Songwriting: What's Your Angle?

The great mystery of songwriting. How often have you heard a song and thought, "I wish I'd written that"? So is it magic or a logical and mechanical process that produces a song that connects and moves the listener? From my experience I'd say that it's different strokes for different folks. Every individual has their own unique take on how a song is formed and I'm intertested to find out yours.

Certainly, there are numerous books on the mechanics of songwriting detailing the varied structures that have proved successful in formulating countless hit tunes. Not everyone writes a song with the intention of having a hit and not all hits adhere to the exact scientific principles as explained in the books, (Bohemian Rhapsody comes to mind). Do songs really just fall onto the page like gifts from God rewarding good karma? Perhaps some do.

I watched an interview with Sarah McLachlan recently where she described her own approach to songwriting. She doesn't churn out hit songs like a machine, instead preferring to tinker with the guitar or piano when she feels the urge in the hope that a melody might present itself and a lyric might form around it. The lyric is usually just a few words grabbed from whatever's on her mind. If it fits then that's the basis for the song and it builds from there. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes the song comes quickly and appears to almost write itself, other times a song can take months or even years to complete.

I find that I adopt a similar approach to songwriting, always beginning with a melody based around a chord-based feel on the piano or guitar and building a lyric around it. Those ten-minute gems always leave me scratching my head wondering where on earth the inspiration came from. I've also laboured over songs that have taken years to write.

There are, of course, writers who start with a lyric, or even a complete set of lyrics and set about composing music to them. Musicians and lyricists often collaborate to write that "killer" song. Some people wake up after dreaming a song and go about committing it to paper. The famous story of Paul McCartney singing "Scrambled Eggs" as he ate his breakfast and later penning the classic, "Yesterday" is folklore.

And what about the professional songwriters who clock-on every morning at nine and sit in a room until five with other writers producing hit songs for top-selling artists? They work to a formula. They have a strict format. They have deadlines to meet. Wow! Talk about discipline. I don't think I could do it but there's another angle to consider.

So, once you've created the song what do you want from it? Do you have a message in it that you want the world to hear? Are you looking to tap into the listener's consciousness or just get them moving to the groove? As I see it, songwriting is different for everybody. We challenge ourselves with our songs and the more we write the better we get at it. It's a mysterious art form with many different angles. What's your angle?