First, I just wanna say I hope everybody enjoyed their holiday. I mean that...but having said that...
I was in a pretty shitty mood last night after Jess and I came home. We went to my friends house from school. Had an amazing time with some other friends from class and his awesome family. The food was absolutely delicious, and I had a blast. Unfortunately, that escape from reality was a temporary fix. Things around here aren't going as well as Jess and I had hoped due to me being unable to find a job. Living off student loans really only goes so far, and not having a job is a serious bummer. Anyway...
I went down to the gym and continued my daily routine, and was very specific as to what music I wanted to listen to during this time. Normally, I let my Ipod play on random, and get busy to whatever comes on next. But this time, I wanted certain songs. Why? Why was this time so different? Simply, because I was so pissed off and upset, that Sublime or James Brown just weren't welcome in my house that night. I needed the angry, hard hittin beats. I have a pretty good mix of stuff like that. Some Biggie mix tape stuff where the beats are super hard and BIG rips it, got some Pac in there, so on and so on. But, more specifically, I fell back to my original favorite angry blond, Eminem. Now, you can say whatever you want about this dude, his latest album is serious. I've always been a crazy fan of Em's, and I'll be the first to say that, before "Relapse", his last two albums were friggin terrible. God awful, not worth breakin buds up on. But his most recent album, "Recovery", makes me remember why I love this dude so much. I'm not gonna get into a crazy review about this album. If you haven't heard it yet, you should. If you don't like his music, whatever. It's the principle. His lyrics are back to the "I don't give a fuck" attitude that, well, I've always found very easy to relate to. Especially last night, I needed that edge in my headphones. Plus, this album is very much like what I'm going through right now. Kind of like my 2nd chance to do something with myself here, and to not give up.
Now, the subject of this "blog". It all thrived on my emotion. When a person is really angry and irritated, they don't wanna listen to Etta James singin "Sunday Kind of Love", dig? I didn't even wanna listen to Pac's "Hail Mary", or Biggie's "Who Shot Ya?"...not hard enough. I wasn't depressed enough for "Suicidal Thoughts", or anything like that. I needed something that fit my mood.
When I was done, I came back upstairs to our apartment, and sat down at our piano. What better time to write a song than when all of this emotion is coming out of my pores faster than the sweat dripping down my spine? That's where it all comes from...you can be all types of knowledgeable in music, know everything about theory and reading. Kill your voicings and writing music...but if you have no emotion...dawg...stop wasting my time. Music is all about emotion. From the music we enjoy listening to, to the music that reminds of a certain time or a certain someone, it's all based on emotion. The best songs ever written, I'd be willing to bet, were written when the writer was overdosing on emotions (and drugs..but more so emotion for the sake of conversation). Whether it be cheerful, angry, sad or whatever, there was a rush of emotion. Songwriters and artists who are really good at what they do are capable of channeling those emotions at any given time, but still...their best music is written when it's a natural flood of feeling.
I sat down, and came out with this chord progression...and I loved it. This chord progression had everything that was going on inside my head, and turned it into music. Sometimes, thanks to my classes, now...I can even hear it before I sit down at the piano and play it. That's why Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder are such beasts...sight is irrelevant. That's how incredible emotion is when it comes to music. You don't even need to be able to see...shit...Beethoven was DEAF! Figure that shit out...
My whole thing is this...the music that you create, and the music that people grow to love, will always be the best thing you ever wrote, so long as your heart is in it. You can make people feel exactly what you were feeling at the time you wrote that song, you just gotta put your true self into it. And, you also have to be able to hold onto that feeling. I came back to the piano, and sat down this morning to play that same progression...played that shit all happy and cheerful..basically a totally different song. Now, I could just flip it like that and take it in a completely different direction. But, that's not what that song was started for, so it wouldn't end up as genuine or sincere. I probably wouldn't even enjoy doing it. So, I have to hold onto that emotion, and act on it via music. Any songwriters, or poets, or producers for that matter out there, know how great it feels to write a piece and get things off your chest through a song. Prolly saved a decent amount of lives...
'Till next time, think about this...
After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible...is music.
Peace.
No comments:
Post a Comment