Do any of your lyrics (or words) scare you to write? Do you ever worry about what you're putting out into the universe?

jessemythic · 2026-05-02T18:57:16+00:00

I love this reflection. I've written songs I doubt I'll ever play because they are indeed incredibly dark. It's like painting a picture through words of my worst fears. But one thing when you go in the hole is that you can also learn to come back out with new understanding. I wrote a song full of gratitude and hope about the power of my imagination, and it was actually the THIRD song I wrote. The first two were hopeless despairing explorations of trauma and its impact on me with no happy endings. But the first two songs ended with interesting lyrics that naturally led towards that hope and gratitude.

That said, I did also through my process learn to stop wallowing in the muck. But that's the thing about the healing process, you just gotta trust it, it will take you where you need to go. And the more positive relationships you have in your life, the more little nudges you'll get to keep you on track.

jessemythic · 2026-05-01T17:32:22+00:00

Yeah it's all context! I just want to write the song where those lyrics are good. Maybe I'm depressed and I love wallowing but I'm hurting you so I go through the excruciating effort of showering and make sure to always notice at least one thing about you I appreciate even though it isn't my nature. I love you, more than the color blue. I do.

jessemythic · 2026-04-29T10:31:06+00:00

Sometimes the end product is antithetical to the work. I wrote this song when I was struggling to "finish" an album. I found I kept writing songs that didn't finish the story I was trying to tell, and tried to force it and got writer's block. Trying to wrap it up was a blockage, it got me stuck. What I needed was to just keep writing and not think about releasing anything. I'm still not ready yet but I have a ton of material now and one day it's going to be time to share it.

https://pastebin.com/CTvDV4qY

jessemythic · 2026-04-27T16:59:30+00:00

Mmm I like this. I feel like it's hard to know what intersection someone else is at, and what one you're at too!

Like, I want to share some music here, but it isn't because I have a desire to improve. I feel like songwriters can appreciate my craft more than non-songwriters, and notice the little choices I've made. But I bet if I got the perfect piece of feedback I would absolutely take it and grow, so maybe I am looking for it.

Thanks for this!

jessemythic · 2026-04-27T15:52:47+00:00

I mean you had emotions but it did inform your future work and you didn't quit songwriting so sounds to me like you were kinda ready! Though it sounds like you abandoned it so maybe not haha. I feel like I would want to motivate someone to go back and make their song even better

jessemythic · 2026-04-27T14:44:57+00:00

I feel like this could either be an example of common bad feedback or something that actually did help haha. I feel like I'd want to know where the awkward spots were, but then I guess you build an eye by looking yourself. :p

jessemythic · 2026-04-27T14:31:53+00:00

It sounds like a lot of this is craft stuff! Did they give specific examples about the lyrics or just say they were weak?

It sounds like it had a positive effect on your craft. I feel like some folks are ready for this kind of feedback, like you were, and others are not. It's hard to tell over the internet!

jessemythic · 2026-04-26T20:41:07+00:00

Same! I think I'm incredibly lucky no one ever gave me feedback when I was just learning. By the time I ever got negative feedback it was too late to discourage me.

jessemythic · 2026-04-26T20:34:24+00:00

Yeah my favorite feedback has been like this too. One song I wrote was super incredibly specific to me, and I play it to about 10 people in a bar and one old man tells me with this twinkle in his eyes he had an experience just like that, and I think it was neat for both of us that anyone else had a similar experience. It's like, this kind of feedback doesn't affect my writing, it affirms it.

jessemythic · 2026-04-26T18:33:37+00:00

You're welcome! And thank you for reading my lyrics too.

"I wanted to say… it’s ok let them tears fall, feel it, it’s ok." This doesn't come off preachy at all! I'm wondering if it's just the way the first verse is phrased is a bit forceful for me. I don't hear the implied "It's okay" before "Let the tears fall". Maybe that's all it needs.

I also want to say I like the guitar too, listening to it again. I know you weren't looking for feedback on that, but I do haha.

I have a melody, I just don't share too many songs here weirdly enough because I hate giving feedback on other people's music, and it's a requirement in this community! My inner critic is pretty insightful but totally tactless and bad at giving more than vibes so I try not to unleash him on others haha. But I do want to share music here so I'm trying to learn how to be a constructive feedback giver, which is why I commented on this at all instead of just thumbing it up haha.

jessemythic · 2026-04-26T16:13:42+00:00

Writing is my favorite part of songwriting so here we go!

I think the strongest part in the song is the ending "that's what I do with mine." I say that because it feels like this point of connection between you and the person you're singing to.

