What Famous Songwriter Could You Be?
A common refrain in my mind when listening to music is “I totally could have written that!” as though each lyric were an excerpt from my own life story. So I'm going to put the question out there; if you were a songwriter, or even if you actually are a songwriter, what famous person’s songs do you feel you could have written? Whose lyrics seem to give voice to your deepest thoughts and desires? Whose melodies fit your every mood? Whose cause is your inspiration?
My current answer, and an artist who has claimed this title in my life many times over the years, is Kasey Chambers. I'm not even a big country music fan, but I'm telling you, this woman and I have lived parallel lives and she writes about it in a way that gets me squarely in the gut. Check out Kasey live with her husband Shane Nicholson playing “Once in a While” (a song which, you guessed it, I swear I could have written):
Now it's your turn. Is the soundtrack to your life written by Nick Cave, Ryan Adams, Dolly Parton, Kanye West, Christina Aguilera, or someone more obscure? Just whose songs make your heart sing, and why?
--Shelby Earl
dillman on December 04, 2008 at 03:52 PM
If I had any, any, any musical abilities whatsoever, I would go with Joni Mitchell's "Case of You"... these lines both resonate and crack me up:
Just before our love got lost you said / I am as constant as a northern star / And I said, constant in the darkness / Wheres that at? / If you want me Ill be in the bar
Alas, I have zero musical abilities so I know in fact that I could NOT have written this :)
Renata Sadunas on December 02, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Carla Bruni. If I could speak French. And I was a supermodel. And the first lady of France.
Barry Pike on December 01, 2008 at 04:22 PM
Bruce Cockburn does it for me. "Who put that bullet hole in Peggy's kitchen wall?" is one of the best lines ever set to music. And he's got a million of those, just as good.
Even though he is Canadian and I definitely am not.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
Jon Brown on December 01, 2008 at 09:27 AM
John Fahey. His songs don't have any words, but I connect to them emotionally in a way that is unique for me. When I read his quasi-autobiography I was struck by the similarity of some of our formative experiences. It proves that music can very effectively tell stories even without lyrics.