Bruce Springsteen - One Minute of Brilliant Songwriting Advice

Explaining that indefinable thing that is essential to great writing.

[@ferabra8939]

He's saying artists should be desperate, so I guess by "that thing" he means writing about something that really bothers you or you love wholeheartedly as opposed to merely describing. If you paint the sea it might be nice, but if the sea is really brave with rolling waves and dark clouds above and you paint it because it reflects something you're feeling, then you get a better painting.

[@WithmeVerissimusWhostoned]

the 3rd thing is emotions. Emotions are like that thing everyone recognizes but most of the time ignores. Emotions decide all of your life. Every decision is underlined with an emotion in its basis because it's the emotions that make all the decisions for you long before you become consciously aware of them. Hence, the illusion of choice. desperation is just one of many emotions you can express. And each emotion will make you produce a completely different piece. If you create from a place of a strong emotional state of being, your work will eventually take its place amongst the stars. Really gotta hate these confusing half ass talks using expressions like "something you don't quite understand"..ye if don't put in time to understand it then the life will be full of "lucks", "mysteries", "randomness" and "magical things" you can't quite comprehend. There are no mysteries in the universe.

[@carlostejada1479]

Withme Whostoned that maybe works for a therapy, but not for music or art... sorry, but that "thing" still there and you don't know what is...

[@UptempoMusicLessons]

​@@WithmeVerissimusWhostoned It is about concepts actually. Too many people try to write songs without having a concept, something to say, something to say in a unique way. That is why so many songwriters FAIL. The Boss has great CONCEPTS.

[@UptempoMusicLessons]

@@carlostejada1479 Concepts is what Bruce is talking about. How can you write something when you have no concept, no idea what to say? You can't.

[@acharich]

💣💣💣

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

persoanlly never been much of a fan but he definitely knows what he is saying here, so many people miss that the emotional aspect is most important more important than technique even

[@lillyandruben]

Jibicus Maximus really like his older cds Nebraska and The Ghost of Tom Joad acoustic and good story telling

[@peterwood-jenkins3634]

Talking about Rock yes but the repetition is there so thats Technique Who could not Like the emotion Springsteen puts into a song via his voice 50 50 on Technique and Emotional Vocals

[@redwhiteblue9866]

Not a fan either but he's spot on here.

[@LeslieJayBoschPhoto]

@@redwhiteblue9866 oh look, it's the KZbin expert symposium

[@macaroon147]

You need a balance though. I'm very good with the emotional aspect, it comes very easy for me. Writing a song and putting music to it is a walk in the park for me but producing it is the thing that has most of my songs never being complete. That's one draw down of modern music, everyone has access to recording and producing their own stuff but most people aren't good producers and even if you are it takes years to learn so songs that could sound amazing end up sounding amateur.

[@TheSongFoundry]

Beautiful advice from a master songwriter.

[@macaroon147]

He's not a master. He is a song writer though

[@johnnyM809]

Coming from in my opinion the greatest songwriter of all time.....that is very good advice

[@UptempoMusicLessons]

You cannot teach someone to be a great songwriter. You can teach someone to craft catchy songs but that is different. A great songwriter says things in ways others don't. They see things differently than the rest of us.

[@kenmcbride6515]

I call that a bargain the best I ever had

[@cmung4952]

In my humble opinion, I don’t think Bruce Springsteen comes anywhere near Lennon-McCartney, Bob Dylan, or Paul Simon in terms of songwriting.

[@johnnyM809]

@@cmung4952 That's fair enough. Music is subjective and all about individual taste, I am a fan of all of those artists, but I reckon Bruce is on a different level as a songwriter from anyone else there has ever been, but I totally understand many will not share that view.

[@cmung4952]

@@johnnyM809 yeah I agree, I see your point. Each to their own 🎶

[@nicholasburkemusic]

The third thing. Yeah. Hard to get to, but when you get there, there it is. Bruce Springsteen has always had a way with words, both lyrically and explanatory. Thank you!

[@jcneverquits]

I've been struggling with two songs I'm writing, then The Boss goes and sends a ripple through my brain with one sentence.. "one and one makes three." Brilliant!

[@djovani29]

Exactly,he put things into perspective for me to! the one thing that made me doubt my self,now potentially seems to be the best part of the song iv been struglling with. The Boss as always,..light years in front of everyone else;D

[@jcneverquits]

djovani29 What he said makes it easier to know if your lying to yourself when writing. 1+1=3

[@grunntalll]

@@jcneverquits could you explain it? cause i didnt really get it. thank you!

