One of my favorite times to write is when I’ve just finished an album and am waiting for it to be released. You may think it’s a time to relax after all the very focused work that goes into the making of an album, particularly in the mixing process.
And you’d be right. But here’s the thing: Writing songs is how songwriters relax. Especially when there’s no agenda, no obligations and no expectations for your writing.
It always seems to me that there’s a lot of creative music-making energy that gets pent up in the record-making process because you focus so hard on these ten or twelve songs you’ve recorded and you hear them so often … and then when you’re done working on them, there’s a wellspring of creativity. There is a desire to create something new, there is new music inside of you that wants to get out.
And, best of all, you’re free to write whatever you please – which is a stark contrast to the previous year and a half or so. Because as you’re shaping up to go into the studio, every new song you write gets measured against/compared to the songs you already have for the next album. And you start conditioning yourself to avoid the keys, grooves, topics that you already have a bunch of potential keepers in/about. (Sure, every now and then something may come along that happens to be in a key you’ve used before and you feel you have to follow through on it but nonetheless you’ll think about it and you’ll wonder whether maybe one of the two or three songs in the same key will have to go.)
The point is, all those shackles are off when you’ve just finished an album. Everything is up for grabs again – every key, every topic, every tempo, every groove. It’s all there at your disposal. Man, it feels wonderful to write in G again 🙂
My new album “Wild, Blue & True” was just released in Europe (March 4) and I already have five or six new songs that feel like keepers.
Here’s one that I wrote right after finishing “The Things That Count”, the album before, and it ended up on “Wild, Blue & True”. I wrote this and another one in Bb so I pretty much had my quota of Bb songs for the next album filled very early on.
I hope you enjoy this.
Fast Forward
(Markus Rill)
Been a while since I’ve seen you, girl
cause I don’t wanna start up a fight
I don’t wanna break down, curl up & cry
so let’s wait for another little while
The next time I see you, girl
I won’t be sore or contrite
and I won’t be playing your records all night
let’s wait for another little while
Still you cross my mind
still you visit my dreams at night
I know I’m getting better but I’m not over you quite
let’s just wait for another little while
I can’t fast forward and I can’t rewind
The next time I meet up with you, girl
I might see things in a different light
I won’t wanna hurt your heart and seeing you won’t break mine
but let’s wait for just another little while
Still you cross my mind
still you visit my dreams at night
I know I’m getting better but I’m not over you quite
so let’s wait for another little while
I can’t fast forward and I can’t rewind
The next time you pass through town
I promise you, girl, I’ll be alright
to see your sweet smile and your pretty blue eyes
yeah, but you just take your time
I know I’m getting better but I’m not over you quite
let’s just wait for another little while
I can’t fast forward and I can’t rewind
Thanks for listening,
Markus
