In my quest for producing quality and enduring products, this intent extends to my creation of music as well. At one point in my life, was almost willing to "sell out" and succumb to writing dumbed down versions of music for the sake of popularity and fortune. I just couldn't go there though.
As a deep thinker, I just can't make myself write mindless music, the type that I find annoying to listen to. I won't contribute to the static when there is such a broader and deeper world to explore.
I may sacrifice potential popularity with my writings, but I am positive there are other like-minded people who enjoy music with deeper meaning that is relevant to their thought processes.
I want to leave a legacy that reflects authenticity, originality, growth and expansion of mind and spirit, not copycat inane lyrics and musical content that is created for the sole purpose of cranking out hits. I refuse to be a product that is manufactured for consumption by a masses who have been conditioned to have a short attention span.
My music will likely never be among the hits, but I have come to recognize that being a hitmaker isn't necessarily what I want to do, if I have to conform to hit-making conventions that ruin the music and remove any semblance of a meaningful, coherent message.
That being said... I have songs that have a very simple message and some of them are even humorous or just plain silly. Other songs that I have written are more complex and contain messages that are often poignant, perhaps even a bit disturbing for some people (because they deal with some dark subject matter). I feel the important part about songwriting (or writing in general) is that a writer writes... a writer digs deep into his/her soul and puts it into an indelible, tangible form. Some songs or other writings may never be released publicly and may only be for the benefit of the writer or a specific audience. That... that is what writing is all about. That is what writing means to me.
