Believe it or not many of us tell on ourselves with just our words alone. Why do you think they say when someone's lying, you'll know cause their lips are moving, lol. Eventually just wait and see, everything comes out in the wash.
Never has this been truer when it comes to the songwriting process and that of writing lyrics. We see this more in certain genres where artists are writing their own original tunes as opposed to a songwriter who is writing music for an artist commercially. But nonetheless, writing can be very cryptic and also very telling. I learned this years ago when a friend of mine showed me something that kinda blew my mind, turned out she was a gifted Graphologist among her other skillsets. What is a Graphologist exactly? It’s basically the fancy, technical term for someone who analyzes others handwriting and in turn can spot personality traits, deception, deviant behavioral traits and such. These types of folks were even known to be used in law enforcement cases while trying to surmise the guilty, liars and the like. Graphology itself was coined way back in 1897 and while clearly not a foolproof system, just as anything else, I was damned with just how accurate it could be, especially watching her take those skills to restaurants & bars while fucking with strangers who she would read literally in a matter of minutes just by a ridiculously calculated paragraph of their handwriting. They were stunned, as was I. Hell, it even prompted me to start studying graphology further just by sheer fascination and kicks alone. It’s definitely an incredible art and one which I still find myself using to paint with as the years go by in order to understand myself and others at deeper levels. As I have continually found, there are many pieces to a puzzle.
As a singer-songwriter myself of a few decades I know there are many times when my writing accurately depicts and reflects what I'm going through at a particular time, what I've been through throughout periods of my life, even my thoughts on a particular issue that's close to me. Many of us write this way. I can even go back to shit I’ve written as a youngster; poems, lyrics, scribbles and such that really have become captivating to look at through the eyes of an ever-evolving, masterfully deciphering mind whose playing field is presently at a different level. Sometimes though lyrics are more superficial. Carefully calculated and crafted, in essence creating no transference of anything at a personal or subconscious level but more so leaving the receiver who hears a song to form their own interpretations and in turn deciding what music and words may touch them. While every song has the potential to affect in this way based on one’s perception, again, sometimes lyrics perceived will be vastly different than how they were originally intended when written and created. The psyche has always fascinated me. Truth be told, a lot fascinates me in this world. I have learned so much from my own personal experiences and horrors, my upbringing, dealings with and observations of others. My ever-expanding quest for knowledge via self-study and formal education has taught me more than meets the eye. Sometimes the more I unearth the more I can truly understand the meaning behind a blessing and a curse. Yet no matter how much one knows, life will never cease to amaze you at times with its surprises and that of people and their behaviors. That’s a whole other story for another time though. Along the lines of what’s interesting and telling beyond human puzzles is the ability to pinpoint who a person is by their very own words as we’ve been discussing, so let’s get back in it.
Now I have been known to listen to certain song hundreds of times over. We all have, right? Certain songs, lyrics call out to you and sometimes will speak to you in ways that you can’t always understand and other times they feel so relatable that it feels like home. Yet other times, as I realized more in depth recently, you can listen to a particular song more than once and become shocked when you finally realize the core meaning from which it is written and wonder; how the hell did I miss this before? When maybe by dumb luck you have that aha moment figuring out what the writer truly meant, or the writer tells on themselves, giving you their true meaning. But how dense are we sometimes that the truth is right in front of us all along yet we fail to see it. Are some of us really in that much denial, or is it that we never choose to look deeper to question things that seem unquestionable, maybe we just don’t care to know and would rather stay mesmerized in illusion. So many questions, so many answers, however some things inked may never truly be told. One of my personal epiphanies came when I had my own aha moment after a fallout with a partner. Many know within the music and entertainment industries, that it runs rampant with many talented, yet devious creatures and that’s putting it nicely. Even though you can have a pretty broad understanding of how things work, I believe you will sometimes experience things differently when they hit closer to home and you’re “in it”. The irony in that of course is being too close to it also makes things harder to see and once on the outside, some things suddenly become clear as day as the blindfold gets lifted. In this particular instance, I will never completely understand why I chose to go back and listen to some of my former flame’s music after our demise, especially when the thought of them at the time made me ill. But much to my elated shock and dismay, as I listened to these songs once again, performed by a band of eclectic musicians and songs even I seemingly enjoyed, it never fully dawned on me that the person I assumed was behind writing the lyrics was not in fact the penman, but rather a devil I knew well. All this detail unearthed just by paying closer attention; who knew. I became almost obsessive listening to some of these tracks and holy shit, they were like a confessional. I knew exactly now who wrote all these words and who every single song written was about; HIM. Every word carelessly constructed, painting the picture of who he really was at his core, painfully honest in ways he would never be outside the walls in which he hid and luckily having a fall guy, the band’s vocalist aiding in release of those harbored demons. It was mind blowing to me that I finally figured this out but it left me with even more speculation as to the whys. Did he know exactly what he was writing and putting out there in hopes that no one would ever figure it out, did he not even realize the truth was spewing out right from under him in ways in which he couldn’t predict or did he want to be found out, almost like a subconscious release, absolving all the guilt, shame and repressed feelings. Maybe that’s why others choose to co-write behind the scenes so that they may find a way to fully exhale. But like so many other things in this life, maybe we’ll just never know the full story.
Clearly there is no prescribed, set-in stone way in which one must choose how they create. Not every vocalist writes the words they sing and not every musician or band does things one simple way; whatever works; works. Like anyone else, I have my own thoughts on the roles we as bandmates take in our creations and contributions, it’s sometimes what makes the most sense. Even so, there are times when remaining flexible is key. With our bands over the years, we would break our norms at times for one reason or another. Whether it was certain song lyrics co-written with a bandmate who had killer ideas that could not be overlooked or whole songs in their entirety. These change-ups became important enough to utilize and in turn, giving others a voice unequivocally. Hell, I still to this day sing and perform a song that was written in its entirety by a former bandmate. His words, his story, all deeply personal to him and understandably so, sometimes those words just need a way to be freed; sometimes they need an offbeat vessel. Nevertheless, when the monster hides behind the scenes it almost makes the story that much more foreboding. Certain artists, their lyrics, ego tripped narcissists, the "bad boys", the Jagger’s, Manson’s, Levine’s and every in between; they tell incredible stories, don’t they? From time to time, it’s hard to read between the lines. As the patterns emerge, exposure takes place, almost screaming out from suppression, one might ask; how long can you hide? I think it’s a safe bet you’re now gonna find a ton of lyrics quite interesting. So, on that note; happy reading!
© 09/27/22 Renee Lopez
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