Mark reflects on songwriting.

Author:  Mark Seymour.

Date: 27 April 2020.

Original URL: https://www.facebook.com/MarkSeymourOfficial/

Article Text

What are songs for? Or more exactly, why write them?

Why even ask?

If I were an influencer none of these questions would need answering.

If it’s fame you seek and fame alone. There are many ways this can be done. There’s even genius to it..

So why attach songs to the quest?

They’re so laborious. All that hard work.. just to get noticed. By whoever. See, when it comes to throwing mud at media,

reputation matters. So it’s far better to have one.

Hi.. I’m over here. Please talk to me.

Ahh why?

Oh please.. I can even dress up!

See, YOU may find songs interesting. I certainly do. I mean, there’s a lot of thought involved. A lot of reflecting on the human condition generally. Not just mine, although I’ll admit, bits of it are in there. I mean after all, there is this thing called ‘common ground’ and the quest to find it.

But hey.. we’re all different. Each to his own don’t you reckon? Because, dare I say it, there are punters out there who don’t EVER LISTEN TO MUSIC!

EVER!

And some of them are journalists.

In which case, when diving into the mire of promotion, there is the small possibility you may need some other ‘thing’..

See, you’ve got your songs in one corner right? And then there’s ‘you’, over in the other.

and the ‘you’ bit is the problem.

To even think that the songs might actually speak for themselves. Well, unfortunately my friend, that is a deeply naive and childish assumption.

I’ve taken to long written explanations. The bio, the track by track. Laborious words about South Africa, Pascoe Vale, Wangaratta, Ireland, Jo, my mother, my father, the end of civilisation, birth, death, and the love of beer..

This song is about…

Wait a minute. Hold your horses! Please tick one or more of the following:

Are you a reformed alcoholic? Have you ever taken heroin? Have you come out recently? Are you or have you ever been a member of the Freemasons? Or the Communist party? Are you a roman catholic? Where is your beard? What side of the river do you live on? Have you ever co-written a song with anybody famous? Are you a victim of any kind at all? Can you even think of anything that might be off interest to us other than your BLOODY SONGS?

Ha!

All of these tropes might conveniently apply but… sadly,

They don’t.

So soldier on my friend.

There are only the BLOODY SONGS!

Go hard. Parade them ‘round the room. With strings, whistles, tubular bells. In the end you just want to effect people right? It’s that selfish! Nail me up. I crave attention.

But see, there’s always a story to tell right? That’s the cool bit. Some simple yet twisted tale of human weakness, or courage, fear or longing, that might be off interest to some of you

or none.. it’s your choice.

A little morsel to share. Perhaps insightful. No harm in that surely? And what better way than singing it?

Your needs and mine and a meeting of the two. What could be better? I love symmetry. The more symmetry the better.

What a beautiful idea..

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