Write Away Magazine - Issue No:2

Write Away
Songwriting
By Thomas Duffy
Songwriting to me is the Art of telling stories
with music.I had always had an interest in
writing poetry and stories long before I
learned to play a musical instrument.So
when I began to play the guitar I naturally
wanted to create my own stories to add to
the music I had began writing.
I began to play guitar at around 11
years old.I learned a few chords
and strummed out a some
popular songs but was always
drawn to my own
words and the freedom of
writing my own music and
marrying the two together.
So in the beginning I
would sit down and play
some chord structures and
rhythms and eventually an
idea would emerge and I
would feel the mood of the
music and let the story
unfold.Sometimes it would happen
immediately and some songs could be
written instantaeously though I would I soon
learned that other songs could take months
or even years to complete.
When I began writing songs as a serious
Songwriter I had began to carry a notepad
and pen with me everywhere I went and I
had became more aware of inspirational
ideas and found myself analysing people
and places more and I would jot down notes
of ideas for songs and stories.
My songwriting in recent years has purely
derived from inspirational ideas.I believe
Artists are more aware of situations and We
always find ourselves(even subconsciously)
viewing day to day events and creating
stories from things that move us.Some
songs are a direct interpretation of real
characters though the stories we create
from those characters arent always true to
life.
A character in a song could be someone
you meet on a bus however the story in the
song coukd be of something completely different.
An example of things can change is
this:I was recently writing a song entitled
"The Storm".There was a storm in Ireland
ans that would have been the initial Inspiration
for the song.However as the song progressed
I realised it was no longer
about that in particular and
could be about a storm anywhere
in the world or even a
Stormy relationship.
An example of writing
songs instantaeously is
this:I had been living in
Lanzarote and hadnt
written anything of any
real substance in quite a
while when a simple phone
call to my Grand-daughter
inspired a whole Album.It was
a rainy cold day in Ireland and
Jessica had asked her Dad"Did
the birdies bite the clouds and make
them cry"? I wrote the song "Awake-
Asleep"in minutes and continued to write an
entire Album in a matter of weeks.During
the writing of that Album another song entitled"I
cant forget her face"emerged and I
realised it was a re-work of something I had
been working on years previously.
A great songwriter friend of mine called
Tony Kaluarachchi who I have collaborated
with on many occasions once gave me his
analysis of the songwriting process and
what it meant to him."We are servants of
the music"he said and I fully understand
what he means.Songwriting is a labour of
love. We dont own the music, the music
owns us!
| 08 www.writeawaymagazine.com