Because at the end, it really is all about the music -- an open letter
JUNE 18, 2009, 12:12 pm
Hi David,
Yup, I'm writing to you again, and I'm going to warn you in advance -- there will be no silly jokes in this letter, nor any references to lame 80's songs. I'm going to take a moment to be earnest about something, and I hope you'll bear with me.
I recently read about your deal with Cherry Lane, to which I say congratulations -- it sounds like this is a great, great thing for you, and the implications are very exciting to think about.
But on the heels of that, and of a recent interview where you said you had originally expected fans to talk about your music, instead of all the other ancillary stuff -- well, this is where I have to sound off a little bit, as if I have a right to.
You may not realize this about yourself, but you do have high expectations of us fans, in some ways -- and that's a good thing, believe me, because it seems that a lot of us take that seriously and strive to reach those expectations, and in doing so surprise ourselves about what we're capable of. But when it comes to the music, if you're serious about wanting to change the focus of discussion, you might need to do a little more hand-holding to get things started.
You have an incredible advantage over a lot of us peons. 
You've lived, breathed, studied music for years. And even those fans who have no musical background recognize that you've put in uncountable hours getting to where you are. But that's precisely where so many are at a loss -- because even if a lot of people want to discuss a melody line, or a time signature, or what have you, I've found that the majority of fans don't have the vocabulary, or know where to start.
Personally, I would love to talk about the music, and the songwriting process, and analyze to my heart's content, as I do have enough of a musical background to have some kind of conversation about it, but there's still so much I don't know -- and unfortunately, because it seems you haven't spoken much about the music itself in a lot of your interviews, it's possible that other fans just haven't had enough of a catalyst to start talking about it, either. Granted, there's always some kind of discussion about your lyrics (often "what is that word?" but I'm going to leave that alone this time) -- but that can only go on so long before people can get analyzed out, so to speak -- and perhaps part of that is that there aren't a lot of people engaged in the discussion in the first place. Fans have known about Analog Heart for a solid year, at least; perhaps some lyrical conversations have been exhausted, among those who care to have them? And you must admit that your newest album is not nearly as obscure lyrically, which limits the analysis, too -- because at some point we're all just discussing the obvious.
So that's where I'm going to suggest, respectfully, that you help open up the discussion to demystify the other half of the songwriting process -- or, perhaps, the process itself. Even if you just explain why you chose some of your singles as songs to include on the record, as opposed to others, when you had no hand in writing them -- was it just about the universal message, as you've said before? What spoke to you musically about Come Back to Me -- and regarding the music history lesson in Light On, can you elaborate? I imagine you had more than a few choices of what to include on your latest album, so what made these songs stand out? I'm not going to barrage you with more questions about these songs, or about the ones you wrote yourself, but rest assured -- if I could pose as a reporter from some fictitious Songwriters' Weekly, I totally would -- and I'd have some damn good questions, too.
So please, help us wannabe music geeks out. You've already expanded the English vocabulary of many fans, as you must know -- would everyone have made such a big deal about "plethora" otherwise? So can you try it out on the music end, and teach us enough about what you do so that enough people can talk about it as much as some people seem to discuss your choice in breakfast foods or your big toe? Please don't think that getting overly technical is a bad thing. We'll look up the terminology if we have to. Because, the thing is -- I KNOW there's enough to say about what you write to keep discussions going until, well, your next album, at least; but I don't think you'd want only a tiny handful of people talking about it, when there's the potential for so much more.
So there's your food for thought, as if you don't already have enough to think about. Thanks for humoring me enough to read this far, if you have -- I admit that I'm more than a little frustrated about the topic, but I hope I'm being reasonable. And now that the ball's in your court, I promise that if you throw it back, I, at least, will do my best to keep it in the air.
-Cimorene <3
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Comments for this Blog post
All of the magic, the music is you
Wonderful post. In the words of John Denver
Music makes pictures and often tells stories
All of it magic and all of it true
And all of the pictures and all of the stories
All of the magic, the music is you
--
Totally Irrational Fan #: 2πr Walking all these circles to Anodyne.
Focusing on the Music
Bravo!!!! This is much needed!!! I've been confused about David's recent references to fans not focusing on the music. I've asked specific questions in the past that have been ignored, so I stopped asking. I figured Dave didn't want to address the issue. So, has he changed his mind?
I am not a musician, although I played violin and organ as a child, so I can read music and have a basic understanding of chords and tempos. I've had a life long love affair with music; it's has been and continues to be the backdrop of my life. I do not understand the mechanics of songwriting (the music, not the lyrics), or the mechanics of re-arranging existing songs. My biggest question is about the re-arranging aspect. David has said he "hears" changes in songs. ?????? Like what??? Most graphic example is ABMB - What exactly did you "hear" when you listened to Mariah Carey's version that lead to what you did with it??? I sure didn't hear that from her version, but when I heard Dave's version, I was like, "Oh! Yea! That's right." But how do you get from point A to point B? I need that explained to me. I want to know, or I wouldn't ask!
So, yea, Dave, don't ignore the music questions if you want us to focus on music. Love you and what you do, but don't confuse us like that!!!
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WN#3515
A Bit Worthy Word Nerd
Great idea.