[@rockit6553]

What he's talking about u hear it in every song her writes. Born to run still wipes me out emotionally every time I hear it. When it's done playing I just sit there, taking it all in.

[@talon1091]

It seems he made lyrics out of this very comment! "Shakespeare says, 'Man, one and one make three!' Awh, that's why it's poetry."

[@FrancCinelliTV]

fantastic advice thanks bruce!

[@lacmofficial]

Great advice from the Boss!

[@rstarguitar5350]

Incredible advice very very difficult riding a great song

[@joshuadeu3283]

This guys gets it

[@fukcudave2686]

this is how ive worked things out my whole life through music or writing etc.

[@ianfoley5268]

Heres a helpful tip songs are just poetry. Learn to write poetry and bam you know the basis of songwriting. Also, right about things you know well. Love depression women etc or write about some of your struggles. And one last is think of your chorus first. Verses come easy after you know your chorus.

[@tropicalistic4581]

I don't mean any disrespect, but that is so unhelpful to anyone who is trying to write songs. Lyrics are not poetry. They are lyrics. You're just expressing how you approach songwriting, but it is not applicable to other writers.

[@acharich]

@@tropicalistic4581 💀💀💀

[@1878Originals]

Hes spot on.

[@tomcordle7467]

I see it slightly differently. The 1+1 is supplied by the songwriter. The third 1 is supplied by the listener, IF and only if, the songwriter has has made the first two interesting enough to stimulate the listener's interest and drag the listener into the song, too. And that's how 1+1 can equal 3.

[@mydogjesus]

that ingredient is something YOU put in, not something the audience adds. YOU are resonsible for your art, not them.

[@carlostejada1479]

Tom Cordle the main thing about 1+1=3 is that it is not a rational common point of view... is the oppsosite of answering a test in high school... besides if you do something trying to please ppl, that's what you'll get.. you won't get anywhere.... and whatever it sounds from it, will sounds like you are *trying* to please ppl (can u see the word "trying" here?)

[@tropicalistic4581]

But what he's talking about is the part that the writer can't account for. For instance, I understand lots of technical aspects of music and lyric writing, but when it comes to my best songs, I have no idea where this line or that bit of melody comes from. I can go back and deconstruct it, but in the moments of creation, it comes from somewhere beyond my rational intellectual thought processes.

[@acharich]

🤔💭🔑💭🔑💭

[@fierymoon2835]

Ted Koppel once asked him who he wrote for. He laughed and said, "Myself! I write to medicate myself, my soul. It is soul mining. If it medicates or helps others, so much the better".

[@MineMountModels]

My wife says the same thing. It's thoughts that need to get out of her... For HER mental health.

[@acharich]

@@MineMountModels 💯🎯💯

[@jspri-bw3mi]

the boss speaks.

[@peterwood-jenkins3634]

The State Of Being Desperate is not always the answer Just worked for Bruce but a Million others died trying

[@bengunns9500]

ts true what the boss says, it helps if youve been broken hearted or had some bad life experience that makes you reach inside your soul. Alot of the late blues players had this magic factor singing about their experiences of slavery and oppression.

[@peterwood-jenkins3634]

SO TRUE and if it had not have been Slavery and people working for peanuts to make some greedy bastard even richer than what in most cases he inherited there would be no BLUES some good coming out of EVIL,

[@rugbyslug]

Bruce is a god among men.

[@marchesi8]

100%

[@MagicGiant]

Nice

[@basedbattledroid3507]

I knew being bad at maths would pay off later in life!

[@MrRckstdy77]

Sad but true

[@rudrapawo4736]

That Thing, um could it be?

[@stowe07]

Can anyone tell me what this is from?

[@danielhornbeck6588]

en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacle:_Elvis_Costello_with...

[@davehebert3403]

Well, women bother us and we bother them, so I guess we'll have a plethora of songs, ready to be discovered and written, for a long, long time :D.

[@kdthekng]

I don't understand what he means by the "1 and 1 makes 3"

[@mattsun71]

I guess he means that the outcome of some words on melody must be bigger then just words on melody. The mysterious one extra that makes it great.

