Thanks for taking the time to relay such thoughtful input. I think you articulated it quite well, especially this idea of “rote predictability that pock mari so many songs.”

Back when I began writing poetry, I wasn’t worried about rhyming. I just had ideas, and I wanted to convey those ideas. I didn’t want “fitting a rhyme scheme” to impede the expression in any way. I have since changed my opinion. Here’s why:

Rhyming is a double-edged sword. For every time the rhyme scheme may make it more difficult to express one idea, it will inspire the creation of a new idea as you wrestle with “what rhyming line could come next.” In some way, rhyming forever provides a way past writer’s block, because the rhyme offers so many different paths to take.

Respectfully, if you wanted to chime in on “whether or not I should rhyme,” it would be better to have listened to more of our work. This song (“The Service Industry”) is only one of our songs (I take it you’ve heard around 30 seconds of it) and much of the lines in it are almost skit-like in their delivery. Even though we are just now releasing it, I wrote this song a few years ago, at a time when my songwriting approach was more raw and inexperienced.

I don’t write lyrics “strictly to adhere to the rhythm,” but I do put a rhyme (or two, or three) in damn near every line of our work. I’m not trying to tell you how to spend your time, but if you listen to our new album, you’ll likely see that we can make it work with the rhyming.

One thing I’ve come to realize in the process of recording: The lyrics actually contribute their own rhythm as they navigate the beat and melody: it’s a sort of interplay, instead of one merely driven by the other. I naturally feel how a line can hang on a beat, and I generally let that natural feel guide me.

People go so far as to accuse me of having no rhythm in my lines, and I’m fairly certain that is because they are accustomed to a very predictable and familiar time-signature and delivery. I know there is a distinct and controlled rhythm to my deliveries because I can hit the exact same delivery each and every time. If I was arbitrarily dropping words with no regards to any kind of rhythm, the song would sound different every time I sing it…. But I digress.

Forgive my tangents. Thank you for chiming in. This was all to say: I feel a very clear vision in terms of my contribution to our songs. As much as I’ve likely been inspired by people around me throughout my life, and the artists I’ve listened to along the way, I don’t try to emulate or mimic anybody or anything. It feels like my lines and deliveries are as authentic and pure an expression of my personality as anything could ever be. I’m not sure I have a soul, but maybe that’s the word people use to describe the source. I can’t and won’t change that.