I love it. What a great letter. A couple of music-nerd questions have come up on the DWoP thread from time to time, and I'm always surprised there's not a more specific music thread here to ask them in. And now you've gone and done it! Very cool.
Good Idea!
I'd love to hear more about the music! I remember thinking, after the band starting playing together, that I'd really like to hear them play AH in it's entirety to see how it would be distinguished from the original.
Wouldn't it be great if Dave could do a 15 minute "coffee chat" or something here on DCO once a week to discuss a single topic, like a particular song, set list composition elements, etc.
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~ Char
Wonderful Open Letter
Cimorene:
In deference to David's recent meeting with Meatloaf, "You took the words right out of my mouth..." .(except without the "kissing you" part.)
I could not agree more with your letter to David and your ideas expressed there (and your new thread) Every time I listen to one of David's songs I find myself wishing to pull up a chair beside him and simply say "tell me about this song". And by that I mean to tell me not just the inspiration for the song (which is the surface level question) but also, "what does the song mean? why did you chose these lyrics? what led you to this image or analogy or metaphor?" Songs are poetry set to music, songs are lyrical expressions of feelings, events, experiences or ideas and that's what I would love to hear David talk about.
I also find myself fascinated with the music and the way each band he has been with or even when doing his solo work that a unique sound is created. Axium has a certain sound... then AH has a distinct sound... etc . I'd love to hear him discuss the music/sound of the songs/albums; what he gets out of doing the different versions (switching from plugged in to unplugged with so many songs). My musical knowledge is very limited albeit it has increased somewhat over the past few years because of my children taking piano lessons and my husband taking guitar lessons, but as you say I'd love to hear the technical talk as if he was talking to "Guitar" magazine and I'd get something out of it.
And then there's the voice and phrasing: Just as it would be great to hear about lyrics and music it would be incredible to hear him discuss the choices for the sound of his voice (as he has such versatility and has made conscious choices about how to sound on each song), or his phrasing. I love the Vedderish sound he has in Axium songs and covers like Hungerstrike and Creep, yet also love the softer tones used like in Makeover or Lie. To hear him discuss all of this would be incredible.
Let's hope he sees your Open Letter and the thread and realizes we DO want to discuss that not just the pretteh (but can we still discuss that amongst ourselves on the other threads pretty please). But as you say, what really limits out ability to discuss this are the gazillions of interviews that he has to partake in that don't go there. I do a fair bit of freelance writing myself and cringe at the poor quality of the interviews David is subjected to with the same superficial level questions asked over and over again. But really to do justice to what you are asking would take some substantial time and it's just not there in the "tour stop" interviews. That would have to come from specific industry mag interviews (Like the Rolling Stone Issue 1074-March 2009 interview of U2 on their new album) or even better some "special" sessions where he would give that kind of detail. I see that happening more likely during his writing/recording periods rather than tour time. And right now he is in tour mode so perhaps the degree to which we want this can't reasonably be expected.
And speaking of expectations: we also have to be cognizant of our own. I think what leads to the frustration we might be feeling on this topic is that we got 10 years of David songs/lyrics/music/phrasing /collaborations all within a very short period of time. If we had been there at the time of those recordings and releases (which we all wish we could have been) or if they had more mass exposure we might have been able to get some of these music discussions at that time. So what happens now is that we want him to play catch up for us and go back to all those songs as well as discuss what's going on now. It makes me wonder if we asking more of David than we ask for other artists whose work we have been introduced to over a more distributive time frame? Probably. But it is still important to let David know that we DO want to discuss the music, but without making this an expectation of ours that he can't meet.
--
With just a kiss on the neck
Yes, Yes, Yes
It would be GREAT to hear DC discuss and disect his music. Lyrics, instrumentation, the writing and thought process, and even harmonies. This really makes you think about the MUSIC more, (that's what this is all about, right?) me and other word nerds have started to like DC more as a person than like him for his music. Thanks for making this come back into my head, it would be fun to sit down and really look and compare his music.
Thanks for the kudos
Thank you PinkWings, Cathy. This concern has been festering in my head for a few months now, and the songwriting deal, along with the seeming shift in focus on David's part in his most recent interview to songwriting, just brought everything to the surface.
Hopefully the new thread will be a success. I look forward to seeing you there.
HUZZAH!
I'll contribute what I can, I know more than some, less than others. But yeah, this should have been a forum of its own on here since Day 1. One for musical composition, one for lyrics analysis, at the very least.
Thanks for getting the ball rolling, and for taking the inspiration from Dave's comments in the LKL interview - those comments have been niggling in the back of my mind since he said them.
--
Karen
I'd Love to Talk About More than Dave's Latest Hairstyle!
I totally applaud your idea, Cimorene! When you think about the material written by David that most fans already have (I think that I have something close to 100 songs, combining Axium, Analog Heart, DCTR and other miscellaneous songs) it should be enough to talk about for years, if David would occasionally write a blog post or an answer an interview question in detail, or even answer a fan question at the buses.
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CathyM-K
It's easy when it's done being hard. (Therapy/ Axium)
Response
Brava, sister. Fabulously well thought out...you speak the minds of, well, at least me. *scampers to new songwriting thread*
--
When everything's the same, and nothing ever changes, will you fall back into me?