[@jibicusmaximus4827]

i thought he was just saying that you end up with something bigger than the sum of it's parts, ie you add different things but there is an extra thing that creeps in that is hard to catergorise but would be more like a feeling, emotion or soulfulnes that resonates in the listener and gives it an extra special something that you can't put your finger on

[@acharich]

@@jibicusmaximus4827 💣💣💣💣💣

[@aIewishus]

that was really vague

[@plywoodcarjohnson5412]

All this time, and he didn't even know what he was doing?!? Well that must be the trick then.

[@djnickoneill]

Grab your muse

[@plywoodcarjohnson5412]

how true. I just thought about it. since i focus mainly on rhymes. which is 1+1. but it says nothing. still seinfeld claims he did a show about nothing. the bastard, he must have lied. Anyway. complaining here I come!

[@georgechristiansen6785]

There's a great video where someone compares his miserable songs to Chuck Berry's overly optimistic ones. Just shows you can go both ways. Bruce just needs and excuse to justify being miserable.

[@georgiethumbs2438]

This is why Justin Beiber is such a grate songwriter

[@lawnmowerman7]

so if you don't come up with something good.......then it won't be good....

[@ericheine2414]

Bruce Springsteen got lyrics from me in 1974, 1975, and 1982. My standing agreement with Bruce from the time I was fifteen years old was in his words-"I'll tell you what I'll do I'll take the songs and I'll pay you if I use them depending how good they are." Bruce had hits with lyrics I wrote. Bruce welched on his agreement. So I think Bruce Springsteen's best advice on how to write hit songs is "Steal them from Eric Heine." Bruce is a rip-off and a fraud. Bruce Springsteen is the personification of everything that is wrong with the music industry. Bruce's is a song shark. How much of the food on his plate did I pay for? Bruce has never even bought me a cheeseburger and a Coke. How Bruce can stand up in front of anybody and feel good about himself speaks to his character. He ripped me off and I'm the person who helped him make it. Springsteen doesn't care about anybody but himself. He thinks his success is all about him when the truth is that it's really about you the audience. Bruce I hope you read this and I believe you will pay me. I always have. I bet on you in the beginning. I've never known a man that could outrun his past. So what were those lyrics worth Bruce. Way more than $500 a song. Be my friend and show the world you have a heart. Keep your word. Take care and be well..

[@deanchase7420]

Yup. Paul McCartney did the same thing to me. I told him back in 1963 that I could write songs that would change the world that I inexplicably didn't want to record myself and now he sings "Yesterday" and "Hey Jude" and "Sgt. Pepper" without ever saying, "Thank you Dean Chase! You made the Beatles possible!" All I asked for was a cheeseburger and he said, "Nope!"'

[@ericheine2414]

@@deanchase7420 I think it's more common than we think. I was working at Sky Blue studio in Sonoma California. My Uncle Peter Heine was director of advertising for Billboard Magazine at 9000 Sunset in Los Angeles California. He introduced me to Allen and Marilyn Bergman at the 1974 Performing Artist of the Year Awards. That's when I first started writing songs commercially. Peter was selling my songs to songwriters in LA. My master at Sky Blue Studio in Sonoma California was selling my songs for $200 to $500 a piece. I was with Paul McCartney and Linda Eastman when they signed the advertising agreement for Wings first album. The album contained the soundtrack for the new 007 movie Live and Let Die. Paul was working as an A&R man for Capitol Records. Bruce Springsteen agreed to pay for 5 songs that he chose out of a stack of 22. He took the whole stack of 22. I gave him three more songs in 1975. And Steven VanZant came by my parents house in 1982 and he picked up some additional songs. Eight of those songs were on the Born In The USA album. Steven met my mother and my sisters and we sat by the swimming pool. Steven drop-by in 1988 and gave me eight tickets to see them work at an Amnesty International Concert on September 23rd 1988 at the Oakland Coliseum. Bruce had to work on his birthday. But he didn't mind he likes to work. There was no cake or ice cream. Yes the music business is often very unfair. There are people that are currently working for Bruce Springsteen that know the whole story. It's actually getting to the point where Bruce is the only one keeping the secret. I think the minute he's dead someone will release a tell-all book and make a ton of money. The music industry can be extremely unfair. Especially if you're young and people take advantage of you. Take care and be well.

[@harrymartin2361]

didn't this guy write pony boy? not his best work.

[@johnnyM809]

No. That was a child's song his mother used to sing to him when he was a toddler to get him to go to sleep. He just decided to record a version of it and stick it on Human Touch.