Beyonce, Collaboration, System Overload and Not Knowing What's Real

Have you heard Beyonce’s new album “Cowboy Carter” yet? 

I don’t often listen to her music, although I’m familiar with some of her songs and watched her documentary “Homecoming” and admire her craft and skill (and incredible career).

I was curious about her new music, so I gave “Cowboy Carter” a listen. She totally lives up to her legendary reputation and sets the bar super high. With amazing production, engaging lyrics and her beautiful voice - along with all the featured guests, including Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Miley Cyrus and Post Malone,  it felt like a musical experience rather than just a playlist of unconnected songs, which is usually how I’ve been listening to music lately. I’m sure there’s so much more that I missed on the first listen but it feels like there’s a lot of depth there. 

One lyric that caught my attention was the chorus of “Ameriican Requiem,” the opening track. “It’s a lot of talkin’ goin on while I sing my song. Can you hear me? I said, “Do you hear me?” I don’t know what her intention was with this - and I’m sure the song had much deeper meaning than this first impression - but in my mind, I pictured a young singer before she was Beyonce playing at an open mic and being frustrated that people weren’t paying attention to her song. 

This reminder that everyone starts somewhere is inspiring, although very few people make it to the Beyonce stage. Sometimes it feels futile to even move forward on this songwriting journey because there’s so much excellent music out there, what can I possibly add as I stumble through learning production and improving my songwriting? Is there a point?

So I’m just trying to focus on the journey itself and enjoy the process rather than feel frustrated that I’m not yet where I want to be.  

One other lesson I got from her album is the power of collaboration. Beyonce doesn’t try to create all the music herself and do the production and the vocals and the marketing and the album cover. She has an entire team of top musicians, producers, performers, marketing pros  and she likely has a say in everything, but doesn’t try to do it all herself. She has a long list of impressive  collaborators through the years. Who wouldn’t want to work with her? 

I hope at some point to do more collaboration with others. If you’re interested, contact me on Instagram at A Songwriting Journey. 

I just thought I’d ask…

Anyway, here’s a PSA. This past week when I tried to open LogicPro to work on a current song I’m working on, I got a “System Overload” message. I admit that my LogicPro files are sort of a mess because I’ve never taken the time to organize them. Initially it was because I wasn’t sure how the Mac was set up - I usually use a PC - and since I only use our MacMini for LogicPro, I didn’t pay attention to where everything was going. 

I’ve been saving a new file each time I do a mix so I can have a backup of the previous version in case I mess up a track along the way. 

I paid the price for this lax organization system this week. Instead of working on my newest song, I had to spend the evening saving files on my backup drive - which still has lots of extra space (I use a SanDisk 1TB Extreme Portable SSD). I learned that the setting on my trash folder was not set up to automatically empty the trash so I had a long list of deleted files in my trash folder. So my next step is to go through my backup drive and open each of my song files to make sure it has everything it needs to have in case I want to go back and make any changes. In the past, I’ve had trouble once I moved a file over to my backup drive - the project opened but was missing some of the audio files. So my advice to you if you’re just starting out - get organized from the very beginning to save you the headache of something not working when you need to go back and work on it. And always back up your projects so they don’t disappear completely if something happens to your computer. 

Now on to this week’s song. I wrote it two years ago, but it’s even more relevant today. It’s about not knowing who to trust when it comes to the news. What is a trusted source these days? Many people get their news from social media and base their beliefs on what their algorithm tells them without doing further research from credible sources.

Then those beliefs - based on false narratives - lead our society down a dark path, fueling hatred and, in some cases, violence. 

The presence of traditional newspapers staffed by trained journalists has declined. Who do we believe these days? 

A recent New York Times article reported that there are a number of fake news organizations created by Russia  with an aim to spread false and misleading narratives. Does Russia have America’s best interest in mind to deliver unbiased and truthful news, especially during an election year? The Al Jazeera website is funded by the government of Qatar, a country that houses the leaders of Hamas so how objective do you think their reporting is about what’s happening in Gaza? 

It used to be that you turn to newspapers to do research about what happened during history - where will future generations turn to learn about their history when there are conflicting narratives even as it is happening? 

The Internet is filled with propaganda and it’s difficult to know what sources to trust. Beliefs that I have held for decades are being questioned and despite the books, museums, artifacts and personal experiences that have led me to holding these beliefs, hateful narratives are disputing them - hateful narratives that counter all that I have learned throughout my life and that many of my family, friends and community share. It’s like somebody created an alternate reality, where everything I value is being attacked and twisted. And yet, at the same time, this change is reminiscent of what has happened throughout history. Hateful ideology that I thought was in the past has somehow gone mainstream - or at least that’s what it seems like if you dive too deep into the comment section of social media. What is real? What is true? Who should we believe?

Here’s this week’s song:  “Tell Me What is Real.” Listen here.

Tell Me What is Real 

I don’t know what to believe
Stories keep flying at me
They’re all saying different things
Can somebody help me please

Tell me what is real, tell me what is true
Tell me why I should believe you
I don’t want opinions, I just want the facts
I want a legend like Walter Cronkite back

Everyone thinks they’re so wise
Deciphering truth from lies
Refusing to compromise
There’s no winner, there’s no prize

Tell me what is real, tell me what is true
Tell me why I should believe you
I don’t want opinions, I just want the facts
I want a legend like Walter Cronkite back

I guess that’s the way it is
It’s no longer what it was
When searching for the truth
It helps to know who to trust

Tell me what is real, tell me what is true
Tell me why I should believe you
I don’t want opinions, I just want the facts
I want a legend like Walter Cronkite back.

© Leisah Woldoff