Songwriting Zen

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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