I’ve been told I write great bridges. I love writing bridges…to me I’d much rather write an awesome bridge to slip in that last piece of the puzzle than be in second verse hell…wait, that’s not a very good comparison. Bridges are my comfort zone. (What is a Bridge? A bridge is a section of song, usually toward the end of it before the final chorus or guitar solo that throws in a twist lyrically and makes you sit up and take notice.) For an example, see previous blog. Bridges are usually used for a musical break, to add tension, to express an idea just a little bit further. It’s the last chance, before you go into the chorus to drive your lyrical idea home…like the last twist of that knife in the ribs before the kill, so to speak.
As a performer, if I’m in my comfort zone, I’m not giving 110%. I have to always have that edge.
As a mountain biker, I spend a lot of time out of my comfort zone. Every time I get on my bike, I’m hanging on by the seat of my pants. There is no rest; whether riding in traffic or on trails, if I let my mind wander, I get in trouble. Trouble=mind wander=not paying attention=crash.
So when I get the chance, I quite enjoy being in my comfort zone, cause I rarely spend time there.
As a songwriter it’s so easy to slip into the CZ, and because I’ve been writing for most of my life, I need to be comfortable in order to create. Writing lyrics. Weaving words. Ahhh. Like a warm down comforter on a cold winter’s night.
So, shouldn’t that be good enough? Craft the lyrics and then give them to a co-writer to write the music…it’s pretty simple.
Problem is, I have this fear of complacency…I always want to push and challenge myself and improve myself and my abilities. So…I decided I needed to start writing music. When I sit down with my guitar to write some music, I am so far out of my comfort zone that I need a GPS to get me back.
I could just write the same old same old…take the chords ac/dc uses (hey, it’s rock and roll, it worked well for them)…but noooo, I have to try to use all the knowledge I’ve gained as a songwriter in one song and complicate things.
This is the chatter in my head as I’m writing: No! The b-section has to feel different than the verse… the chorus has to lift…and then the bridge has to do something different altogether. I need dynamics!
A few weeks ago, there was so much crap going on inside and outside me, I succeeded in successfully blocking myself. Musey, (my pet name for my creativity) ran. She ran really far and hid because she didn’t like all the chaos.
The first few songs I wrote, I used some of my crap lyrics for a guide, just to see what would happen.
Verse chorus bridge-that’s what each set of lyrics had.
Three songs…almost wrote themselves (yeah, right). Woohoo! Yet as I attempted the fourth song, my fingers were drawn to play the same chords as the first three songs like magnets. I got bored.
Why wasn’t this working? What was the holdup here to the flowing music train?
Then I realized something.
Even though I was relatively new to writing music, I had already slipped into my comfort zone…same chords, same tempo, same strum pattern… even the lyrics said the same damn thing. Crap!
I needed to do something different. Why was I so bored of my own song already? This sucked. The problem is (or the solution in this case), when I’m bored, I think way too much. So I tried to figure out where I was stuck. What did I need to do to shake things up; to get the creativity flowing again?
Now, keep in mind, I’m forcing myself out of my writing box (comfort zone). Not only am I not writing with a collaborator, I’m writing music. I’m a lyricist– not a person who writes music…that thought in itself scares the hell out of me, but I won’t elaborate here because that’s another blog.
Fortunately, I’m a song geek. I love to tear apart songs to see what makes them great (or not).
I dissected my own songs. Most of my songs have bridges.
I Surrender. Bridge. She’s Outta Control. Bridge. Most of the songs I write have bridges…probably because I start with lyrics first and I need to wrap four pages of rambling into a three or three and a half minute song. Also, because I’m good at it and I like writing freaking bridges!
So as I contemplated the floor (I tend to do a lot of that while I’m trying to sort my thoughts), hugging my guitar, trying not to swallow my pick (I’ve come close a few times), I wondered out loud…is a bridge necessary?
Silence. I think I felt my heart stop for a minute in sheer panic.
Anxiety coursed through me…a song without a bridge? Who does that?
I thought about some of my favourite songs. Kiss…Deuce. No bridge. Hotter Than Hell. No bridge. God of Thunder. No bridge. I pulled out my Metallica copy of Load. The House That Jack Built. No bridge…but a musical interlude…Waste My Hate On you…No bridge…Until It Sleeps ahhh, bridge (back in my comfort zone)…
So what did I determine?
If the song didn’t have a bridge, it had some kind of musical interlude to break things up. I personally think that’s where a lot of songwriters fall short; every section sounds the same, so the song gets boring…I despise boring!
I was easing myself out the door of my comfortable little zone.
I dumped all expectations. I needed to start with a clean slate. No lyrics, no guides…I started to play.
Then I reminded myself…sure, I could put in a bridge…like I did with the last three songs I wrote…or I could put in a musical interlude…that way the band can figure it out. It would be considered arrangement details. Yeah…I could do that! That let me off the hook…so once I convinced myself that I actually wasn’t letting myself off the hook cause there was no hook to let myself off of, I could breathe again.
I easily finished the song… so I could start on the lyrics…ahhh.
Back in the comfort zone.
