About These Pages

It was the poet William Carlos Williams who wrote: "It is difficult to get the news from poems, yet men die miserably every day for lack of what is found there."

We look to the poets and songwriters for the kind of wisdom that engages us more deeply and personally than that of the engineers and statesmen. There is a dimension to artistic work that resonates with sentience, that inspires and comforts.

For the songwriter, the challenge is to master that synergy of words and music that gives a song its power. Of course, the poets will say that there is a musical component to their work as well.

Gertrude Stein took issue with the old saw, "Write what you know." She said, "That's not writing, that's typing!" Write what you don't yet know. Write what you will write on your way to a greater understanding and mastery of your craft. Delivering the goods may call upon us to become the writer who is more capable than we are now.

I've been fond saying that I quit the music business to become a songwriter. I know that sounds glib, and hints at sour grapes. But really, good songs can be written anywhere, even in the midst of chaos and striving. The industry is there as a market place, and one may need to keep it at arms length, as a useful resource, like plutonium.

The explosive potential for great success is always there as well. If there is a way to come and go in the centers of ambition, it might be made of the same stuff as artistic integrity and perspective, proportionality and diligence. All will be easier with a better understanding of the basic skills. The purpose of these pages is to create a platform by which a community of songwriters can take up the issues of rhyme and structure, technique and meaning and engage in a dialog that can help us all to grow into better work.

So welcome to AbouttheSong.com Visit often, come back soon.