I really love these lyrics. Great song, it really makes me feel connected to it in some way. I also thought the idea of "climb aboard the apology" as an interpretation of your song.
Skip to 11:56 in the clip. If this doesn’t convince you watch this video daily to motivate your writing….you have no hope. Seriously dude. This is an epic video. I appreciate the time and effort you put in to cut this. May god bless you. ❤
You wrote a beautiful strange original song. A song that didn't exist 'til you did the work. And it does that peculiar thing that songs can do. It distilled something in our collective experience. It felt familiar and fresh simultaneously. I loved it. I look forward to hearing more.
I thought this was great! I bought Jeff’s book during the pandemic…yes, it really helped write some different kinds of songs that I had never tried before. I have to go back to the book again ‘cause I’m in another songwriting time when feelings and struggles are trying to escape from my pores. My husband passed away last year - so I’ ve been trying to write about my feeling about this. It’s been very hard - every time I write something that’s too close to my emotions…I start crying my eyes out. So, I’m thinking I should write some other songs that I can finish without too many tears. Thanks so much for this video - I’m getting the book out again. Your song was great! I subscribed!❤
I didn't know who Jeff Tweedy was and had only heard the name Wilko thrown around at festivals. Watched this video, stumbled upon "How to Fight Loneliness" and I'm absolutely hooked. Thanks.
Awesome video! Subscribed for sure. Altho the background music was maybe a tad too loud. Trying to learn from a bunch of songwriters and putting it into practice is a real cool concept btw!
Incredible. Absolutely incredible. So glad I found your channel. Subscribed within the first 30 seconds of viewing this video. Can't wait to dig into your other videos! Keep up the great work!
Jeff: Write freestanding couplets to help spark ideas. Me looking at my google doc of lyrical ideas: Yay! I'm such a good songwriter! Jeff: Don't let adjectives make you think you're being poetic. Me looking at my google doc of lyrical ideas: Wait, wut......
Love seeing the process, and really love how you step into the shoes of other artists! When we do this with enough artists, we really find our own voice. Keep them coming, please!
Good job man. Really mind blowing, cause, to be honest, I never had writting guidelines like Mr. Tweedy offers, and the song, I think you did a hell of a job. Thanks for the education! and the great song to listen too. #The Songwriter's Workshop, .
I am a longtime Tweedy fan (being from Chicago, & lucky enough to have been “in on it” from the start), & have read his books. I still found your “take”, & following your process helpful - thanks!
Being a bit of a Wilco fan, this video caught my eye and I watched with fascination at the processes used but couldn't help but think 'this is never going to work'. But the finished song I really enjoyed a lot. One of those that creeps up on you and I found the chorus sticking in my head. The lyrics were great, interesting and cryptic but knowing the premise, made sense. Definitely some very interesting ideas in these methods and you explained it very well and clearly. Thanks!
I really liked the finished song and the take-off at 16 minutes was a great touch, I could just imagine the billionaires taking off on their Apollo G rocket and leaving us all behind. I'm going to have a go with these techniques. I wonder what I'll come up with.
Im not a Wilco fan but I appreciate the songwriting skills (I can’t listen to Dylan or Cash either but again total respect for the talent and skill). I do love the quotes you extracted from Tweedy’s book- the one about throwing a party and not inviting the self critical parts is going on my fridge! I liked the distorted part in the bridge- very much like a rocket launch- shades of Bowie. Also, and no insult at all, it very much sounded like getting a thorough yet succinct writing lesson from Bird Man!
Nice work and thanks for sharing your song. It is an interesting play on words if you think of Apollo G as Apology. "Let's all climb aboard the Apology." That's what my mind heard at first (and had meaning for my consciousness) and that theme works as well with your lyrics. I've read "Let's Go (so we can get back)" and there's so many good quotes in it. One of my favorite quotes from Jeff's book, "If a work of art inspires another work of art, I think it has fulfilled its highest duty." Pg. 176 :)
I liked the process and how you approached it. The song is definitely viable. I would replaced the half step chord modulation in the chorus with something sampled from your instrumental slide up the neck fashioned to sound like awkward attempts to launch a rocket to get to the desired modulation pitch. Maybe even change it up with each new iteration of the chorus. Great effort. I have read both Jeff's books, but I want to go back and dig in now that you have so graphically and musically illustrated his technique. Thanks!
