Re: Comments On Pete's VH1 Interview

["L. Bird" <pkeets@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Pete's not embarrassed to write songs because he doesn't "officially" know 
> how to write.  If you look at his past achievements, it's a damn good thing 
> he *doesn't* know how to write in official ABBA, or ABAB, or ABCABC or doe, 
> rea, me ways.  Fuck all that.  That's what they teach you in Junior High in 
> music class.  Throw that shite out the window.
You're right.  What I've run down here is pretty much the formulaic 
style--the guaranteed step by step method to write a pop hit.  "I Am A Slave 
for U" anybody?



> Pete's embarrassed to write with others because he's embarrassed to uncover 
> his soul in front of others.  He tackles that on stage.
He's a sensitive bloke that one.  He *has* to do this process by himself. 
He's fragile and has always been so.

True again.  I can imagine this process is inhibited by someone looking over 
his shoulder.  But I don't know that Pete actully has to be alone, or even 
on stage and in contact with his audience to do this.  He wrote in one of 
his diaries that it had to do with a comfort level.  Apparently he'd had an 
attack of it at John's house.

The two senarios do point out the difference between Pete's very personal 
style of songwriting and the more structured approach that other songwriters 
are likely to use.  Not everybody can access that subconscious method that 
makes Pete's songs feel so real, so they have to develop in some other way.  
I'd expect that most great songwriters have brief insights, and then frame 
them into a standard structure.


keets