If you hearken to the songs you’ve written, are you able to hear your persona coming by means of? I’m not speaking in regards to the efficiency of your track; in good musical performances we often discover it straightforward to listen to and really feel the persona of the performer.

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I’m speaking extra about your persona being evident within the precise music of your track, such that if another person information it, we nonetheless hear a little bit of “you.”

This can be a side of songwriting you haven’t considered a lot, however it’s actually well worth the time to take just a few older songs that you just’ve written, and hearken to them purely from a structural — not a efficiency — perspective.

A number of examples would possibly allow you to see what I’m speaking about:

1. After I hearken to “Outdated Man”, “Coronary heart of Gold”, and “Maintain On Rockin’ within the Free World”, it’s not exhausting for me to get a transparent image of Neil Younger the person. I hear his opinions, the best way he phrases issues, the sorts of ideas he has.
2. After I hearken to “Come Collectively”, “In My Life” and “A Day Within the Life”, I get a really clear sense of the whole lot from the considerate to the quirky and humorous lyrical fashion of John Lennon.
3. After I hearken to “Glory Days”, “Born to Run” and “Streets of Philadelphia”, I can simply hear the earthy, grassroots form of perspective that Bruce Springsteen exhibits in his music.

And naturally, I’m largely speaking in regards to the lyrics right here, however in all good songs, the music should assist these lyrics, and permit their which means, their perspective, after which the persona of the songwriter to be clearly evident.

If I’ve any criticism of at the moment’s well-liked music, it is perhaps that it’s changing into more durable for me to listen to that form of perspective in songwriting proper now. It could be that a lot of what turns into hits lately has been written “by committee.” There’s nothing notably fallacious with songwriting partnerships, however when six, seven or extra songwriters are all credited with writing a track, it makes it more durable to listen to the form of persona I’m speaking about.

I really imagine that persona is a crucial a part of the method that makes it extra possible that folks will nonetheless be singing your songs 50 or extra years from now.

So take the time to hearken to your songs, and attempt to determine — when you can — what elements of your track sound like you. What elements permit your persona to change into evident, regardless of who ultimately sings them.

Written by Gary Ewer. Observe Gary on Twitter.

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