The Script and The Art of Songwriting

As you know, I love music. LOVE it. I would probably never turn on the TV if I had my way and would only have my music going - loudly.  Now that my daughter is older we are going to concerts once again. I've been to a LOT of concerts in my life and I have to admit there are only a few bands who will actually motivate me to go out and battle the crowds any more.  The Script, an Irish band out of Dublin, is one of those bands.

The last concert we went to was in August at The Gorge to see John Mayer and Keith Urban.  It's an open air amphitheater (is that redundant?) and holds 25,000 people. Imagine how totally awesome it was to go to the Showbox SODO in Seattle last weekend - that probably holds 200 people max -  and watch one of the most amazing bands around!
Here's our view: ( we were closer than it looks)

The view from the stage: (You can see the place was NOT very big.)

If you haven't checked out The Script yet - go to iTunes or You Tube RIGHT NOW.  I guarantee you will love them! The true test of any band for me is how they sound acoustically and these guys are SO amazing. If you do nothing else - watch this video and you'll know what I'm talking about:
So how does this tie into writing?

Well, as an author I am constantly evaluating and choosing how I want to say something in my writing.  Trying to pick the right string of words to form a sentence that is evocative of the emotion and mood I'm trying to convey. In my opinion there is no medium where you have to be more succinct than songwriting. And though the guys in The Script are young (in their 20's) they are already gifted songwriters. Not only have they created beautiful melodies but they have written songs that are a fusion of contemporary styles: rap / soul / rock with lyrics that mean something.

Some of my favorite lines:

"Just a cigarette gone, no you couldn't be that far"
"There's so much sad gonna flood the ocean, we're all in tears for a world that's broken"
"We were sitting with our backs against the world, saying things we thought would never hurt"
"What am I supposed to do when the best part of me was always you"
"You've touched these tired eyes of mine, mapped my face line by line, and somehow, growing old feels fine"

They've written so many great lyrics it's hard to pick just a few lines.

Check out a couple other videos:
 (My daughter played guitar and sang this song (The Man Who Can't Be Moved) for her 8th grade talent show last spring - in front of 800 people!)



And the so beautiful 'I'm Yours' - (as Danny O'Donoghue, lead singer said, "written at 3 am after copious amounts of red wine" - if only wine would inspire such talent in the rest of us!!!!)


If you have a chance to see these guys - grab it now because my prediction is that next time they come around they'll be superstars and playing big venues. They have a new album coming out in January and I can't wait to see what fantastic new music they've created.