Blog 4
I have a second confession to make. I actually quite admire Taylor Swift. I know, I know. I know she gets a lot of hate, and a lot of people don’t necessarily see her music as “real music”, whatever that means. I know liking her music is sometimes seen as “uncool”- how dare any serious musician say they like her stuff, it’s only for silly teenage girls. But if I’m honest, fewer and fewer people treat the whole Cantopop market as “real music” as well, so perhaps we kinda do share that in common. 🤷🏻♀️ So who am I to diss it? I actually really admire her, and definitely count her as one of my previously unspoken inspirations. I do resonate with the way she writes... because it’s kind of the way I write.
I recently watched her NPR Tiny Desk Concert, and if you don’t know about Tiny Desk, perhaps you could check it out and be inspired - it’s a YouTube channel where artists and musicians perform in a tiny cramped space behind a work desk - and it’s brilliant. I love the rawness of it, the realness of it, and the closeness of it. It takes what happens on a big stage into your average office work space. It was a surprise to see Taylor Swift there, because it usually features up-and-coming artists or jazz musicians, performances of which I enjoy thoroughly also. But this was a surprising one, and so I clicked. I admit I even got a tad bit emotional after watching it, not because of anything else but the fact that I can resonated with so so much the stuff she said about songwriting and her creative process, and I enjoyed how she picked the songs and played completely alone, stripped down and raw, in the songs’ demo versions. In between songs, she shared thoughts and her creative process so openly and vulnerably, and how she wrote her songs as self-therapy, usually with just one instrument, in her pajamas, in the middle of the night. In that format, she somehow still managed to find a dominant spot in the mainstream and manufactured pop world - and that was so reassuring for me because that’s how I have written a TON of my songs.
Very, very early on in my career, before R&K, one producer once said to me, “you’re not the best singer, you’re not really a great guitar player, piano you’re a little better but still not that great... but with everything put together, mayyyybe you would be able to become a little bit of something.”
And for me, to see someone like Taylor Swift do so well in this world, someone who doesn’t belt like Beyoncé, doesn’t shred on the guitar like John Mayer, doesn’t play keys like Alicia Keys, doesn’t riff like Ariana Grande... for someone like Taylor Swift to be the mega success that she is... is undeniably impressive, and downright inspiring to me. She doesn’t use fancy techy gear, she doesn’t use fancy chords, she doesn’t do fancy grooves or sing fancy riffs. She just writes songs like she writes her diary - but she’s also smart and catchy and commercial about it. She is an amazing storyteller of her own life, and without necessarily being the best at singing or any instrument, she was the best at telling her unique stories. With everything put together, and a strong belief in herself - she has used this creativity of hers to garner millions and millions of fans all around the world.
Sometimes, the mastery of a craft looks different for different people. Sometimes it’s not about technical perfection. Sometimes, those who are imperfect, broken, hurt, but headstrong, open, authentic, courageous, and unapologetic are more interesting. It’s like found their own way to harness their scars or life experiences, and turn them into doors leading to their eventual evolution through creativity. They tell stories instead of showing off. It’s reassuring and also comforting that this still sells, with this much competition in the market, and resonates with me so much.
I then watched the TED talk by Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love after the tiny desk because Taylor said she watched it with tears when inspiration didn’t come. And I just teared myself also. Touched tears. Tears of inspiration. Tears of joy in finding people that seem to think like me, who share the weight of my worries, but are successful and made an impact in the world. I found myself nodding viciously in agreement idiotically in my own living room, when they share the anxieties, insecurities and fears that typically consume the mind of creatives. I am definitely an overthinker so I’m a victim of all that was mentioned. Ok, you’ll have to watch it to understand. But it felt like I was meant to listen to this. It’s based on the daunting feeling of failure when inspiration doesn’t come, or feeling like your best work is “untoppable” and therefore your best days are behind you. But inspiration isn’t from within you. Inspiration is this mysterious force in the universe, and you just have to catch it when it comes, and even when it doesn’t, just keep showing up for your part of the job anyway until it does. And when time comes, let inspiration, this outer force in the universe take over. You don’t have to be sad for writing a bad song, or too proud for writing a good one. Don’t beat yourself up, and just keep doing what you do. Leave that fear behind you. Absolutely life changing.
And with this, I’m gonna go turn on my water tap of inspiration and try to work on some songwriting now. Thanks for checking in 🙂
Till next time.
Choose love, and bring light.
xRobynn
#robynnblogs
Do share what you think on what my next confession should be. 🙂
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