It’s such an easy thing to do–a thoughtless action. We just push a button or turn a knob and the sound fills our immediate space. Silence becomes a whir of energy and the desired effect takes place. A mood is set, lifted or tweaked by just the right song, or any song really. Even though I’m a song-writer, I still take it for granted! It’s just so simple to transform our surroundings with music.
Think about your favorite song. So much went into that song before it was what you hear on the recording. From brainstorming the idea of the lyric, to finding the melodic hook, to forming it, trimming the fat, changing tempos, exploring instrumentation, finding the right methods to record it, the right person to mix and master it, and then the business side of administering all the credits to the proper channels so that someone actually gets paid for its creation. It’s crazy. And we just push the button and go, “ahhhhh…that’s better.”
Being in The Dead Deads, writing every song together in one room has NO DOUBT made me a better writer. Recently, I’ve been thinking about why. In thinking about that, I realized, that I’ve learned so much about the craft over the span of my career, and so I thought I’d write some of that down and see if its worth much to other songwriters or just writers in general. I’ve developed a lot of philosophy about writing, and today I’ll share three…let’s call them “warp zones” I’ve discovered that make my writing light-years better.
Warp Zone One: BE INSPIRED I can’t tell you how many friends I have that are afraid of “ripping something off,” so they don’t listen to anything before they write, or worse, they don’t listen to other artists much at all. It’s important to be you, and to have a fresh voice, but I’m never afraid to get inspired by a song before I start writing. What I end up with may sound totally different, but its that spark that gets me going. It’s the booster for my rocket ship. I may listen to a classical song by Bach to get a tempo and rhythm for a rock song or I may listen to Beastie Boys and think, “I want a folk song with this particular lyrical cadence.” Taking something from a genre across the color wheel from your target style is a great way to get your brain working! The Dead Deads do this all the time!
Listen to new music, LISTEN TO OLD MUSIC–like really old, find things you’ve never heard before and try to relate them to something you could do. Whether you’re a folk-singer, a rock band, or a concert pianist, this method will keep you out of tempo, structure and stylistic ruts. Ruts are butts. In my opinion, great records have movement, dynamics and a breath. Records that are all in 6/8 or all about the same thing, or all one level of aggression won’t do that.
Warp Zone Two: BE INNOVATIVE Building on that creative inspiration is the second warp zone–be innovative. It’s common to feel like the latest thing you’ve written is the THE BEST THING YOU’VE EVER WRITTEN! “OMG! This is it! This is a hit! This is pure genius.” We have to learn to see past that and its really tricky. The first thing you do may be awesome or fine or kick-ass or lame or whatever, but don’t assume its the best you’ve got. That being said, don’t ever be critical of yourself. Allow yourself to create madly like a child with finger paints, but DO be critical of your final work. I’ve learned to never be afraid to throw away a part of a song that’s boring. Even if its the chorus. Fuck that chorus. I’ll write a new one. It’s hard, but so worth it!
I try to listen to songs I’ve written like they are someone else’s and I have no idea what the subject matter is about. Did the melody catch me? Did the chorus blow me away? Could I sing along to it easily? Did the lyrics resonate with a more general or generic situation? Is this song basic? Are there hundreds just like it? After I think about questions like this, then I consider the opportunities to improve the song. How can I make it special? Which part is the most typical? What could I do differently?
For many many years, I’d write a song in 20 minutes to an hour, and immediately post it to the internet. You can go on youtube and see hundreds of them. SCARY. Some are great, most are average, and a few just aren’t very good. The funny thing is, they aren’t bad because the ideas are lame, they aren’t good because they aren’t FINISHED. I didn’t innovate. I just did what I always do and got the same result and immediately showed the world. “Here’s me!” Now I’ve learned to take that extra time to use my brain, my outside inspiration, and all the talent I can muster to create something that’s the best I have to offer in that moment.
Warp Zone Three: BE INTENTIONAL The Dead Deads are very intentional about what we write. We only have a certain amount of space to say what we want to say. We like to get in, get crunk, and get out. We also have a way we like to say things–love songs through nerdy metaphors or heavy wordplay. We want each metaphor to be air-tight with no unnecessary thoughts or words so people can sing along! My point is, its important to know what your message is with each song and how you want each song to come across. Is it a scream-along? Is it a lullaby? Is whatever its supposed to do happening? That’s the big one!
