My Chosen Form of Expression is Lyrical

Language is such a gift. Language; the channel through which we communicate what we think and what we feel. Think about the importance of communicating these things, thoughts and feelings. If we have either a need or a desire for an external party to grasp a concept that only exists within the walls of our brain, we use language to forward it from our world alone to the world outside of ourselves. Everyone knows there are different facets of language.. verbal language, vocal tone, body language, facial expressions, or art. It could be poetry, handwriting, music or musical dynamics, clothing or makeup. These are only a few ways a person can transfer a feeling from inside their head to a second person's awareness. And there are some people who best express themselves through the use of song lyrics. This is the category that I fall into.

Words by themselves hold no meaning. But stringing words together in a particular order, as we all know, turns them into a message. And every message has meaning. For a lot of people, I'm sure it would be easy to read that and think, "well, are song lyrics not just poetry? And is poetry not just a written form of verbal language?" No, it's not that black and white. Song lyrics and poetry are similar, yes, in the way that the lines usually rhyme and hold a structure. But the mind of a poet, whether you believe it or not, does differ from the mind of a songwriter. Likewise, the mind of a songwriter does differ from that of an author. Are all of these things manifested through a written form of speech? Yeah! They are. But please, make no mistake; speakers rarely process and express concepts in the same way as writers. Furthermore, a poet's conceptual expression is NOT the exact same as an author's, just like a songwriter's conceptual expression is NOT the exact same as a poet's.

Are you following?

In my opinion, and I'm sure in many others', anyone who uses their skill or passion as an outlet to express their thoughts and feelings is, in some way or another, an artist. Think about how each 'artist' is unique in the way they share their feelings, and each of them utilize the tools available to them to unlock their creativity in doing so. For example, a painter's most effective tool might be color. They can use color like a tool to bring a visual depth of meaning to their art- in this case, their painting. Another example could be that a poet's most effect tool may be vocabulary. They can alter their creation in the way they find can BEST convey the tone and message of their art, or in THIS case, their poetry. These are only two examples, but the point is, there is infinite room for originality using tools like color or vocabulary. The possibilities of what they could do on their blank canvas with these tools are, quite literally, endless.

Stay with me.

Everyone has a tool available to them to be used to enhance their 'art.' Of course, sometimes you have to get creative finding the tool that you'll use to unleash and expand your creativity.

Maybe this is obvious, but the tool most effective for my 'art' of writing song lyrics is, you guessed it, music. I know that I can MOST powerfully deliver my message through lyrics by pairing them with music that I write. Everyone has different life experiences, and therefore, different perceptions. I've found that in my own life experiences, the two forms of art that have influenced me the absolute strongest have been music, and language.

Music alone has this supernatural ability to penetrate through your being, moving you in ways you wouldn't think were possible. Language, like I talked about in the first paragraph, is like a built-in interpreter that bring thoughts and feelings that at first ONLY exist in our heads-sightless and soundless- to exist past those barriers to convey a message to whomever will listen.

But putting both of them together? Wow. When done right, you could make something truly magical.

Any successful musician will tell you that their 'art' (their music) can only carry the power to really pump blood faster through their listeners' veins when it is constructed on to the MAXIMUM capacity of that musician's potential for that piece. Art of any kind is never something that could or should be rushed (let's face it, you can tell when a song's been written carelessly). The 'artist' needs to allow for the creative process to take place, and sometimes that takes time. A true artist will never hasten through a stage of their creation at the cost of it's emotional punch. Just about every creative masterpiece in history, no matter what the art form, has taken a significant amount of time and effort to perfect from start to finish. That's how an artist is able to promote the product of their skill... by working hard on it.

As that fact relates to music, I've found that my personal most powerful original music pieces have been developed over LOTS of time, effort and energy. Years, even, for a few of them. But it was worth every second, because those are the pieces I find I'm most proud of today. In the SAME way as it relates to the writing of song lyrics, I'm always extremely intentional about making sure every single lyric I write holds integrity that is consistent with the message or story of the song. I will NEVER write a phony lyric for the sake of a smoother rhythmic delivery, or an unfitting word that rhymes perfectly with another, etc.

I'm committed to the creation of my art the way a composer commits to the creation of their symphony. I will sit at the piano for hours, creating the best possible arrangement of words for the song lyrics until my brain is entirely depleted for the day. When it is, I set the project down and pick it up the next day. And I will repeat this pattern until the day I can listen back to the lyrics and feel every word and every line rattle in my chest. When I've achieved that, that's when I know the song lyrics are complete.

Now we put it together, the art form used with it's tool. When a musician and song lyric writer can say in pure truthfulness, 'I have mastered the individual elements of my music and of my lyrics, in a way that displays each of their fullest potential, to my absolute highest capability'.... this is when we know it's ready to listen back from start to finish. Only this time, it will be combining the MOST dedicated versions of each of the two MOST prominent elements of your craft, releasing the fullest force of power held within one completed song.

