REVISE, REVISE, REVISE

​I used to think famous writers just sat down and wrote masterpieces. It just poured out of them, beautifully written. While I didn’t think they wrote these masterful pieces of work all in one sitting, I did think their came out of heads, into their pens or typewriters and into the page without any edits or revisions. I now know that’s not the case. Writers write a first draft and then do big edits then smaller revisions and each change gets closer and closer to the final version. 

I write my songs in the old school way, pen to paper. I start by using a small notebooks where I keep track of my ideas.

I call these ideas my nuggets. From my nugget, I’ll begin to build a framework for a song, in the same way a house gets framed first. Then I begin to flesh out the ideas for the song using a bunch of brainstorming techniques.  I free write for a set time, I’ll create lists and phrases of words, I’ll close my eyes and imagine what it’s like to be inside the song and write down the images I see. 

As I begin to write and stanzas form I’ll pull out my guitar and try and sing a phrase. I start trying to write verses. Once I have some verses and a chorus, I’ll begin to sing them. This alone will shed light on whether I need to edit the words so they are singable. For parts that don’t work or don’t express exactly what I want to say, I go back and revise. This is when I might refer to my trusty thesaurus. Sometimes only a little but sometime I go back to the drawing board and start all over. 

Right now I’m trying to revise part of a song I’d like to record this weekend. The song is called Edge of Nowhere. It’s not like any other song I’ve written in the sense that I never really knew where it was going as I was writing it. Something I always advise not to do. I usually have a plan and know exactly what the song is about and where it’s going long before I actually try and craft lyrics.

As I began to play this song, I realized that every time I played it, I wanted the last verse to pick up in tempo and to be doubled lyrically to 8 lines instead of four. 

I’m not gonna lie. I’m struggling a bit with finishing the last two lines because I’m trying to do what I just said. I advise not to-I’m trying to write lyrics without knowing what it is I’m writing about. 

Part of me wants to just leave it the way it is. Started working on the melody for this song in 2016. Slowly, the first first came.

I wish it was a hobo

Riding the rails

Or an old boat

Winding my sails

Or a slow road

On the edge of nowhere

I didn’t really know what the song was gonna be about but based on that first verse, it was about wanderlust or getting lost or maybe trying to find a better life. 

Then I thought I should introduce a love interest so I wrote

Oh, if you were

There by my side

Two blue birds

On a wing we glide

Just ramblers

On the edge of nowhere

Then came the chorus:

We’ll chase the west wind

Will race the lightning and thunder

You and I are destined

To trace the stars, we travel under

Then, somewhere along the way, I decided that this couple was running away so that they could be a couple. Like there was some societal taboo stating that their love was forbidden. The third verse states:

We’ll slip through the cracks

By morning 

will never look back

Without warning 

will cover our tracks

On the edge of nowhere

Then came the last verse:

Well she’d the binds 

of love forbidden

Out from behind 

where we’ve been hidden

Just you and I

On the edge of nowhere

I thought the song was done, but then I felt like I needed to end on a happier note so I’m just tired to try and write one last verse. 

That’s where I’m at. That’s what I’m trying to do right now. I want to record this song on Friday so I’ve got two days to figure it out. Wish me luck.