Unit 34 Contempory Songwriting Techniques
Two contrasting Songwriters
Elliot Smith
Steven Paul “Elliott” Smith born in Omaha, Nebraska was an american folk singer songwriter, recognised as a guitarist and songwriter but was also fluent on piano, clarinet, bass, drums and harmonica. Likely one of the greatest songwriter of his generation he delivered his songs with his distinctive “whispery” vocal style. Smith song writing technique came from trusting your gut and lazing about on the couch.
Elliot Smith would imagine music, lyrics and story’s during the day and play the guitar mostly at nigh. He would not pay too much attention to what his hands were doing, he did this because he believed that it gained an unconscious connection to his music. Smith also had a liking to writing songs in bars , he believed that a bar was a half way point to being in public and being alone. He also enjoyed the background noise and music because it allowed him to switch off to his inner critic – his own worst enemy. “Playing safe is the best way to fail” Elliot Smith.
Smith would start his song as instrumentals and was more interested in the shapes of chords, the movements and sequences they made between each other and the implied melody that a chord sequence would have. Smith would play versions of chords where the bass note is a 5th like a C with a G in the bass, nothing terribly exciting but there was something he liked about it. Smith would like to sing late at night, he felt like being relaxed made his songwriting flow. He would gradually build up lyrics that were not tied melodically to the song. In my opinion smiths lyrics are very poetic but he never thought his lyrics as stand alone poetry. Smith never worried himself with mixing up...
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...have” Kurt Cobain on his lyrics
When Cobain's journal was released it became an important source. A lot of lyrics relating to; emotional stress, break ups, angst, anger at situations or people. Some of the sources included literature such as the novel “Perfume” by Parrick Suskind which is about an apprentice in a perfume shop who has an amazing sense of smell but no sent of his own and becomes a murderer of young girls for their sent (Scentless Apprentice). Also newspaper articles (Polly).
A lot of Kurt's solos during the “Bleach” album era was described by Butch Vig as “Kurt, Strangling his guitar”. On his more popular songs on “In Utero” and “Nevermind” albums they are more pop influenced and not as heavy and some even following the melody.
Nirvana's songs differ in dynamics. Going from quiet, slightly distorted or clean to loud and heavy distortion.
Music served as an escape for Josh, because, as Hunt vividly describes, being a 15 year old, in the Great Depression was not an easy task. Josh, and his best friend Howie would produce beautiful music, temporarily losing themselves in the exquisite music they created. Josh and Howie were talented past their age, and they were given a role to play for the school assembly. Though their rehearsals were beneficial, they both dreaded the thought of returning home. Sadly, Stefan, Josh’s father did not feel the love he once felt toward music anymore, so he believed Josh should not spend time on luxuries such as music.
Daniel Felsenfeld reveals a positive, impactful significance — one that has completely changed his life — in his literacy narrative “Rebel Music” by drawing upon what his early adolescent years of music were like before his shift into a new taste for music, how this new taste of music precisely, yet strangely appealed to him, and what this new music inspired him to ultimately become. Near the beginning of his narrative, Felsenfeld described his primal time with music in Orange County, Calif. He had developed his musical skills enough to jumpstart a career around music — working in piano bars and in community theater orchestra pits. However, Felsenfeld stated that the music he worked with “... was dull, or at least had a dulling effect on me — it didn’t sparkle, or ask questions,” and that “I [he] took a lot of gigs, but at 17 I was already pretty detached” (pg. 625). Felsenfeld easily
was born to Mrs. Wendy Cobain and to Mr. Donald Cobain. Wendy was a homemaker.
Their work encompasses many genres into one. The band’s musical influences are comprised of jazz, rock, blues, bluegrass, folk, and country. Also, the band began to gain popularity during the movement of psychedelia. Psychedelic elements can be heard in almost all of their albums.
Imagine attending a concert in which if you were to close your eyes, you would assume that the music you are hearing is being created by a cast of band members, each playing their respective instruments. Contrary to your assumptions, however, this band only consists of one member. Keller Williams, dubbed by critics as a one-man-band, is one of a kind both in his musical talent and his solo act. Very few solo musicians have mastered such a multi-dimensional sound and captivating live show as Keller, making him standout amongst today’s musicians. Keller’s ability to perform improvisational live shows, form a large and dedicated fan base, and share the beliefs and attitudes of the hippie generation has given him the musical identity of the jam band genre in addition to his personal identity of being a solo act.
