nightride

An artist or a simple wannabe usually needs an inspiration to create. An inspiration to paint, compose, write, sculpture. And where does the inspiration come from? From experience happens to be the easiest answer. The stronger the experience, the more intense the passion an artist puts into his or her work. And what fits to a league of the most powerful life experiences? Birth, death, near-death episodes, love found, love lost, all kinds of moments of joy and moments of sorrow.

However, what seems to work best for people who write poetry (and in some cases pseudo-poetry or lyrics, too) is some kind of suffering. And it works the both ways, for an author and an audience alike. The author writing such pieces saves money for psychotherapy and the audience can identify with him or her and share his or her grief, and maybe even vent theirs.

Troubadours are a great example of such acts working fine for ages. More recently, take The Rolling Stones, The Who, Bob Dylan or Nirvana. They're all angry, they're frustrated, they suffer and they're communicating these feelings passionately so people recognise them and take them for their own. Take arguably the most famous pop song ever — Yesterday by The Beatles. It's about love, it's about love lost, dreams broken, and it's about longing. Pain and suffering in every line. Written in first person. What can be more personal and easier to identify with?

From now on, I'll have to keep that in mind when attempting to dash few lines off.

This is a subject I have a lot to say about.