Thanks - lots of great ideas, fun process, and your song is great and I love how you can hear the influence, but how it morphed to your song. A great example for me is how The Feelies sound like they are influenced by Lou Reed but that they are their own band.
Wow... He puts it so nicely. That's *exactly* my feeling. I listen to music and then I love it so much and then at some point I can't take it anymore, I *need* to at least attempt to make something. It's a pressure that's built up. If I don't go and make something creative (preferably music), I go crazy.
This is the first video in the series ive watched. I love this and I'm not sure I thought I'd be receptive to it. I'm trying to improve my songs and song writing techniques and tools, and while I'm a pretty unconventional songwriter, I want to improve, so I love that these videos exist. Your song was great. I look forward to checking out the rest of these videos and taking what I can from them. One of my songwriting techniques is when I finally come up with a recording I love that feels like it will work for a song idea I already have based on an event person or thing, I will play the song on repeat all day for days literally and listen to it from all kinds of different areas and rooms, in the bathroom, under the covers in bed, in the tub under water. Usually, I'll hear a ringing forming a pattern pointing to the flow of the general lyrical patterns I can work with and where words should go. Then I start to just say jibberish in those patterns while still talking about the target topic. I try to use those word excersizes where I'll have a list of words and ideas I want in the song, and I'll try to feel out where certain sounds work best resonance wise and just flow wise. The hook and bridge ideas always come because if you want yo write a song about something, you'll have enought elements you want to incorporate that they'll fight it out in your head for placment. Anywhoo, I am very open to adopting some new strategies and ideas here, most of mine come naturally but I certainly like to write songs inspired by the feeling or intention of other songs I love, so its just cool to hear the process of successful songwriters. I'm sure these videos aren't easy to put together so thanks in advance!
This was really interesting! Great video, all I would say is the lyrics didn’t feel deliberate for lack of a better word, also I think a play on the idea of “the Apollo G” being an “apology” to humanity based on your idea of millionaire escaping into space would have been something worth exploring. But that being said, I really liked the video and the song, the process of writing is just as important as the end product and you showed that. Keep writing! And keep the videos coming, you earned a subscriber.
Wow! Just stumbled across your channel, thankfully. Really like the song you created, great imagery! I read this book as soon as it was released. Loved the book but never took the time to do the exercises. I'm dusting off the cover, gonna crack it open, and write one song! Thank you, looking forward to your other videos as well!
Great content, although this is essentially a lyric writing video not a really songwriting one. I came to this vid looking to move beyond reams of words and form some into songs but this video doesn't really cover that much... more generating lyrics in the first place.
Yeah my process is a lot different of Jeff’s. I just put chords together. The melody will pop into that so I’ll dub it over on the recording. So I’ll have a rhythm and melody play it through the speakers and just sing the words that pop into my head while listening to it. Funny how many ways there are to get to the same place. Now that I’m thinking about it… I’m just doing the same thing your doing but doing it out loud instead of writing it down.
This video is good but GODDAMN the TH-cam convention of sticking an annoying music bed behind narration is such a useless thing, especially for videos about music. Hardly anybody gets the volume low enough to not be distracting and instead of focusing on what you're saying we focus on this kind of meaningless chord loop in the background. It might make sense in a yoga video or meditation video but it's now a convention in everything. I know you're not the only one to do that but God damn I cannot wait for that trend to die down
5:00 wow, i also thought of Silvia Plath when you said it. I guess it's because her poems are so descriptive. BTW I loved this video, I had never felt instructions were so specific on other "how to write songs/lyrics" books
as people have said, looked like a process that wouldn't deliver anything much at all BUT actually it's pretty cool. Nice to see what was thrown up from you working the process through to the end. Great job. It's a strange song alright, and good lyrics were gotten out of the process..Nice !
I liked the song! You can use some refinement in my opinion, but I think you are on to something really good here. You just might have inspired me to get to working on my own stuff. I really appreciate your willingness to take this brave journey with us all.
I could see hearing your song recorded with the production the moody blues or yes and so many greats of the 60s and 70s did in the peak of their careers. And not questioning it if someone told me it was one of them.
