Red Rocks
Last week, I saw Sting perform at Red Rocks with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. It was a gorgeous, clear night and the music was beautiful. Bats buzzed our heads as they flew around the amphitheater. Altogether, a truly unique experience.
When he introduced his song “Tomorrow We’ll See“, Sting explained his process of writing music. First he writes the song (the construct) and then he adds the lyrics (the story). He wrote the construct for “Tomorrow We’ll See” and went for a walk while listening to it on his iPod. As he listened, he got a voice in his head, which started telling him the story. Turns out it was the voice of a transvestite prostitute. Something he hadn’t expected. He tried to dismiss the voice and find another, but the story persisted. In the end, he didn’t fight the voice but instead let the story be told.
He concluded by saying that as a song writer, his job is to follow the voice that comes to him and to do justice to the story being told.
I turned to my husband and said, “It’s the same for any kind of writing.”
My guess is it’s the same for most, if not all, creative endeavors. You get an idea or vision and you see it through, not judging it, but allowing it to become what it wants to become.
Do you find this to be true in your experience as well?