A Song Is Never Finished, It’s Always Evolving

Jeff Oxenford, in his songwriting blog recently wrote a post called “Songwriting: You’ve Got The Song, Now What?” in which he discusses some points to look out for when you’ve “finished” a song.

The one thing that really stood out for me in his post was the following quote at the beginning of the last paragraph:

“My final piece of advice was to not consider the song finished, instead think of it as evolving.”

Wow! That line stood out for me because, for some of my songs I have an ongoing argument raging in my head regarding the its finished vs its evolving concept, so much so that at times it prevents me from getting on with the next songwriting idea because I get stuck on what I’ve already done.

Sometimes, we as songwriters tend to forget that our chosen craft shapes a product from a flexible, malleable and intangiable medium called music. A medium in which nothing is ever truly absolute.

A song I perform will sound different to the way another artist will perform it. Everything about our craft is subjective and based on interpretation of the songwriter, performer and the listener.

I remember (all those years ago) when I first started out writing songs and playing in bands I had to make sure everything was perfect. The songs had to be “just right” and the band had to wait for the “right time” before it started playing gigs.

I learnt pretty quickly (after being involved with a number of bands who formed and broke up without playing any gigs) that everything about the art of songwriting and the music business is constantly evolving.

As soon as you think you’ve “made it” or that you’ve “finished”, something else comes along that inspires you to change your mind.

The way I look at my songs changes all the time depending on my mood, health and state of being. No song performance I do ever sounds the same the only difference is how much energy I spend on each song.

I know songwriters who obsess over every song they write. They tend not to write too many new songs because they are trying to make their old songs sound perfect.

If you’re one of these songwriters then STOP! This obsession will only make you unhappy and artistically unfulfilled.

For me, some songs are more finished than others. These are the ones that I allow to evolve naturally, through performance or being inspired by the feedback of others. While others I’ll actively work on, re-writing bits here, changing arrangements there until they get to a stage where I feel “comfortable” with the song.

If you look at your songs as something that is evolving rather than something that needs to be finished, then perfection becomes irrelevant and believe me, letting go of perfection is one of the biggest weights an artist can relieve themselves of.

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

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Saturday, April 18th, 2009 Songwriting Zen

2 Comments to A Song Is Never Finished, It’s Always Evolving

Matt says:

April 19, 2009 at 1:16 pm

So let me see if I’ve got this straight…a song is never finished, but if you are a songwriter who never finishes songs, stop what you’re doing?

Speaking as someone who tends not to overthink these things, a song is finished when the following elements are in place:

1. The writer is happy with the lyrics.
2. The writer is happy with the melodies and chords.
3. The writer is happy with the order in which the sections of the song appear, your verse/chorus/verse/middle eight/bridge/what have you.

Everything else is interpretation. In fact, #3 generally falls to interpretation too, but I included it because I tend to give deference to the writer’s interpretation of the order in which things appear. A lot of people, when interpreting the material of others skip to the memorable parts of a song, sing verses out of order, drop entire sections, and while there’s nothing overtly wrong with this, it’s important to know you’re doing it…that’s the difference between conscious interpretation and half-assing someone else’s material, which is insulting to the artist being covered. And I know you know this because you are one of the more reverential people I’ve met on this point. You respect the artist and make an above and beyond effort to do their work justice.

As far as people agonising over their work, it really depends on the writer and the song. Not all of us can have seemingly divine inspiration on speed dial. Personally, if someone is trying to make a song happen more than they are letting the song happen, they need to put it away until it comes to them. Forcing it will ultimately sound forced.

So yeah, agonisers need to let go, but only until it comes to them. When you’ve got a song, you’ve got a song. People sometimes think they need a bridge or a chorus, or some elusive instrumental intro, and maybe they do, but it’s important to remember that there is little that is essential in songwriting.

Some of my songs don’t have choruses, much less a bridge, and I like them that way. The most enduring songs ever written have no choruses…Amazing Grace, Happy Birthday, White Christmas, Yesterday, etc…not a chorus in the bunch, and no one seems to mind.

The song knows when it’s done, and if the writer can’t figure out which bits of rock to chisel away or when to put the chisel down, then maybe it’s just not meant to be.

songwritingzen says:

April 19, 2009 at 3:12 pm

There is a huge difference between a songwriter who is comfortable with their songs and a songwriter who seeks perfection in their songs. This post was to attempt to outline the difference between the two states of mind.

I totally agree with your three points though. I reckon that a perfectionist would not see those points in the same way.

As for the interpretation of other peoples songs, I thank you for your kind words There are so many uninspired covers around and I totally understand it when you say

“A lot of people, when interpreting the material of others skip to the memorable parts of a song, sing verses out of order, drop entire sections…that’s the difference between conscious interpretation and half-assing someone else’s material, which is insulting to the artist being covered”

These covers you talk about are “functional” covers. Cover bands do it all the time. I love it when an artist or band do an “inspired” cover.

You’re also spot on in saying that there’s “nothing essential in songwriting”. there are no rules but perfectionists make up rules to put in their own way.