Songwriting with a Co-Writer…

For songwriters, people keep saying to me that co-writing is essential, and yet I had not found much success in co-writing.

The efforts seemed disjointed, and while each person contributed something, there was no flow.  Different sections that while “technically” meshing… don’t fit together well. Flow is important in a song.  It is a story that you are telling, and you have to get the listener, from the beginning to the end without them jolted out of their seat, by a sudden twist in the story.

A lot of my previous co-writing experiences had those problems. Earthquake cracks and fissures that the listener had to leap over, to make different parts of the song connect.

As a result of these experiences, I have tended, in the last while, to write alone.

A friend kept pushing me to get together and write, and we got together last week, and it just flowed.  In three hours, we bashed out the basis for what we both feel has the potential to be a hit song.  We are still working on it… doing tune-ups and tweaks.

Over the weekend, I was thinking about it, and wondering “what was different THIS time?”

It occurred to me that in this case, I already knew the guy, knew his personality, as he knew mine. We were comfortable with each other, and maybe more important, we were comfortable saying “I don’t like this section, I think it needs to go a different way.” Rather than just accepting it as good enough… we pushed each other, and got a better song, as a result.

I think that because we were both going for the same thing… and our strengths are complimentary… (I’m a lyrics guy, and he already had some musical ideas in his head) …even if we didn’t know each other, we would have “clicked.”

So I finally am able to truly understand what everyone says… Finding a co-writer does make your songwriting better.

But I also realized that finding a co-writer is a bit like dating. You don’t necessarily “connect” with every person, regardless of how people think “you are perfect for one another…”

Just keeping trying, until you find someone you “click” with. And, until you find someone you click with… remember… It’s not you… it’s THEM !!!

Keep writing, and keep looking !!!