Richard works al fresco with one of our songwriters.

We started today with my own introductory lecture and some discussion of songs. Many common songwriters’ issues and challenges came up, including chord loops, melodic structure, form and the concept of Big Idea, or core meaning.

For many writers, this is the most difficult part of the process – nailing the single, simple idea at the heart of the song. And whenever it’s discussed, inevitably people scour the ‘pop canon’ to find examples of songs that don’t have (or don’t appear to have) a core meaning. Common examples include Whiter Shade of Pale, I Am The Walrus and various songs by Oasis, Keane or Coldplay. It’s too big a discussion to get into here (though it’s a fascinating debate for every songwriter) but suffice it to say that these songs often have something else outstanding about them of interest – a great melody, unusual lyric imagery, excellent ‘singability’ or, in the case of the recording, interesting production and an outstanding vocal performance. Do these occasional examples mean that songwriters dare avoid nailing core meaning during the creative process? Aye, there’s the rub! A related issue – the difference between the song and the performance ñ has been discussed in a previous entry.

After our first meeting, people got into their tutor groups (with Andy West, Iain, Boo, Andy White, Lucy, Cecilia and Richard) to play existing material to each other and start their creative tasks. This year we’re insisting on our policy of ‘no back catalogue’ i.e. everyone plays songs that are written during Festival week – the event is about songwriting, not performance. The studios are already up and running, and some new songs are already burned to CD, though the tidal wave of recording will begin tomorrow when everyone’s completed the first task.

Our first gig of the new songs is Tuesday, so on the first night we all had a few beers in Chapel Arts Centre while we enjoyed two outstanding performances by Iain and Boo at our 2009 launch event at Chapel Arts Centre. Wonderful songs, wonderful company.