If Only I Could Play An Instrument

My last post was about poetry. It seems crazy to me considering how much I don't understand it and thus am scared to attempt to write it. Yet, I write what I must, what pops into my head and demands to be put on paper. Sometimes it's just lines that would not make a cohesive story but still they say what I want to tell. The only thing I can really categorize that as is poetry.

I'll admit I don't read much poetry but I do know there are some poems that I do admire. Although, the poetry I flock too is probably too well known and mainstream to count for much among true poetry lovers. The Raven by Edgar Allan Poe, many different children's poems by Shel Silverstein and Shakespeare sonnets are about the only thing, not in text books, on my book shelves.

A common thread is that they rhyme and when I attempt to write poetry, even if I try really hard not to, what I write usually rhymes. I'm not sure that it's considered high quality poetry these days if it rhymes.

So I'm thinking that maybe I'm not a poet. Perhaps I'm a lyricist. I love music. I can remember the words to just about any song I've heard more than two or three times. I really connect with music and I feel like most of my poetry would make decent song lyrics if they were tweaked a bit.

I would love to turn my rhyming poetry into songs. The only problem with this is that I have absolutely no musical talent at all. I can play the guitar a little. I would love to play the piano but I don't know how. Even if I did manage to learn to play then I would have to figure out how to write original music to go with my lyrics.

There may be the option of teaming up with someone who has musical talent but we see how that has gone as far as finding an artist for comic book projects.

Right now I don't think I'm anywhere near where I need to be to pursue anything as far as lyrics go. Maybe I should just work on the poetry and if I manage to be decent at that, then I can look into other things.

Of course, what I should really do is focus on my novel and short fiction. Or maybe I should just write whatever I feel I have to to keep my head from aching at the thought of having a brilliant idea be lost and never to be shared.

Return of the Friday Five

I thought I'd do one of my Friday Five post. It seems like a good way to fill up some time during NaBloPoMo and it's a bit more entertaining post then my saying 'I've gotten nothing done,' which is the case.

Although, things change for me all the time, I thought posting five of my favorite songs would be fun. They're songs that I like for the lyrics and I would say they're my faves of all time but I think that would be a tough call. So here are five songs that I love the lyrics to.

I've related to each of these songs and still do. They've inspired me and helped me through things. If I didn't know any better I would think some of them were written just for me.

I'm posting links to the lyrics but unfortunately there are no sites that aren't filled with ads. I did think about posting the lyrics on my blog in posts that would have a really old date long before the blog existed, as sort of references files but I'm not really sure about it.

Anyway, here we go, in no particular order, and yes I'm giving credit to the writer's because it's about the lyrics. Not to say the performances were not excellent but how often do the writer's get credit?

Beautiful Disaster , lyrics written by Rebekah Jordan
What a Good Boy, lyrics written by Stephen Page
Man In The Mirror, lyrics written by Glenn Ballard and Siedah Garrett
The Last Song, lyrics written by Bernie Taupin
RENT (the entire soundtrack), lyrics written by Johnathon Larson
Okay, I (I Should Tell You) know the last (Light My Candle) one may be cheating (Christmas Bells) since there's so many songs (Seasons Of Love) in the entire musical but I think (Take Me Or Leave Me) every song in it has great (Goodbye Love) lyrics. I couldn't chose just one (One Song Glory) or even my top five. So I've (I'll Cover You) filled this explanation with random links (La Vie Boheme ) to RENT song lyrics (La Vie Boheme B) because it's my blog and (Another Day) I can do what (Without You) I want to. And no this is not every song. It was hard (Happy New Year) enough picking the few that I did but I figured no one's going to click every single (Santa Fe) link so I limited myself.

RENT!

YAY! I just got home from seeing RENT again! I am so excited because not only did I get to see RENT, LAAN(Lansing Area AIDS Network) threw an after party where you could meet the cast and crew. I didn't know about it until I was leaving the show with my fellow RENT goers and I saw some of the LAAN staff. I stopped by to say "hi" because none of us had the $50 per person fee for the after party (it's not that outrageous because it is for charity). The LAAN staff was so awesome because they invited all of us to stay for free! I was so out of mind with excitement. I got to meet and chat with the cast of the RENT national tour. It was so exciting. I got them all to sign my RENT poster. I was bummed because even if my camera had been working I wouldn't have brought it since I had no clue about the party and it's not allowed in the theater. It was so amazing. The biggest bummer was that Jenni couldn't be there with me.
And the show was unbelievable. I wanted to jump out of my seat when they started singing RENT, I got goose bumps when Roger started singing One SongGlory and when they sang Seasons Of Love, I was in tears when Mimi sang Goodbye Love and when Collins sang the I'll Cover You reprise and I didn't even realize I was moving along with Today For You Tomorrow For Me, La Vie Boheme and the Tango Maureen until people told me after the show. I want to see it a hundred more times. The music and lyrics have so much meaning and are so powerful and the cast's performance is always so intense. Once again I can't rave about it enough.

I know that I may seem obsessed with RENT and the truth is that I am. This is one of those things that I have writer's envy over. I wish I had written something so amazing that touches so many people. Johnathon Larson made something so incredible and I can't imagine every being able to create something like it.
The reason I love it so much is because I relate to it. There are tons of things about RENT that make me think of my own life. I would list them all but lots of it is just too personal to share with any random people that may wander by. But one reason fits right in on my blog about writing.
No one in my family gets me and a lot of my 'friends' don't either. I'm not even entirely sure that any of them remember I write and that's probably because I make very little money doing it. Alright, I make no money! Anyway, you get a good job that earns you lots of money. That makes you successful which equals happiness. That's what they think anyway.
I've rarely had more money than enough to cover the bills in all my life. Sometimes I can't even pay the bills. And I'm okay with that because I want to enjoy what I do. I don't want to spend my whole life working to pay the bills and be completely unhappy. I want to do what I love and writing is one of those things for me even if I don't make money at it. When I try to explain this to my family they look at me like I'm nuts. When I got this new "good job" my family wondered why I wasn't ecstatic but my first thought was 'when will I have time to write, and paint and play my guitar and I be all alone with no one to talk to'. I wasn't happy about it and I'm still not sure it was the right choice. But to my family it was the only choice because having money makes you happy. That's why when I see RENT, and there are people who are okay with being poor as long as they have time to spend on the things that really matter to them, I don't feel alone. I think to myself 'wow someone finally gets it'. And that's just one of the reasons that I love it so much.