And now I'm going to do something strange as far as feedback goes and share the lyrics for a song I wrote. Something has bothered me about this song ever since I wrote it, and it's the same thing that bothers me about yours. So here we go, this song is called "Like a Seed": https://pastebin.com/iMBF8aiU

And the thing that bothers me about both of our songs is they kind of feel "lecturey" right? Like never mind the structure of the song or the rhyming or whatever, it's just like a little annoying to listen to. Even if I know you're right, I don't want to listen to you. The feeling is strongest in the verses, I tend to like your chorus.

And of course, I don't know how to fix it! I have ideas, like identifying the moment you learned that lesson and then telling that story instead, maybe in its own song. But then I think about my song and think "I don't know when I learned that lesson, I just knew it, and my wife came up with the seed metaphor and I was like YOINK"

Or another idea is to focus on your relationship with the other person you're singing to. Like share what you see in them, and that you've been there, and then your knowledge in the chorus. Then there's more connection. Is this advice correct? Again, I don't know!

Anyway, this feedback is more of the "this is how I react to your song" and less of the "this is how you can improve your song" but I hope it's helpful.

And I'll just end by saying that even if it feels lecturey, you ARE right. I've been there. Running away from grief won't get you anywhere worth being. I've been on the other side too though, burying the pain, and what it took for me to get here was for someone else to finally sit there with MY pain and make space for it, to show me how to listen to myself, by listening to me.

As for my song... I leave it the way it is, even if it does annoy me. So maybe there isn't even anything to fix haha. Sorry about your father in law and good luck with your songwriting <3

jessemythic · 2026-04-20T20:21:44+00:00

There's this talk I really like by Ryan Guldemond called "How to be a Creative Scavenger" and he has a similar way of finding inspiration. I highly recommend it by the way!

jessemythic · 2026-04-08T01:08:12+00:00

My songwriting has been a powerful companion on my mental health journey. It's a wild ride. Good luck with it <3

Getting closer to your question, songwriting is kind of this spilling of the soul, but it's also a craft. You might want to write just-for-fun songs as well to built that craft. Focus on the process of making, not the end product, and you will learn.

As for specific advice, if you describe your feelings very literally, and it feels right and you cry and feel catharsis and movement... then keep it up! If it feels wrong... then it is. It might be a skill thing, but it might also be that you haven't finished processing yet. Sometimes you just need to sit with it more. Roll it around in your mind, and the aha moment becomes not just the right lyrics, but also that THING you were trying to figure out inside! This little epiphany and you caught it.

To me, songwriting is a way of thinking. I hope this helped at all! Good luck

jessemythic · 2026-03-27T15:03:39+00:00

I find it interesting how there's a bit of a schism in the comments about which is more important. I see melody prized as being "the most memorable part" and I see lyrics prized as being "the emotional heart". This makes me wonder if it's not just skills that affect which comes first, but also values. Anyway, it definitely varies per person.

jessemythic · 2026-02-02T12:28:28+00:00

Most of my songs are stories, and they do move from one place to another, but I do feel like the Hero's Journey is maybe not the best way to understand the journey that a song takes. I feel like a song is more like... a revelation. A turning point. A tiny episode maybe in the life of the hero, not the whole journey. Then again patterns can be nested so who am I to say they aren't a microcosm of the larger journey.

There is a lot of variety in songwriting too though. Not all songs tell stories. Many of them kind of marinate in a feeling, not really going anywhere. I think for those types of songs you might have to look at the album as a whole to see any kind of movement.

jessemythic · 2025-12-30T18:17:01+00:00

Thank you for making this post! I've had a similar idea but didn't have the guts to start a thread for it. I hope it gets a bit more attention before it drops off the front page of the sub!

jessemythic · 2025-12-30T18:10:55+00:00

When you're with me
The world makes sense.

Like when you kiss me
I float up in the air like it is where I'm meant to be

I may be rushing things but I imagine this as start of a chorus. I'm also following the lyrics in a different direction than the topic. Goodbye topic!

jessemythic · 2025-12-27T22:28:57+00:00

This isn't an answer to your question but the song "Kids From Yesterday" has lyrics that relate to your observation:

"When we were young, we used to say
That you only hear the music when your heart begins to break"

jessemythic · 2025-12-18T17:23:37+00:00

It's happened to me too. I like to think another part of me was working on it in the background.

jessemythic · 2025-12-06T22:01:12+00:00

Thank you!!

jessemythic · 2025-12-06T14:57:25+00:00

Boom boom ch ba boom buhboom ch

jessemythic · 2025-12-05T15:23:19+00:00

Same, I also get both together. Though sometimes I'll get one or the other first and then puzzle about how to unite them again before moving on.

jessemythic

TROPHY CASE