Awesome, dreamy song ! 😎 Maybe the chorus could sound happier / punchier. I could totally see myself listening to it often as one of my favourite songs, if it had a bit more production and a dreamy arrangement à la Grandaddy. great work ! 👍👏👏
Damn a whole book but doesnt even talk about the most important part of writing lol. Just teaches you how to rhyme doesn't talk about figurative language??? wtf
I think what you did here is really cool. I also think you have an opportunity to make a nice song into a great song. To me the best thing the exercises you did yielded was a really GREAT IDEA for a song, and for many of us that's the most difficult task. But to my ears, strict adherence to the exercises arguably got in the way of telling the story/conveying the great idea. I think it also distracted you from recognizing some other lyrical opportunities, e.g. the idea that maybe these billionaires wrecking the planet to escape it owe the world an "apollo-g"...too obvious? I can see that. Maybe it could be inferred less directly, or maybe I just missed it. My main point is, it's awesome that you were able to use these steps to make something from nothing, and I get that that's what the channel's all about. But following the steps less slavishly could be the bridge to making that something truly your own. Great vid and all the best!
Thank you, and thanks for giving it so much thought! I hear what you're saying, I can see the pitfalls of trying to rely on the exercises as the sole source of the lyrics. It is something to keep in mind as I continue to write and grow as a songwriter.
I have been a songwriter for over 50 years. I've written hundreds of songs. The tips in this video are brilliant. I wish I'd heard them 50 years ago.
I really love these lyrics. Great song, it really makes me feel connected to it in some way. I also thought the idea of "climb aboard the apology" as an interpretation of your song.
Skip to 11:56 in the clip. If this doesn’t convince you watch this video daily to motivate your writing….you have no hope. Seriously dude. This is an epic video. I appreciate the time and effort you put in to cut this. May god bless you. ❤
You wrote a beautiful strange original song. A song that didn't exist 'til you did the work. And it does that peculiar thing that songs can do. It distilled something in our collective experience. It felt familiar and fresh simultaneously. I loved it. I look forward to hearing more.
Very well said. I couldn’t agree more. Great job showing us your writing process and sharing this beautiful work. Thank you. 😊
I love this thank you for being vulnerable this is super helpful. I love the melody and the abstract nature of your song, keep writing and creating.
I thought this was great! I bought Jeff’s book during the pandemic…yes, it really helped write some different kinds of songs that I had never tried before. I have to go back to the book again ‘cause I’m in another songwriting time when feelings and struggles are trying to escape from my pores. My husband passed away last year - so I’ ve been trying to write about my feeling about this. It’s been very hard - every time I write something that’s too close to my emotions…I start crying my eyes out. So, I’m thinking I should write some other songs that I can finish without too many tears. Thanks so much for this video - I’m getting the book out again. Your song was great! I subscribed!❤
Apollo G = apology. Love this video! Great exercises for lyrics. I'll have to get Jeff's book now!
A little grit and a driving lead instead of the horn….this has Tom Petty all over it. Great song dude!!
Absolutely fantastic. Thank you for being so generous with sharing your demo. It really gives others inspiration and permission to do the same!
Good effort .. I just think experiences override exercises. Dig into your soul more and drop the word ladder. The more of you the better.
I didn't know who Jeff Tweedy was and had only heard the name Wilko thrown around at festivals. Watched this video, stumbled upon "How to Fight Loneliness" and I'm absolutely hooked. Thanks.
Smile all the time
That is my favorite song of his.
Awesome video! Subscribed for sure. Altho the background music was maybe a tad too loud. Trying to learn from a bunch of songwriters and putting it into practice is a real cool concept btw!
Thanks for the sub and the feedback!
Keep it going dude, I’ve been playing guitar for 16 years and only just now feel like I’m diving into the concept of songwriting…
Incredible. Absolutely incredible. So glad I found your channel. Subscribed within the first 30 seconds of viewing this video. Can't wait to dig into your other videos! Keep up the great work!
Jeff: Write freestanding couplets to help spark ideas.
Me looking at my google doc of lyrical ideas: Yay! I'm such a good songwriter!
Jeff: Don't let adjectives make you think you're being poetic.
Me looking at my google doc of lyrical ideas: Wait, wut......
