Ryan Adams Says I’m Lazy

“What I do and what all musicians do is easy. All we have to do is sit down for a couple hours a week and write a song or two. That simple task is all the world asks of me, so I do it. The other musicians who don’t are just lazy, because again, we aren’t being asked to tar rooftops or clean out dumpsters. We just have to write a couple songs!” – Ryan Adams

I wish I had this mentality when it comes to songwriting, but after a long day of work, two hours of commuting, and time decompressing from the requests, emails, and emergencies, I just find it hard to be creative.

I feel like my creativity or inspiration is like a well, and one of my biggest fears is that the well will run dry.  I do things like read books, ponder the philosophical, and try to be sensitive to the small things in life, so that the well continues to be filled with water.  A couple times a week I’ll go over to the well and pull a little of the reserve out to use, then I’ll pray that I use it wisely.  All the while, trying not to waste the inspiration by pairing the wrong lyrical ideas with the wrong melodies, resulting in a work that just doesn’t connect on any levels.

The art of songwriting can be a difficult thing.  Maybe for some it comes easily, but for me, it’s hard work.  I used to think I was fairly prolific, but now I believe I just wasn’t doing the songs justice.  It takes time to mold a song into what it should be.  The attention to detail can really bring a song to life, and often times, I find myself rushing through to complete it.

While I wish I could be as prolific as Ryan Adams, I just cannot.  Maybe one day I will have perfected my art enough to churn out songs left and right, but today I need to focus on the details.

The work ethic aspect of Ryan’s quote does hit home with me.  Another big fear of mine is failure due to laziness.  I don’t want to live with regret.  I want to know that I have given everything I can to the things I invest my time in.  So failure in and of itself does not scare me, but failure due to laziness or poor judgment does.

I’m also a perfectionist, so I often throw out half-way completed ideas.  All songwriters do this to some extent, but I feel like I do it too often.  I believe songwriting is a lot like writing a book.  The first draft of a novel is not going to be the finished product.  It needs to undergo a chiseling process, so it can be shaped into something great.  As a songwriter, I must lay down the first draft.  If I don’t, there will never be any finished product.

If you’re a songwriter, don’t be afraid of making the rough draft.  You can always make changes.

This week I will complete some of my unfinished drafts.  Maybe they’ll be good enough for you to hear one day.