The Complexity of Simplicity

www.goodaboom.com

I find myself wanting to articulate in these pages, dear reader, a struggle in which I am currently engaged. It concerns the Art of Songwriting, and make no mistake it is an Art, one which any Songwriter will tell you, you are never fully the master of. My struggles began the other day when I composed a new song called "Why" which you may come to hear on our site in the coming weeks, but it has reached its zenith with a song I have had "on the back burner" for nearly eighteen months in acoustic demo form. It is called "The Long Walk Home" and it has a haunting simplicity. My problem, put simply, is this; How can I maintain the beautiful simple quality this song has whilst turning it into a finished article. How much should I add? Does it even need a drum beat? If I leave it so empty, will it lack an indefinable something, or has it already got the indefinable something that may be lost if I over-egg the pudding? The problem lies in the fact that the emptiness of the demo conveys the emptiness of the subject; it is about a man, lost in the arctic wilderness, finally realising that he will die there. If I go in too heavy-handed, it will lose its delicacy, its gravitas. Miki believes very strongly in this song, and has convinced me that I should spend a great deal of time and effort on this song in an endeavour to get the balance right. I think the song deserves it. I confess, I too often settle for a finished result which is often less than it could be, in my eagerness to jump into the next project. In the words of American novelist Stephen King; "Talent is cheaper than table salt, what separates the talented individual from the successful one is a lot of hard work."