“A Ghost is Born” is one of my all-time favorites. Handshake Drugs is a classic.
Love seeing the process, and really love how you step into the shoes of other artists! When we do this with enough artists, we really find our own voice. Keep them coming, please!
Here before this blows the fuck up
Good job man. Really mind blowing, cause, to be honest, I never had writting guidelines like Mr. Tweedy offers, and the song, I think you did a hell of a job. Thanks for the education! and the great song to listen too. #The Songwriter's Workshop, .
I am a longtime Tweedy fan (being from Chicago, & lucky enough to have been “in on it” from the start), & have read his books. I still found your “take”, & following your process helpful - thanks!
BLONDIE was not punk...ordinary pop $$$$ top 40.
Being a bit of a Wilco fan, this video caught my eye and I watched with fascination at the processes used but couldn't help but think 'this is never going to work'. But the finished song I really enjoyed a lot. One of those that creeps up on you and I found the chorus sticking in my head. The lyrics were great, interesting and cryptic but knowing the premise, made sense. Definitely some very interesting ideas in these methods and you explained it very well and clearly. Thanks!
Dude Jeff's quote that you want to be the mantra of the channel is so dead on. That quote completely embodies how I have been feeling this last week.
You should send this to Susie! She will invite you as a special guest on the Tweedy Show.
I really liked the finished song and the take-off at 16 minutes was a great touch, I could just imagine the billionaires taking off on their Apollo G rocket and leaving us all behind. I'm going to have a go with these techniques. I wonder what I'll come up with.
Im not a Wilco fan but I appreciate the songwriting skills (I can’t listen to Dylan or Cash either but again total respect for the talent and skill).
I do love the quotes you extracted from Tweedy’s book- the one about throwing a party and not inviting the self critical parts is going on my fridge!
I liked the distorted part in the bridge- very much like a rocket launch- shades of Bowie.
Also, and no insult at all, it very much sounded like getting a thorough yet succinct writing lesson from Bird Man!
That was really good. always good to see how other people create. And your result was really fabulous, great song!
I’ve written hundreds all of which suck.
Just found your channel and your videos are incredible! If you did a Bob Dylan one that would be really interesting
Nice work and thanks for sharing your song. It is an interesting play on words if you think of Apollo G as Apology. "Let's all climb aboard the Apology." That's what my mind heard at first (and had meaning for my consciousness) and that theme works as well with your lyrics. I've read "Let's Go (so we can get back)" and there's so many good quotes in it. One of my favorite quotes from Jeff's book, "If a work of art inspires another work of art, I think it has fulfilled its highest duty." Pg. 176 :)
That’s a great quote. I loved Jeff’s book. One of my favorite autobiographies.
So true🎉❤
Apollo G - apology.
I liked the process and how you approached it. The song is definitely viable. I would replaced the half step chord modulation in the chorus with something sampled from your instrumental slide up the neck fashioned to sound like awkward attempts to launch a rocket to get to the desired modulation pitch. Maybe even change it up with each new iteration of the chorus.
Great effort. I have read both Jeff's books, but I want to go back and dig in now that you have so graphically and musically illustrated his technique. Thanks!
You're really on to something here. Both your video approach and your songwriting. Thank you for sharing. I bought Jeff's book. lol Please keep going.
Would you be able to make a video on "writing a song like William and Jim Reid (The Jesus & Mary Chain)"?
Great video. Very thoughtful! Watching this draws me to create :)
Thanks - lots of great ideas, fun process, and your song is great and I love how you can hear the influence, but how it morphed to your song. A great example for me is how The Feelies sound like they are influenced by Lou Reed but that they are their own band.
Wow... He puts it so nicely. That's *exactly* my feeling. I listen to music and then I love it so much and then at some point I can't take it anymore, I *need* to at least attempt to make something. It's a pressure that's built up. If I don't go and make something creative (preferably music), I go crazy.
This is great content for curing writer's block! Also, the idea of the Appolo G is so on-the-nose, and I love it.
Hey man, that song you created is terrific. Thank you for creating this channel. It’s a great service.
Really enjoyed your video and song exercise. Some helpful advice there!
Excellent! Sounds like something Jeff would write!
Really helped with my writing process brother...song sounds great. Much love brother!
You are going to be successful on this platform, great content.
