Friday, February 04, 2005
The Fun Part
Which is, if you find that sort of thing fun, the fun part.
Less fun, for most of us, but no less necessary, for most of us, is revising: figuring out what it means or what it's supposed to mean or what it might mean, and then going over every word and every note seeing how it relates to what it means or is supposed to mean or might mean. Then doing it again. And again.
For example, "Well I haven't slept a wink since the last time that I slept/And I haven't had a drink since the last time that I drink" doesn't rhyme. It might be nice, though, if it did. It sort of wants to rhyme, I think. Line endings generally, I think, want to rhyme. But perfect rhymes are hard to come by. Slept and...wept? "And I haven't cried a tear since the last time that I wept"? I don't think so.
And anyway, perfect rhymes are overused, I think. Near rhymes, more-or-less rhymes, are better, maybe, at least in part, because they're less showy, less pretentious. So, after attempt after attempt--changing the first line, changing the second line, changing both lines, going back to the original two lines--I settled on "Well I haven't slept a wink since the last time that I slept/And I haven't had a drink because I haven't started yet."
Which to me means he's getting ready to start drinking ON THAT NIGHT (not that he hasn't had a drink ever). Probably he's getting ready to start drinking because he's getting ready to start being sad, or to start wallowing in how sad he is. Which means to me that, if the song is going to make any sort of overall sense, the verses need to establish, or at least suggest, why he's getting ready to start being sad or to start wallowing in his sadness.
And so on.
Writers sometimes say that they know something is finished if they spend all morning on it and end up only putting in a single comma, and then they spend all afternoon on it and end up only taking out that comma. Which is, sadly, about right.
Less fun, for most of us, but no less necessary, for most of us, is revising: figuring out what it means or what it's supposed to mean or what it might mean, and then going over every word and every note seeing how it relates to what it means or is supposed to mean or might mean. Then doing it again. And again.
For example, "Well I haven't slept a wink since the last time that I slept/And I haven't had a drink since the last time that I drink" doesn't rhyme. It might be nice, though, if it did. It sort of wants to rhyme, I think. Line endings generally, I think, want to rhyme. But perfect rhymes are hard to come by. Slept and...wept? "And I haven't cried a tear since the last time that I wept"? I don't think so.
And anyway, perfect rhymes are overused, I think. Near rhymes, more-or-less rhymes, are better, maybe, at least in part, because they're less showy, less pretentious. So, after attempt after attempt--changing the first line, changing the second line, changing both lines, going back to the original two lines--I settled on "Well I haven't slept a wink since the last time that I slept/And I haven't had a drink because I haven't started yet."
Which to me means he's getting ready to start drinking ON THAT NIGHT (not that he hasn't had a drink ever). Probably he's getting ready to start drinking because he's getting ready to start being sad, or to start wallowing in how sad he is. Which means to me that, if the song is going to make any sort of overall sense, the verses need to establish, or at least suggest, why he's getting ready to start being sad or to start wallowing in his sadness.
And so on.
Writers sometimes say that they know something is finished if they spend all morning on it and end up only putting in a single comma, and then they spend all afternoon on it and end up only taking out that comma. Which is, sadly, about right.
# posted by Joe Conley @ 4:41 PM 