For me, writing with intention involves editing three things; Structure, Chorus and Content.
First structural intention. Does the music of the song have parts that go on too long? Is there anywhere I can trim some fat? Can I shorten the first verse? Maybe it doesn’t need that third verse after the bridge? Also, are there transitions from section to section of the song that could be “cooler,” more creative or just smoother? Taking the time to suss out these details will make for a tighter, more well-received song.
Second, we want to take a long, hard and honest look at the chorus. It has to be memorable. That’s not to say it has to be a Dr. Luke-blow-your-load banger, but it needs to perform. The chorus is a song’s identity. The verses are its personality. If the chorus doesn’t identify the intent of the song, the verses aren’t going to have context as easily, and a stranger checking out the song for the first time will have a harder time “getting it,” and even more importantly “getting INTO it!” There’s no right or wrong type of chorus. Some catchy choruses are very wordy and melodic, others are one note over and over with very few words. Whatever style I’m writing in, I just want to make sure that my chorus has a stickiness of some kind to it, both lyrically and melodically.
Third, I want to set my intention of what I’m trying to say with my lyrics. To me, one of the worst things ever is a great sounding song that has lyrics that wander around and don’t achieve anything. That is NOT to say that lyrics need to make sense or tell a story or anything like that. The achievement might be that they are a nonsensical ear worm, and that’s fine, but they need to do work! One thing I’d highly recommend is looking at how you say things and see if you can say it with less words. Instead of saying, “my heart is broken into one thousand pieces,” you could say, “my heart is shattered.” Using less words will generally force you to be more poetic, and less basic.
Being intentional as a writer is definitely a learned skill. It takes time and patience to lovingly critique our own work, and be honest about what we see and hear. However, I much prefer doing it ahead of time, as opposed to getting into a situation where a producer or co-writer is forced to be like, “ehhhh…i think this part is boring,” or worse. Of course, that still happens to me all the time! We are talking about lowering the frequency, here!
IN CONCLUSION… Above all else, I’ve learned over the years to trust myself and write for me. Sitting down to write “a hit” will forever keep you behind the wave you are trying to catch. Be savvy about what’s out there, be inspired by your past, be innovative and be honest. If you are putting out the best material you can that is authentic to you, you have the best shot at any kind of success. I truly believe that.
I’ve spent many years of my career writing songs to impress different artists, writers, fans, producers, radio people, parents, geeeeeze…i don’t know…everyone but myself. Now, when I’m writing Dead Deads lyrics, I’m really just trying to impress The Dead Deads. Luckily, we’ve got a bunch of rad fans that think what we are doing is pretty weird and cool, and we are so grateful for that!
Much love to everyone out there being their beautiful, creative selves! Keep it up!
Love, Meta Dead
The photos featured here were taken in our writing/rehearsal space by Andrew Nelson during pre-production of our brand new record! Weeeeee!
I have seen a lot of posts on the internet this week shaming women for being “angry.” People are quoting everyone from Buddha to Deepak Chopra to Madonna, in an attempt to vilify those that are out exercising their very American right to free speech. Here’s the problem I see. There is a crushing disconnect between the agenda of those demonstrating and the understanding our shamers have of our agenda. Do you see my meaning?
For instance, if I thought that millions of men and women around the world were angry because they wanted to kill babies and they were afraid the government was going to make them stop killing babies, I would say, “Hell yes! What a bunch of freaks out there that want to kill babies.”
First of all, do you know what saves the most babies from being “murdered” or worse, born into unloving or unprepared homes? Planned Parenthood. A war on Planned Parenthood IS a war on children.
I want to share my personal testimony. When I was 15, a friend’s mother checked me out of school and took me to the health department. There, I was given birth control–for free, without parental consent. I was a virgin. However, this saintly woman had the foresight to see that I was a naive kid with a lot of potential and having an unplanned pregnancy would have changed the course of my life, and my opportunities would have been dramatically limited.
