Let me begin by saying that the last time that I wrote an essay or paper, was nearly eighteen years ago when I was in high school. With that in mind, it’s hard for me to recall anything that I have written in the past. I guess the only thing that I could write about is the fact that I have written a number of lyrics, as I was a professional musician for over twenty years. What led me to write lyrics, initially, was a love of music and I wanted to convey messages through it. I not only wrote the lyrics for myself but for anyone who was willing to hear them. The purpose being that I wanted to create music others would enjoy listening to. The planning of writing the lyrics depended on a number of factors. How I felt at the time, what was happening around me, or just things I was interested in. If something was happening in the news that I found particularly interesting, that could easily trigger the thought process of telling the story in song. If I thought of something or someone that inspired me, it could also trigger the process.
The majority of ideas I had when I was writing, I would share with my friends and family to get feedback from them. They were always eager to read them and this helped the process by either giving me new ideas to build off of within the song, or even something as simple as changing a single word. Most of the lyrics I have written have been rewritten in some way, whether it is a word, a phrase or even the title.
I have continued to write lyrics from time to time, and I imagine I will continue to do so as long as I can, or at least as long as I still have an imagination.
