Last month while watching Alejandro Escovedo perform at The Vanguard here in Tulsa I had a line pop into my head. I've learned from past experience that if I don't record these thoughts in some manner I will forget them. With that in mind I frantically looked around for some paper and spied a set list from a band that had played there on a previous day. It was written on by a sharpie but since nothing else looked even remotely possible I snatched it up.
Quickly I jotted down the line and then several others that followed. During the next few minutes I would continue to write as things came to me. Keep in mind that I wasn't merely copying or rewriting what I was hearing. Alejandro's music and words had inspired me and brought something to the forefront of my brain. This frequently happens to me. I can be listening to music and suddenly I get an idea and we're off to the races.
For me creativity breeds creativity. It doesn't matter if it comes while reading a novel, a comic book, watching a movie or listening to music. I've even been inspired while listening to various people talking on a podcast and from reading an article in a music magazine (yes they still exist). You have to learn to seize the inspiration when it comes and make the most of it or else it will dry up and disappear.
As of late I've been blessed to write quite a bit of poetry or song lyrics or whatever you want to call it. Around about now you might be asking yourself what happened to those lyrics that started this post. My intention was to scan the page into the computer and write a blog post about how I got the idea and then show what the lyrics looked like after I had worked on them a bit. That was my intention.
Sadly, the paper has disappeared. It was in my laptop bag and my only thought is that I had left it out to scan it and perhaps my wife thought it was nothing and threw it away. it's possible that she could have moved it somewhere else, she has a habit of stuffing things in drawers to get them out of her way. Maybe I misplaced the paper myself, who's to say?
Placing blame is a waste of time, the point is that they are gone and I'm sure they would have been fantastic and a hit song and I would have been filthy rich, or maybe not. They might have actually been crap but I don't know either way. Perhaps one day while cleaning I'll come across those words and you can judge for yourself. All I've learned is that you can lose your ideas even after you have recorded them. Nothing is ever one hundred percent safe.
Written and Published by Don Leach.
May not be used without permission from the author.
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