When you can physically feel effects of a work of art that you are only experiencing with your ears, you've created a masterpiece. It might be getting goosebumps all over your body. It might be succumbing to an involuntary muscle in your jaw that you didn't even know existed, forcing you to smile. It might be raising the rate of your heart and feeling it skip a beat. It might be bringing you to tears. Or maybe even better, watching your creation move others to experience those things as they listen to it. The feeling is indescribable.

And that is the beautiful, grueling process of songwriting.

For me, remember, music is only half of it. I am a musician and I do pride myself in my music. However, I pride myself even greater in the lyrics that I write. My music is simply the avenue through which I most emotionally deliver my lyrics.

Once I heard someone say, 'no one without a broken heart can write a song.' While that statement is a smidge too stark for my liking, I can attest to the truth of it from a personal standpoint. Everyone experiences pain and heartbreak in their life. Everyone has a different experience. Everyone has a different story to tell, and no two stories are the exact same. Using myself as an example, in 2014 I disclosed a very heavy load of deception that existed within my immediate family, hiding for God knows how long. My mom's affair ripped our family in two, leaving jagged edges that were unsalvageable and unable to be smoothed. When I tell you I was filled to the brim with pain and fury... I needed an outlet, SOMEthing to release the toxic bitterness inside me, or at least express it in a palpable manner.

This was when I discovered the art of true, serious songwriting that needed so much more than just sad music to fully convey the pain. I wanted to create something that made people feel something; not only emotionally, but mentally. Intellectually.

I said earlier that I've never written a dishonest or non-fully-meditated-on lyric. The events that took place in my personal life marked the starting point of this. I actively poured myself into my music- heart mind, body and soul. It would mentally exhaust me and emotionally drain me, even hurt me.. but I used that. Unfortunately, another tool many (if not most) artists use to express the intensity of their feelings through their art, is heartbreak.

Many of my songs/ lyrics from that season of my life are very dark. Combined with the depth of the music, I wanted my lyrics to cut their own depth. Was it in a subconscious effort to relive part of the pain for some psychological reason I'm unaware of? Possibly, I'm not sure. I knew I wanted to feel the pain every time I listened to one of these songs, though, so I made sure I would. I almost wanted the combined forces of my lyrics with my music to become an emotional weapon. It became a challenge against my own emotional endurance, seeing how painfully I can interpret a feeling from the heart in a song using my tools.

Isolated and dry of music, the lines alone don't deliver the level of intensity they do when I use my tool of music. That said, I've written lyrical metaphors that best interpret my feelings. Lines directed at my mom (who I knew would never hear them, because that was never the point) such as 'here I am, cleaning my own blood off your knife,' or, 'to think the one who taught him how to walk that day in 16 years would teach him how to walk away' (referring to my little brother, who I'm incredibly protective of). I make metaphorical references to a slow death in one song called Acid Rain, 'if you can't maintain a garden long enough to watch it grow, let the acid rain fall; might as well save the pain of dying slow'.. or in other words, "if you were gonna stop committing to being our mom so early in our lives, why even bother dragging out the agonizing neglect? Why not just put us out of our misery?"... There are more, but you get the picture.

And I'll be the first to say that so many have it so much worse. But speaking for myself, I'm an empath. I feel every feeling so deeply. I use my lyrics as a compatible source to be able to keep up with the depth of my own soul (a blessing and a curse, I assure you). Things like depression, anxiety, PTSD... they leave their own mark on the lyrics that come out of a songwriters head, as though having mind of their own.

If you know anyone who expresses their thoughts and feelings through the powerful form of lyrical music, I encourage you to find the song that moves you the most and not just hear it, but listen to it. Don't listen as just another song you know all the words to, no; dissect each lyric. Shift your entire focus; listen with intentionality. Practice disciplining yourself to learn an appreciation for the way the artist chose to use those words in that way and paired it with that music. Ask them about the story behind it. Tell them how it makes you feel inside. Believe me, this supports them in ways that may be invisible, yet they're so incredibly valuable to a songwriter. I hope this morphs the way you view musicians from this point forward. When your favorite musicians put out new music? Go give them your support by buying their music! It shows them that others are recognizing the meaning they portray in their art form, which really is priceless to them.

I'd argue that serious songwriters deserve more respect for their work. Put effort into seeing songwriter through a different lens, giving you a whole different kind of reason to support them by purchasing their music or sharing their content. Don't forget what I said about heartbreak sometimes being an essential tool to a musician's product. This is real life stuff that can't be escaped. If they're putting a painful piece of their personal life into music, they are not doing it lightly. Especially the most emotional songwriters.. consider the pain they had to endure to get that song on your listening device. They made themselves vulnerable and it's almost always a testimony to their own suffering. Gravitate toward their lyrics; relate to them and let them sway you towards supporting us, the musicians and songwriters. We love the reminder that the pain we felt that resulted in our hard-earned original music has not gone unnoticed.

Next time you listen to a powerful song, or better yet, consider purchasing one in support of an artist, I urge you to stay mindful of this: there's a good chance the artist had to go through hell and back to be enabled to pull those lyrics from their intoxicated, internal world, and project them into the world outside of themselves.