Never throw anything out, especially on a napkin...

I have a rule, which is to never throw anything out, especially when its in the context of a song, (but I make an exception for day old pizza crust.) I have so many different unfinished song ideas that I keep locked away in file, on cassettes etc, even the ones that I don't necessarily like, because with music we are dealing with so many different emotions, and it all depends on how we feel, whether a certain idea will work or not. Have you ever had a similiar experience where you hated a certain idea after it was written or recorded, but after collecting your thoughts months or even years later you gained a much better appreciation for your creation?


I was riding my jeep the other day, and between the seats of my car I found a napkin with a guitar tabulature written on it, it must have been from two years back or so. During the time I wrote it, I remember there was so much confusion going on in my life, I retreated away to my favorite spot with my acoustic in hand and just vented my frustrations through music, without a tape recorder handy, I wrote a few ideas down a napkin or whatever I could get my hands on. After all of that, I sorted out my problems, and I remember thinking how crappy the arrangments sounded, so I just brushed them aside, threw out most of my ideas, but one of the napkins just slipped between my seats inadvertantly and had been there for years.

Now that I'm calm, my life is more situated, with much more patience than before, I took the time to work on these ideas that I found, and to say the most I have gained a better appreciation. I guess theres an art to every song arrangment, i recorded this idea, and I like it. I guess after listening to this idea for a few hours it kind of re,minds me of what i was going th4rough at that time years ago, and it kind of gives me a better underastanding of the whole situation. Now I just wonder whewther or not I hanbdled it properly, because things have never been the same . Hey who know I might take a hatchet to this song in a few months from now, but at this point its very interesting...

I dunno, the day I realized that something I was working on sounded like the soundtrack for a beer commercial I kinda wanted to ditch the whole concept. Unfortunaly, I can still remember the beer commercial sounding verse, and forgot the chorus which I really liked.

Anyway, I tend to write alot of ideas that sound like crap as just bass or just guitar, but sound really great as a band peice. I think every idea should be held onto, it can usually work in some context.

Its just one of those freak accidents, I'm still not quite sure how I found this arrangment, its almost as if it came out of nowhere. I guess just playing the melody really brings back a few memories from that point and time, heh, I havent decided whether or not its a good thing or not, but still I'm going to work with this arrangment to see what comes of it. Its a very unique piece, it sounds like it came from the french alps, heh...

I guess when writing songs, whenever something sounds too familiar, I usually start over again. Although I could probably get away with it for the most part, still I would know, and its hard to build on something when you know its not your own...

-Joseph