Started out as an avid fan of artists such as Michael J. Fox, Freddie and Albert King and Lightnin' Hopkins, John Mayer is known to have played songs with the guidance of his talent in guitar playing. The gifted artist has continued
Suicide is the most accepted theory to Kurt Cobain’s death, gaining support from not only the Seattle Police Department but Cobain’s own family at the time of death. Cobain was reported to have been clinically depressed for the majority of his life and was crippled with severe drug addiction. In photographs taken of the body viewers can plainly see the medical bracelet for the drug rehab center he had broken out of. He was completely dependent on heroin and was quoted saying “This is the only thing saving me from blowing my head off”. Band members also reported that Cobain was disconnected from his friends and family during his final days. Photos of Kurt Cobain’s body have been stated to show Cobain splayed out on the floor with a shotgun firmly gripped in his hand and a box of
Imagine one were charged with a quest to compose a catalog of the greatest and most influential lyricists of the rock and roll genre. Such a roster would inevitably include names like John Lennon, Bob Dylan, and Elton John; however, if one were to scroll a little farther down the list they would come across a man named Pete Townshend. Townshend ascended to fame as the lead guitarist and principle songwriter for a rock band called The Who. Through his work with The Who as well as the compositions of his solo career Pete Townshend has come to be known as a tremendously respected figure in the musical world as well as one of the must influential members of the unique ideological movements he touched.
“Come As You Are” and “Polly” showcase that Nirvana were not only a band interested in seeing people jump up and down and scream at shows. Many people, fans and celebrities alike consider “Polly” to be Kurt Cobain’s most well written song. “Polly”, number six, is a story of a girl who got molested and tortured and sexually abused.
By the end of Nick Broomfield's controversy-plagued documentary Kurt & Courtney, I think I knew as much about Broomfield himself as I knew about Kurt Cobain or Courtney Love. The film might have begun as a biographical study, exploring the tempestuous tives of Nirvana lead singer Cobain and Courtney Love both before and after their 1992 marriage, but that's not the story it ends up telling. Instead, it becomes the tale of Broomfield's ongoing battle with Love over the making of the film -- her successful efforts to persuade MTV to withdraw funding, her objection to the use of
Sonny states, “Her voice reminded me for a minute of what heroin feels like sometimes--when it's in your veins. It makes you feel sort of warm and cool at the same time. And distant. And---and sure [...] It makes you feel---in control. Sometimes you’ve got to have the feeling.”(Baldwin,16). Baldwin uses the comparison of music and heroin to emphasize the addictive quality of music for Sonny as well as the feeling of control it gives him. This imagery of the overwhelming feeling shooting heroin serves as an illustration of the power that music has over Sonny. Through this metaphor, the reader gains an understanding of why Sonny needs music.
Music is something that allows people to express feelings and emotions that can’t be easily said out loud. Sonny in James Baldwin’s “SB” turns to music as a temporary getaway from his family conflicts and drug addiction. He said “it's the only thing I want to do” for the rest of his life, and it’s the only positive thing in his life (Baldwin 32). Though his brother sees jazz as a connection to Sonny’s drugs and detrimental to his life, Sonny
Wood, Jessica. "Pained expression: metaphors of sickness and signs of 'authenticity' in Kurt Cobain's "Journals"." JSTOR. Version
Shaddock, David. “My Terrible Muse: Cohesion and Fragmentation in the Creative Self.” Psychoanalytic Inquiry 26.3 (2006): 421-441. Academic Search Premier. Web. 20 Mar. 2014.
Taking a creative writing class was a good way for me to express my thoughts and feelings onto paper, as well as read my other classmates stories. Reading stories created by other people lead me into their mind brain to experience what type of writer they were, it was an overall exquisite class. I believe that every person has a way of expressing who they are through writing stories of their own, fiction is the best way to express your creative imagination. This class that I took for two years helped me become a better writer and helped me understand the types of writers we have.