This is the first video in the series ive watched. I love this and I'm not sure I thought I'd be receptive to it. I'm trying to improve my songs and song writing techniques and tools, and while I'm a pretty unconventional songwriter, I want to improve, so I love that these videos exist. Your song was great. I look forward to checking out the rest of these videos and taking what I can from them. One of my songwriting techniques is when I finally come up with a recording I love that feels like it will work for a song idea I already have based on an event person or thing, I will play the song on repeat all day for days literally and listen to it from all kinds of different areas and rooms, in the bathroom, under the covers in bed, in the tub under water. Usually, I'll hear a ringing forming a pattern pointing to the flow of the general lyrical patterns I can work with and where words should go. Then I start to just say jibberish in those patterns while still talking about the target topic. I try to use those word excersizes where I'll have a list of words and ideas I want in the song, and I'll try to feel out where certain sounds work best resonance wise and just flow wise. The hook and bridge ideas always come because if you want yo write a song about something, you'll have enought elements you want to incorporate that they'll fight it out in your head for placment. Anywhoo, I am very open to adopting some new strategies and ideas here, most of mine come naturally but I certainly like to write songs inspired by the feeling or intention of other songs I love, so its just cool to hear the process of successful songwriters. I'm sure these videos aren't easy to put together so thanks in advance!
Bravo
Just finished writing his book...very casual, conversational, and enjoyable. Thanks for posting this.
What a wonderful quote. Very happy I found this channel and looking forward to more!
That song also reminds me a lot of Space Oddity by David Bowie. Chilling, in a good way!
Make me want to start reading Jeff tweedy 's books and perhaps other musicians
This was really interesting! Great video, all I would say is the lyrics didn’t feel deliberate for lack of a better word, also I think a play on the idea of “the Apollo G” being an “apology” to humanity based on your idea of millionaire escaping into space would have been something worth exploring. But that being said, I really liked the video and the song, the process of writing is just as important as the end product and you showed that. Keep writing! And keep the videos coming, you earned a subscriber.
Brilliant advice, but really distracting background loop🫨
Or you could dream a melody, wake up, and quickly record a song like “Yesterday”, using McCartneys method. Either or.
Wow! Just stumbled across your channel, thankfully. Really like the song you created, great imagery! I read this book as soon as it was released. Loved the book but never took the time to do the exercises. I'm dusting off the cover, gonna crack it open, and write one song! Thank you, looking forward to your other videos as well!
keep up this sort of process and you'll probably start the next "Wilco" :) you're right, the poetry is rich! Great work!
That song is terrible! Although the guitar melody is decent.
I really like this video format, thanks for making these!
You’ve helped me move towards climbing out of a hole I’ve been in for the last 6 years. Thank you truly
Great content, although this is essentially a lyric writing video not a really songwriting one. I came to this vid looking to move beyond reams of words and form some into songs but this video doesn't really cover that much... more generating lyrics in the first place.
That repeating guitar in the background is fine. But the 16th note snare/hihat is not. I couldnt finish the video. Thanks anyway.
Lyrically it's stellar. Sonically I would have liked to see more grit and volume. Thanks for the lesson!
Yeah my process is a lot different of Jeff’s. I just put chords together. The melody will pop into that so I’ll dub it over on the recording. So I’ll have a rhythm and melody play it through the speakers and just sing the words that pop into my head while listening to it. Funny how many ways there are to get to the same place. Now that I’m thinking about it… I’m just doing the same thing your doing but doing it out loud instead of writing it down.
I love that the ship is called “Apollo G” (apology) cuz it’s like the “billionaire” of the song is apologizing
This video is good but GODDAMN the TH-cam convention of sticking an annoying music bed behind narration is such a useless thing, especially for videos about music. Hardly anybody gets the volume low enough to not be distracting and instead of focusing on what you're saying we focus on this kind of meaningless chord loop in the background. It might make sense in a yoga video or meditation video but it's now a convention in everything. I know you're not the only one to do that but God damn I cannot wait for that trend to die down
5:00 wow, i also thought of Silvia Plath when you said it.
I guess it's because her poems are so descriptive.
