to ARRIVE. What a thought. To think that a song kind of has a mind of it’s own and will reveal itself to you when it’s ready. Coldplay has released a new album this month that I think is worth listening to. As a fan, I believe that they have some pretty well-written songs. I saw an interview with the lead singer, Chris Martin. The journalist asked him the million dollar question. How do you write your songs? What is your process? Chris answered saying that you basically have to write as much as you can and wait for your song to arrive. If you write a song that’s bad, then at least you are one song closer to finding the good one. Chris went on to explain that when he wrote the mega-hit YELLOW, it took him by surprise. He wasn’t trying to write a hit song, he was just goofing around. The song just kind of came out. Even other songs that were an inch away from being tossed in the garbage were saved because the song somehow seemed 10 times better sounding than the day it was actually written. He described himself as determined and obsessed. He wasn’t going to stop working as hard as he could until he had found the song he was looking for.As silly as this little piece of inspiration may sound, I took Chris Martin’s advice. I a writing, wishing, and waiting for my song to arrive. Rock stars are awesome, but they are also human like you and me. With a little hard-work, stubbornness, and patience, there’s no reason why you, or I , or anyone else can’t write our own YELLOW for the world to listen to.
By Ashley Omadevuae
