the art of songwriting !!: having the vision to see a song through

I would like to take off on a subject that was discussed on one of my new favorite blogs (reeltoreal.blogspot.com) where he takes a Mazzy Star demo and compares it to the finished album product with the intention of showing how after the main framework of the song is created many great songwriter's have the vision to take the song to another level whether it is through better recording quality or a more complex arrangement.

I'd like to start off by presenting an example from my own catalog titled "The Great Depression" which is a song I wrote in the spring of 2006, but didn't record a more professional version until the fall of 2007. The original version can be found at "redfizz.com/rf/song.aspx?&songid=346523 and the album version can be found on "myspace.com/jivewhiteboy."

The original chord progression essentially exists in it's entirety in both versions of the song, but the instrumentation that is built around the progression either emphasizes its dark surrealness or changes the emotion entirely as I feel is the case with the second chorus where the lead guitar/piano combo creates a brighter/happier feel.

In all honestly, with this particular song and pretty much most of the songs on the ep, I came into the recording process with no intentions of how it should or was going to sound. I have a feeling this is going to change for my next album. Having more of an idea of how the recording process works, I'll probably come into it with more ideas of arrangements rather than doing everything on the spot. I'm not really sure if that's a good thing. There was something about the spontaneity of this particular situation where the producer and I collaborated on something neither of us had put much thought into beforehand that helped make this one of the better tracks. It was also my willingness to let someone else "mess" with my work that took it to a different level. I know a lot of people who are almost phobic about letting others change their work, but sometimes you have to sit back and put trust in someone. It's also a hell of a lot more enjoyable to work with someone else.

I've had people tell me before that it was blasphemy to change some of my songs the way I did. But, it was always my intention to take them in a different direction and turn them into something bigger. Though, I'm probably considered a "singer-songwriter" the music I've always listened to as never reflected this title. I've never been very strict about how things should sound, genres and the like. The thing I'm looking most forward to about the next album is just how much I can turn the original songs into something different.