“So many of your songs evoke strong emotions (joy, sadness, longing etc), as a listener I can feel them with you. What’s one of the strongest memories or feelings from your own life? Have you written a song about it?”
Hi Stephen,
One example might be “Vacation,” all about my family’s trip to Disney World when I was nine.
“Vacation” from the album Songs from a Small Town (2005)
My memories are strong because I experienced a lot of “firsts.” First time on an airplane, seeing the ocean, meeting Mickey Mouse.
As for evoking strong emotion, I don’t think about what the listener will experience—joy, sadness, longing, as you mentioned. I don’t say, “Today I want to write a song that will make somebody happy or sad.”
Instead, I focus on a very specific thing. It could be a word. An event.
The smaller and more specific the better, because that way I can get more imagistic with lyrics.
In my book On Songwriting I talk about showing versus telling. (By the way, your high school English teacher probably taught you this as well. This is just a refresher.)
What is telling?
“I love you” is telling. There’s not a strong emotional reaction to telling. When you read that, you didn’t feel a whole lot.
Now let’s try showing: “I daydream about your smile.” See? There’s a stronger emotional reaction.
Let’s go a step further: “A car honked me out of a daydream about your smile.” Do you see what I’m getting at?
Showing does the heavy lifting of producing an emotional reaction. That’s why you feel the emotion with me. Of course the music and instruments—the production—it all helps. But, particularly in my lyrics, showing is extremely important.
Thanks for the great question, Stephen!
ae
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