The power of titling............................................................................
Talk to any punk rock band — for example, we talked to the guys from
Dillinger 4 for this one — and they’ll tell you that “all you have to do to write
a song is come up with a good title.” Many, many brainstorming sessions with
rock bands in general are consumed with discussions on finding the perfect
title for a new song. Hundreds of titles might be thrown out during these ses-
sions, until one wonderful title — such as “Kim Gordon’s Panties” (Steve
Albini), Camper Van Beethoven’s “When I Win the Lottery,” or, theoretically, if
Maurice Ravel was a pop band and not a classical composer, “Pavanne for a
Dead Princess” — carries enough weight on its own to turn into a song.
This might sound silly, but the point of coming up with a title for a song that
doesn’t exist is to kickstart the creative juices and get you on the path to
actually writing music. Many writers do the same thing when sitting down to
write a poem, short story, or even a novel — they come up with a title for a
project and then sit down and try to come up with a story, poem, or novel
that works under that title. Once you have the title for a song, you can sit
down and start thinking of what the title means to you, how it makes you feel,
and, eventually, what kind of music and/or lyrics you think would go with
that title.
For example, if you hear the phrase “starry, starry night,” do you think of
loud, rough, fast music — or something slow and quiet and sentimental?
Most people would say the latter is the case. What about the word “hoe-
down”? Something sprightly, danceable, and possibly ironic would probably
be the case.
Words have the amazing power of bringing up a panoply of images when
spoken or read, and working with titles is a quick way to get you in the right
frame of mind to compose.
Starting a piece ...................................................................................
The beginning of a piece of music should do one or more of the following
things:
Set the mood of the piece
Introduce a musical ideaGet the listener’s attentionChapter 12: Beginnings, Middles, and Endings 139