Can I Have Your Attention?
Pop songs are getting shorter and shorter. A recent report finds that by 2030 the average length of a hit song will be 2 minutes. That’s about half the length of what it was in 1990. James Shotwell says “it’s not about writing the most incredible song that anyone’s ever heard it’s about getting them to listen to it.” That’s a shame. Writing the most incredible song was always a fun goal. Something to shoot for.
Laurel Canyon
Every so often I’ll fire up Sonos and tap on Four Way Street and I’m at Woodstock, especially if I just had a hit of a joint. It doesn’t matter that I wasn’t actually there. Joni, who penned “Woodstock,” the quintessential masterpiece ABOUT the festival, wasn’t there either. She was a vessel. She was stardust. She was golden. She channeled a movement. Everything they were writing was a reflection of whatever was going on sociopolitically at the time. That’s what it was about.
Teachable Songwriting
For a successful destiny, one has to have the fire in their belly—which is usually recognized at a young age—and the desire to communicate within a 3.5 minute boundary. If these parameters are already in place then maybe one can learn to get better.
