Difference between revisions of "User:Sara"

From Living Room
Jump to navigationJump to search
 
(43 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
*[[sara johnsen (san francisco)]]
+
*[[Sara johnsen (montréal)]]
 
<br>
 
<br>
 
+
[[the massive signal of tremendous freedom]]<br>
 +
[[the more you ignore me, the closer i get]]<br>
 +
[[Permanent Ink]]<br>
 +
[[Work Work Work]]<br>
 +
[[It Breaks]]<br>
 +
[[Get You Back]]<br>
 +
[[a likely story]]<br>
 +
[[it's ours here]]<br>
 +
[[the dust storm]]<br>
 +
[[it's all ancient history]]<br>
 +
[[airplane]]<br>
 +
[[happy song]]<br>
 +
[[in my sleep]]<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
these things are what i do when i feel like i've run out of things to
 
say lyrically. the main thing is, if i feel like i'll never write a
 
song again, i immediately make myself write a song, to prove that i'm
 
wrong.<br>
 
<br>
 
i almost always write lyrics first, and always on paper and revise
 
until they are nearly illegible before typing them into notepad for
 
more revisions. the slowness of writing and ability to read cross-outs
 
is helpful i think.<br>
 
<br>
 
i write down little overheard words, turns of phrases, or things that
 
pop into my head that sound lyrical, all the time when i'm not working
 
on music. most of it is garbage, but sometimes there's a good seed of
 
something. the beginning of circles is adapted from a poem i wrote
 
when i was in college. i've been waiting to use that line for like,
 
for-ev-er.:)<br>
 
<br>
 
i've been trying to write things emily-style, by choosing a theme
 
(like light for fireflies) and telling the story around that.<br>
 
<br>
 
another thing is to take a song you love and listen to it while
 
writing words in the same cadence. i think this helps more with music
 
than lyrics but it's another trick to try and get things going.<br>
 
<br>
 
loren gave me good advice once, too, which is to imagine yourself
 
singing the words in front of people whose respect you crave, and see
 
whether it makes you feel stupid.:) i do that as i go, and that's been
 
very helpful advice for me.<br>
 
<br>
 
i've been trying to care less about the words, lately. i mean, be less
 
attached to them. sort of like coolly manipulating the song the way
 
you'd chisel a statue, rather than being gentle the way you would
 
touch a real person. in a way i think i've written the most honest
 
song i ever wrote, by being sort of detached from sentiments i can
 
barely stand owning, let alone fess up to (sigh&goodbye).<br>
 
<br>
 
the last thing is that for every song i think is pretty ok, there are
 
usually 5 terrible songs from the same "batch." those songs are never
 
going to make it and i never try to force them to be better, just
 
occasionally mine them for parts for new songs. i feel like i do
 
better with the first edge of energy and the followthrough of that,
 
rather than going back to unfinished/lame songs and trying to get
 
reinspired about them.<br>
 
<br>
 
that's about it. i don't know if any of that is useful. also i don't
 
profess to be a good songwriter. but these things work for me.<br>
 
<br>
 
i think you write excellent lyrics, also. just keep doing it.:) get on
 
the northbound 6 or lock yourself in the laundry room with a notebook
 
on the washing machine and stay there til you've got something.<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
 
<br>
 
 
  
  

Latest revision as of 18:44, 1 May 2019