One of the many consequences of being a musician who has written some songs that have become popular in your homeland is that aspiring performers will engage you on the subject of song-writing looking for advice on how to proceed. To be clear, I don’t take it as an intrusion, because (1) the very nature of the approach is complimentary, and (2) I know, from my own experience, how difficult the road is and that any help you can provide another would-be writer is almost always a significant boost for someone labouring, as most writers do, totally on his/her own with this new quest.
Just this week, in a totally by chance encounter, I met such a request from a youngster in Georgetown, and given how often the subject comes up, I’m using the column today to relay some of what I said to the young musician. In the first place, as I pointed out to him, there is no one way, or no set group of ways, behind the work of our creative people and that is probably what my response can be summed up as saying – there is no one way.
