Flying High, Flashing Eyes

Sometimes, songwriting can be an incredibly daunting process. I, like many other songwriters, sometimes feel that every song in the world has already been written, and then we hear something new that just blows us away. And sometimes, it seems that words and music just flow out of these people with little or no effort at all. It’s as if they’re from Mars.

Then something opens your eyes.

One of my favorite albums ever is Quadrophenia by The Who. It’s always been one of those perfect records to me, from John Entwistle’s bass lines in “The Real Me” to the Pete Townshend’s complex synth arrangements on the instrumental tracks (all done on analog technology, mind you), from Roger Daltrey’s screams in “Love, Reign O'er Me” to Keith Moon’s “Mockney” accent in “Bell Boy.” But the songs, performances and arrangements weren’t always like that.

In 2011, The Who released a “Director’s Cut” boxed set of Quadrophenia. It has Pete Townshend’s home demos for the album. Listening to them opened my eyes to something I always knew, but wasn’t quite cognizant of–they weren’t born perfect. The songs were works-in-progress once.

This realization, as silly as it sounded, really inspired me. Just like Dylan didn’t become Dylan overnight, neither did Quadrophenia.

Not only are Pete’s demos an invaluable tool for me as a songwriter to understand and study his songwriting process, they inspire me to strive for that level of greatness. You never know where you’re going to end up, and it all starts with an acoustic guitar.