stradasphere

The Punk Blames the Godfather

Here is me circa '82 doing a Pete! I wish the photo would have been taken a second later for more height but...

This morning I realized my lifelong songwriting problems are Townshend's fault. I shall explain..

I have written so many songs that took way too long to write. They never seem to be right or I continuous think it could be better. Now I know most artists do this, that's not my point, which I will get to.

I also have a CD's worth of lyrics that need music AND I have a ton of riffs and chord progression lonely for the lyric. Here's where Pete comes in. In the past, when I was in a band, I put songs together with urgency because we had a gig or recording to do. Then I could call a song complete, we played, people dug it, and I'm done. Now, the music is for me and for the sake of music.

So what does the greatest songwriter of all time have to do with this? JUST THAT! I admire the Birdman's songs so much that I think I subconsciously raised my bar to that level. So, that along with some good ol' OCD and insecurity, I just don't write the damn things! Why? Because I think they are supposed to be as good as a Who song! I KNOW, I KNOW...That's nuts! BUT I think I have done that to myself albeit by accident.

When you go to create something you think, "this is how it is supposed to be" and shoot for that. But this artistic path is fatally flawed and takes individuality and uniqueness out of the game. "All or Nothing" does not apply here, but my brain has made it so! AND IT'S ALL PETE'S FAULT! If he hadn't written the most influential music in my personal life this would have never happened! I mean when I first heard "The Real Me" or "I'm One" especially, I knew someone understood. Some brilliant, sometimes crabby, Englishman wielding a Deluxe Les Paul know who the hell I was!!! But trying to be someone you, dare I say idolize, can stifle your own creativity.

So at 41 years young, I am going to stop blaming Pete, even though I didn't know it was his fault until today. I will still keep the bar high, but there are some songs to write. Songs of love for my lovely wife, songs of pain from my own heart, songs of joy for my kids, songs of a hard crazy life. Now if you happened to hear a hard ringing A chord followed by a windmilled G-D, well don't blame me...it's Pete's fault!

posted by Unknown @ 1:25 PM