National Song Writing Month: DAY 0

Starting tomorrow, I will attempt to write one song each day for the month of November. This is inspired by National Novel Writing Month. Except instead of writing a 150-page shitty novel, I will be writing 30 shitty songs. I expect to: a) write 1 song each day, b) compile the lyrics and music in an ongoing file, along with notes and reflections about the song and the writing process, and c) gain some insight into songs, songwriting, and myself.

I started today, on October 30, just to give it a trial run. After all, it's been at least a year since I wrote something that didn't disappear from memory when the clock struck midnight. I came home from work and put some pencil to paper for about 20 minutes. I came out with a song that is more personal than most songs I've written in the past. It's title, for today, is "Send Me a Sign." I realized while I was writing it that a lot of the lyric is in the form of questions. I've been listening to a lot of Lucinda Williams lately. I believe "Are You Alright?" seeped into my brain this morning while I was prepping my classroom, and might explain the question/statement patterning in the verses I wrote.

My old friend and comedian CJ Hunt writes that every character and every sketch should reveal a universal truth. I would like to think of my songs like that. But that takes a lot of foresight. I found I started writing this song today and then, when I got to the chorus, it started to occur to me what the song was about. Not surprisingly, looking back at the song, it's not clear exactly what is supposed to be revealed. It's like I am covering up a lack of attention to detail with vague, meandering imagery. This song means something, because... it could mean ANYTHING! Something to fix up if I ever return to this one.

Well, how bout you just listen to this Lucinda track and feel all nice inside.