Sometimes the moment comes when I realize my song is just not going to work out and that it’s time to move on. Other times I’m extremely frustrated but keep pushing and end up with something I like. Is there any way to predict earlier which way a song is going to go, and save myself time and anguish?
To me, a song that’s extremely difficult to finish satisfactorily presents a writing paradox.
On one hand, I have to write with a ‘Never Say Die’ attitude – to be willing to do whatever it takes to make the song as good as it can be – and often that requires a lot of time, effort, and frustration.
On the other hand, it’s not unusual to find oneself in a Vietnam-like quagmire with a song, finding two new problems for every one I fix and doubting, sometimes with very good reason, my abilities to find a solution.
I find it helpful to look at the larger picture. I’ve seen many songwriters get hung up on ‘that one song’, the one that they feel is their masterpiece, their big hit… and sometimes years are spent on it. And it’s certainly true that sometimes good songs take a lot of time to come to fruition.
But it’s also true that you have to write a lot of songs to become a good songwriter and it’s often best to just go on to the next one. You can always come back if the song just won’t let go of you. But moving on to the next song is always very important.
Remember that none of this time is ‘wasted’. Even if a song doesn’t work out, we’re practicing and honing our craft, we’re solving problems… and creating new ones to solve. And there’s never a way of telling if our next song is going to be one of our best or one of our worst. We just have to write it and see.
Some songs just don’t work out. No matter how hard we work on them and how good we think the ideas are, they just don’t come together.
But other songs – many of them – just require more work, experimentation – and time – to find their final form.
I wish I could tell the difference between the two in advance. But I, probably like most writers, have to trust my instincts and experience – and live with the paradox.