BTW I loved this video, I had never felt instructions were so specific on other "how to write songs/lyrics" books
The lyrics are good… but the chorus is bad….try writing like Dave Grohl….write a bumper sticker and use it as a chorus
Great video. Looking forward to you creating a company that generates billions and giving it all away or something.
Great demonstration of the songwriting process from start to finish!
This is about the act of creation, not performance….
@@robertwynkoop7112 ?
as people have said, looked like a process that wouldn't deliver anything much at all BUT actually it's pretty cool. Nice to see what was thrown up from you working the process through to the end. Great job. It's a strange song alright, and good lyrics were gotten out of the process..Nice !
You wrote such a cool song! Id love to hear GRANDADDY cover it.
"Creating Creates Creators." I stole that one from his book, too, and shared it with my artistic kids. Create. That's it.
Great stuff. The song is cool and you did a great job demonstrating the concepts Tweedy wrote.
Great breakdown. Your song sounds like Duncan Sheik--awesome job, man!
Petty good man. The guitar sounds exactly like a Wilco song too. Were you going for that?
Apollo G is a pleasing, unwitting pun on 'apology'. Wonder if that was why your eye was drawn to it.
weird my method was go through a break up, get addicted to drugs and sleep with multiple girls, almost die a few times and then cry into a microphone
I liked the song! You can use some refinement in my opinion, but I think you are on to something really good here. You just might have inspired me to get to working on my own stuff. I really appreciate your willingness to take this brave journey with us all.
Great song and very much liked to see the process. Amazing video! Keep sharing your songwriting journey please.
So good, and informative, and inspiring!
And the song ends, on G minor.. haha. Nice!
1st time watcher!
Just subscribed.
thanks for your work.
I could see hearing your song recorded with the production the moody blues or yes and so many greats of the 60s and 70s did in the peak of their careers. And not questioning it if someone told me it was one of them.
Nice hand writing...
This is an amazing walkthrough and I love the condensed practical takeaways from Tweedy’s book. Subscribed! Cheers
fantastic end result - love it
Just found this channel. I love it. Thanks! Oh, Uncle Tupelo is in my top five favorite bands of all time.
"I shudder when I hear the applause, cause I know they have me in their claws." Nice!
Great song! Thanks!! Liked more than I thought I would! Congrats! Now wrote one album! Hehe
Cool vidéo. Really interesting idea for a channel.
Ryan Adams has a process he calls stacks. Where he pulls lines from 2 random reading sources
Awesome, dreamy song ! 😎 Maybe the chorus could sound happier / punchier. I could totally see myself listening to it often as one of my favourite songs, if it had a bit more production and a dreamy arrangement à la Grandaddy. great work ! 👍👏👏
for me it's the lyrics are the hardest any advice?
Excellent video! I subscribed and look forward to seeing your next one!
What poems were mentioned?
Thanks
Great episode!
I have heard that tune before somewhere,
Damn a whole book but doesnt even talk about the most important part of writing lol. Just teaches you how to rhyme doesn't talk about figurative language??? wtf
Excellent, love the nod to "Jesus etc" skyscrapers scrape
This is amazing. Great Job!!! love the lyric's and chord progression.
I think what you did here is really cool. I also think you have an opportunity to make a nice song into a great song. To me the best thing the exercises you did yielded was a really GREAT IDEA for a song, and for many of us that's the most difficult task. But to my ears, strict adherence to the exercises arguably got in the way of telling the story/conveying the great idea.
I think it also distracted you from recognizing some other lyrical opportunities, e.g. the idea that maybe these billionaires wrecking the planet to escape it owe the world an "apollo-g"...too obvious? I can see that. Maybe it could be inferred less directly, or maybe I just missed it.
My main point is, it's awesome that you were able to use these steps to make something from nothing, and I get that that's what the channel's all about. But following the steps less slavishly could be the bridge to making that something truly your own.
Great vid and all the best!
Thank you, and thanks for giving it so much thought! I hear what you're saying, I can see the pitfalls of trying to rely on the exercises as the sole source of the lyrics. It is something to keep in mind as I continue to write and grow as a songwriter.
This is excellent! Love the process and the finished product! Have subscribed.
This series is genius. Thank you.
Great song! Thank you for this video
Well done...way to go for "IT"..!!
Lyrically catching and meaningful.
Fantastic line…”curtains looking for a room to rent”