Don't Be Like Me

There was a quote form Theodore Roosevelt that says,“Comparison is the Thief of Joy”. Comparing your work, your life, or whatever else will only serve to make you unhappy. While this is true for the individual created person, for recording artists, a musical and creative reality must be faced…

“…There is nothing new under the sun.” Ecclesiastes 1:9.

Recording artists must face the fact that our craft has become a science, and it has been picked apart and put together so many times that there is nothing new and creative about it… it has only just been uncoveredto your ears.

What makes you different and original is your personal perspective about a particular topic. While the topic of “Love” has been written about so many times, your personal perspective is what makes your letter different to your audience.

Artists have a problem of not wanting to be compared to anyone else. Artists want to be original in a world where everything has been done before. Take the “Mona Lisa” painting for instance… With all due respect… it’s actually just a painting of a lady sitting in a chair,but it is De Vinci’s interpretation of something that has already been done before.

 **I personally went on the internet and searched “Painting of a woman sitting in a chair” and found not only the Mona Lisa, but 391 other paintings of women sitting in chairs… on the first page alone.**

 Even though that painting is the most visited, the most written about, the most sung about, the most parodied painting in the world, it doesn’t take away the fact that when put in the pool of other paintings with the same title… it is just like every other painting exactly like it.

The only difference is that the Mona Lisa is De Vinci’s interpretation of a woman sitting in a chair.

There have been many songs about comparing God’s presence to wind, river, rain, oceans, etc., but it never stops anyone from writing about it again. The problem arises when we start to compare our interpretation to another artist’s interpretation, or our music to another artist’s music… our style to another artist’s style… our presentation to another artist’s presentation.

To God, it is ALL special. He loves it because you wrote it.

To your audience, your interpretation is the best thing in the world, because your interpretation is something that they can personally relate to.

Moral of the message: Stop worrying about another artist writing about how God makes them feel, and trying desperately to come up with something “Original”.

First of all, it will never be “Original”, and if God makes you feel the same way… write your own true and honest interpretation about the same experience.

God and Your Audience Will Love What You Bring To The Table.

Some Critical Questions to Ask Yourself This Week:

1. Have I been a victim of comparison?

2. How can I rewrite my songs to reflect my honest feelings and experiences, and not worry about sounding like someone else?

3. Am I proud of my interpretation of my experience?