Songwriting as a remedy to disturbing headlines

After a rough week of more disturbing headlines, I just wanted to provide a reminder that it’s OK to take a break from the news and spend time working on things that make you happy. 

Stop scrolling, turn off your phone and spend a few moments alone with your thoughts and see what comes to mind. When you’re in the car, in the shower - whenever you get a chance. 

If you need to process some of the news you’ve heard, maybe that’s the inspiration for a song. Write a message to the person or people that you find infuriating. Even if you don’t end up doing anything further with it, you may find it therapeutic. There are so many stressors in life and you’re likely taking care of so many people and projects, but it’s also important to take care of yourself. 

I sometimes need to remind myself to do this, so I wanted to say that today in case anybody else needs that reminder. I’ve been working on a song this past week in response to some recent news and although it’s not ready to share yet, it’s been helpful to process my feelings about what is happening.

There’s so much negativity and hatred out there. Please take care of yourself, focus on the positive, be kind, be patient. To yourself and others. Create, connect. It’s so easy to get sucked into the negativity but we need to give each other strength. This is our life and we’re only here for a limited time. Let’s make the best of it, be kind to each other, help others when you can and let’s try to make this world better.

Have you heard any new songs that you loved this week? Please share it with me on Instagram, at A Songwriting Journey and include why you enjoyed it. 

New music this week

Here are five from Spotify’s New Music Friday playlist that caught my ear. It’s so easy for music listeners to skip through songs these days so I like to hear new music by artists to see what I enjoy about their music and see what they do to keep my attention.  

“Hammer to the Heart” by Teddy Swims. I first heard one of his songs a few weeks ago - “Lose Control,” which led me to listening to more of his songs. His vocals are so soulful and his songs are catchy and have a familiar feel to it, like I’ve heard them before. His music is a mix of R&B, Soul, Pop and Country. 

The next song was “Big Time Nothing” by St. Vincent. It has a cool vibe that got me dancing. I haven’t heard of her before, but I look forward to checking out more of her music. 

Another artist that I hadn’t heard of before is Nilüfer Yanya. When listening to the New Music Playlist, sometimes several of the songs sound the same and kind of blend together. Her song “Like I Say (I Runaway)” had a different sound than the previous ones so I listened longer and liked her lyrics and vocals. 

The next one was “day i die” by Alexander Stewart. The name of the song intrigued me so I wanted to find out what the song was about. I liked his introspective lyrics and vocals. 

The fifth one is “Sweet Talk” by Iron & Wine. It has a 60s feel to it and has a positive, catchy beat.Upon further research, I learned that “Iron & Wine” is actually singer-songwriter Sam Beam, who has seven albums and numerous EPs and singles so that gives me some more music to listen to. 

I’ll add these songs to the A Songwriting Journey playlist on Spotify in case you’d like to give them a listen (or you can click above on the linked song titles).

Did you recently release a new song? Let me know by sending me a DM on Instagram at A Songwriting Journey. It would be great to share some listeners’ songs on a future episode! 

Here’s a little update from last week’s episode, about Taylor Swift’s newest album, “The Tortured Poets Department.” All 31 of the songs made it onto the Billboard Top 100 this week, including the top 14 slots. Way to go, Taylor! One of my favorite songs, “I Can Do it With a Broken Heart” is No. 3. That one would be a fun one to hear live! 

This week’s song

This week’s song was inspired by a tweet, back in 2019 when X was Twitter. A video went viral, which led to many retweets and condemnations. At some point the subject of the video, a high school student, received death threats. 

I was curious to learn more about it so went in search of a longer video that might provide more context. Sure enough, this longer version helped explain the situation that led to the encounter that went viral. 

This past week, it happened again - a clipped video generated one narrative but if you watch the longer video, you see that the proclaimed victim in the clipped video was actually the aggressor. 

Each time this happens, there’s a domino effect. One person shares the clipped video then there’s a slew of those who post negative comments and share without any further investigation. It may be human nature to make snap judgments but to spread information without verifying it is irresponsible and can lead to dangerous consequences. 

That’s what this week’s song is about. It’s called “Bang Your Gavel Down.” It’s in response to those who make snap judgments based on very limited information - like 30 seconds of a video - and then spread that information without learning more about the context. 

This live guitar and vocal recording is from 2019. (I think it was recorded on my phone…) Listen here.

Bang Your Gavel Down

You’re making an awful harsh judgment
Though you don’t know any of the facts
You made your mind up
Now you’ll launch your attacks

You’re the jury and the judge
Fighting a battle, you won’t budge
You don’t want to wait to investigate
You bang your gavel down

You’re spreading vicious rumors
After watching a 30-second clip
You determined your verdict
Now you’re going public with it

You’re the jury and the judge
Fighting a battle, you won’t budge
You don’t want to wait to investigate
You bang your gavel down

Like a mob mentality running through the town with the torches on fire
We’ve become so indiscreet, lives are crashing down as tweets go viral

You’re the jury and the judge
Fighting a battle, you won’t budge
You don’t want to wait to investigate
You bang your gavel down

© Leisah Woldoff