As I watched other friends get pregnant in highschool, some made the brave decision to keep their child. Some made the equally brave decision to terminate their pregnancy. Both choices are scary as hell, and both changed the trajectory of those girls’ lives. But that’s the important word here. Choices. If the quarterback of the highschool football team who had NFL dreams was forced to carry a child for 9 months because he made a mistake and had no choice but to give up football and be a dad at 17, I fear that we might look at this “choice,” differently. That’s one root of my anger. If both sexes could become impregnated, I don’t think the medical procedure of terminating a pregnancy would even be on the table for questioning. Think critically about this. Please.
So, Trump’s office says that if all of these women didn’t want him to be President they should have voted. That’s cute, and of course, true. Most probably did. We weren’t protesting a Trump presidency. We were making a statement about the issues that are important to us. Namely, marriage equality, equal economic opportunity, gun violence prevention, climate change, healthcare, immigration reform, women’s rights, and beyond. Yes, its true, many women voted for Trump. I can find plenty of reasons for this. Maybe it was strictly a financial choice. Perhaps they liked the idea of having a non-politician in office. Perhaps they fell prey to propaganda, or family pressure, or just actually thought Trump was their ideal candidate. Maybe they just hated him less than Hillary. Those women have a right to share their thoughts too. Admittedly it hurts sometimes when they do, but I accept it. I don’t shame them. I find my tribe and move on.
The Women’s March was a beautiful representation of my tribe. People who want love, safety and equality for all humans. Gender equality is only a small part of the agenda of this march, but its one I feel strongly about so I chose to speak on that more personally today.
This week we have a new President, and social unrest rumbles under the surface of every dinner table, comedic monologue, rock show, etc. Our march showed that we are watching and will work to build a world where the dreams and opportunities for little girls are equal to those of little boys. Where pink is for anyone and so is blue. Where a drumset or a baseball glove is just as reasonable a birthday gift for Sally as it is for Johnny.
Furthermore, as our children grow and find their own identities, we continue to fight for a world where they don’t have to get bullied to the point of suicide because they were born with a penis, but feel better in dresses, or because they were born with a vagina and feel more drawn sexually to other women. We are angry that we have to keep asking for this for our children. Anger is a gift. It inspires action. When my mother died, I was angry. I’ve kept that anger in my heart and I use it when I see injustice. I’m not ashamed of it. It’s not unlady-like and its CERTAINLY not unAmerican to be angry. Planned Parenthood and the ability to have access to options is a right I had and I want it for future generations. The idea that someone wants to take that away for ludicrous, political, sexist reasons makes me angry. I will not apologize for that and I am not alone.
We all know how devastating loss can be. It’s a black hole…a feeling of the most extreme emptiness, and I’ve been there. When we lose someone, we struggle to breathe and we fight even harder to hold back tears. Of those that passed, we hold their keepsakes, we stare at their pictures, and we listen to their favorite songs. We grieve, and it's painful. And we’re all grieving today.
Scott Weiland passing was bad enough…and then Lemmy, who we were privileged to meet aboard the Motorboat cruise. But Bowie? An icon that seemed invincible. I can barely hold myself together today, and I’m not sure why it’s hitting me on such a personal level. I wouldn’t say he personally influenced me, but I’m really in shock about his passing. I struggle to put the right words together, but we’re all grieving this profound artist today…and for a long time to come. I keep staring at his iconic pictures, like the one below, and I’ll be listening to his music for days to come…
His new video for Lazarus - takes on a whole different meaning now…
We all know how devastating loss can be. It’s a black hole…a feeling of the most extreme emptiness, and I’ve been there. When we lose someone, we struggle to breathe and we fight even harder to hold back tears. Of those that passed, we hold their keepsakes, we stare at their pictures, and we listen to their favorite songs. We grieve, and it's painful. And we’re all grieving today.
Scott Weiland passing was bad enough…and then Lemmy, who we were privileged to meet aboard the Motorboat cruise. But Bowie? An icon that seemed invincible. I can barely hold myself together today, and I’m not sure why it’s hitting me on such a personal level. I wouldn’t say he personally influenced me, but I’m really in shock about his passing. I struggle to put the right words together, but we’re all grieving this profound artist today…and for a long time to come. I keep staring at his iconic pictures, like the one below, and I’ll be listening to his music for days to come…
His new video for Lazarus - takes on a whole different meaning now…
When you sleep through your alarm but realize your alarm never went off then realize you never set your alarm you just typed “8” into the calculator then passed out.
