Songs that Deal with Grief

On the 10th anniversary of 9/11 most of the songs that come to my mind are songs that deal with grief. They are either about releasing grief or overcoming whatever hardship caused the grief.
People often say that the purpose of music is to make people happy and spread joy. I believe that the purpose is to help us feel and not every emotion we feel is happy. I have found many times that I didn't realize just how much I needed to release my emotions until I started singing along to a song that helped me release them. Songs don't bring back lost loved ones or make all of our problems go away, but they do help us recover when we are hurt.
The hurt that was felt in the United States on September 11, 2001 is difficult to comprehend. I was only eleven years old at the time. Since I couldn't remember much from that day, I looked at some of the newscasts, images, and phone calls from that day. The phone calls were the most painful, but I'm glad I listened to them. It's important that we never forget that event and listening to those phone calls was a good thing for me. When we look at the images, it's so easy to just see a couple of buildings with smoke coming out of them, but when we hear the voices on those phone calls and see the images of people jumping from windows to escape flames it is a somber reminder that those were real people and real lives that were lost that day.
I remembered 9/11 today through videos of the days news, but when I finished these were the lyrics that stood out to me, the lyrics that I wanted to sing.

Oh, beautiful, for spacious skies for amber waves of grain
For purple mountain's majesties above the fruited plain
America, America, God shed his grace on thee
And crown thy good with brotherhood
From sea to shining sea

It's not that 9/11 makes me think of beauty. That was a very ugly day, but it reminds me how glad I am that I'm still here, how glad I am that there haven't been more attacks like this, and how glad I am that I'm an American. And as an American I will always remember this day and the lives that were lost.

~Eliza

Lyric Critiques

Lyric critiques are an important part of the revision process and help songwriters make the changes they need to make so their work will be the best it can be. I won't be posting very many of my own lyrics on this blog, but I will on occasion. I will also be posting my own critiques of lyrics by some of my favorite artists. This is also a good exercise for songwriters because it makes them think about what they like to hear in lyrics and incorporate those interests into their own writing.

I would like this aspect of my blog to be more interactive as I update more regularly and gain more readers. In the meantime I will pursue my dream of having my lyrics recorded by local artists.

~Eliza

Bits and Pieces

Occasionally I will be working on a song and all of the lyrics will come to me at once. This has only happened a couple of times, with songs such as "Angelface" and "Damage". Most songs will come to me in bits and pieces.

It will often be one single moment that I write about, as opposed to an event in my life. And because it is only one moment I will only be able to write a few lines. Since so little happened in that moment I find it difficult to complete those songs and build an entire song based upon those few seconds or minutes, yet for some reason those few lines tend to be the most provoking and meaningful lines in my songbooks. It may be because those single moments can still be the most memorable. For example, I have written two songs about an illness I struggled with in high school, but I have written dozens of lyrics that are still incomplete that were inspired by a sentence or two someone said to me.

These songs that come to me in bits and pieces are very frustrating. I want to finish a song, but if I force it I am unhappy with the outcome. That's why I've learned to write down every lyric. When it comes to me I'll grab whatever's nearby, which can happen 0-20 times a day, and save it to look over later. (They usually tend to come to me when I'm busy with something else.) When I have time I'll read it a few times and if I think it has some potential I will then write it in my songbook.

It can be an irritating process, but it's better to save those lyrics that have potential and take a lot of time revising and completing them than missing out on those opportunities. Just because a project can take a long amount of time doesn't mean it's not worth it.

~Eliza