(no subject)
In the book, What Dreams May Come, the author pulls from different sources-religious, spiritual, and philosophical-to portray how the existence of our selves and all that interacts with our selves may be outside our body. These religious, spiritual, and philosophical sources are from different cultures and unified by the author in a fictional forum that conveys a romantic yet plausible perspective on personal existence. While I really like the movie adaptation, the book is more in-depth. It reads like a manual for existence. This manual aspect seems to me to be more of the focus than the actual story-line. It’s like the fictional aspect of the book is there to underline the “facts” of the manual with an emotional point of reference.
I mention this because I had a dream this morning about a song I’ve yet to write.
In the book, What Dreams May Come, the author talks about the creative process. According to this, all works of art-paintings, books, songs, movies, scripts, etc-exist in their perfect form in a type of “heaven” (in the book called “Summerland”). On the earthly plane, some people are more receptive to a connection with these perfect works of art than others. This connection occurs in the form of inspiration. These people-the artists-interpret the inspiration as best as the available tools will allow. Some of the more skilled artists recreate the vision better than others. But due to clouded connections and limited use of perception methods, we the artists can never truly reproduce in complete clarity the works of art that we sometimes have a connection with.
In my dream this morning, I am listening to this song with my band mates, Ron and Fortner. I think maybe I am editing the song on a multi-track recorder? I remember being really excited with the tune. As I recall, the song is upbeat with a driving chicken beat (like the bridge section of “Stupid”), the vocals are similar to Serj’s style (System of a Down), and the music is not distorted. There is some banjo rhythm with violins accenting hits with the drums. As I recall, the song has elements of System of a Down and Squirrel Nut Zippers.
See, this is the frustrating thing for an artist. Articulating accurately the inspiration that comes to us. All we can do is use what know. Make references. Start with a familiar point and then begin the crafting process, adding points that seem right. Eventually we’ll have a synthetic version of the perfect piece of art that we perceive through clouded perception methods. A child’s drawing of god’s face.
But now I’m just being melodramatic for effect.
Truthfully, I want to write this song. In my dream, I approve of it. The melody is good and quirky with stabs of guttural personality. Now I just have to remember what it is. Make that connection again.
Yeah, right.
I mention this because I had a dream this morning about a song I’ve yet to write.
In the book, What Dreams May Come, the author talks about the creative process. According to this, all works of art-paintings, books, songs, movies, scripts, etc-exist in their perfect form in a type of “heaven” (in the book called “Summerland”). On the earthly plane, some people are more receptive to a connection with these perfect works of art than others. This connection occurs in the form of inspiration. These people-the artists-interpret the inspiration as best as the available tools will allow. Some of the more skilled artists recreate the vision better than others. But due to clouded connections and limited use of perception methods, we the artists can never truly reproduce in complete clarity the works of art that we sometimes have a connection with.
In my dream this morning, I am listening to this song with my band mates, Ron and Fortner. I think maybe I am editing the song on a multi-track recorder? I remember being really excited with the tune. As I recall, the song is upbeat with a driving chicken beat (like the bridge section of “Stupid”), the vocals are similar to Serj’s style (System of a Down), and the music is not distorted. There is some banjo rhythm with violins accenting hits with the drums. As I recall, the song has elements of System of a Down and Squirrel Nut Zippers.
See, this is the frustrating thing for an artist. Articulating accurately the inspiration that comes to us. All we can do is use what know. Make references. Start with a familiar point and then begin the crafting process, adding points that seem right. Eventually we’ll have a synthetic version of the perfect piece of art that we perceive through clouded perception methods. A child’s drawing of god’s face.
But now I’m just being melodramatic for effect.
Truthfully, I want to write this song. In my dream, I approve of it. The melody is good and quirky with stabs of guttural personality. Now I just have to remember what it is. Make that connection again.
Yeah, right.