The earliest memories I have of my first attempts at writing songs are that they were
very Dylan influenced and were consequently oozing
protest. I didn't write a love song until years after my first efforts.
From my roots as (what I like to consider as) an aspiring teenage poet I moved onto
lyrics to music (as opposed to songs) shortly after. I guess everybody at that age is full
of rebellion and protest, and anything that's a contradiction to the current ways of the
world. My only acceptance to any form of conformity was that I was no exception to the
rule, and it came out in my writing of the time.
The
Ballad Of Mary Louise And Buck Williams, about the young
Buck who killed Mary after finding her with another man, or
Epitaph
which could have been written about any of today's conflicts, or
Last
Stand which could so very well have been autobiographical, had it been written thirty
years later.
I those early days I churned out a dozen songs a week but as of late I've decided to
concentrate on quality as opposed to quantity. In consequence I'm right down to ten a week
now. No but seriously, these days, instead of hitting the red button on a cheap old
cassette while strumming on a battered folk guitar my efforts are digitally recorded on
computer, complete with MIDI backing and down-loaded onto mini
disc. For those of you who will at some time in the future receive my demo's, the chances
are that they will be in this format.
As for the songs themselves it seems to have gone full circle a dozen times or more.