An upright piano stood in the front room of our house our whole growing up years. All five kids plunked away on the ivories every once in a while.
One afternoon my littlest sister called us all in to listen to a song she claimed to have invented. At the end of her tune my mother lavished her with applause. Possessed with a sense of duty I informed my sister of the truth she needed to embrace.
“All the songs that have ever been written are all the songs that will ever be written. There are no new songs. That what you just played has probably already been invented by someone else before.”
She began to cry. My mother began to scold.
“That is not true, Angie! New songs are written all the time.”
Knowing the pattern in our home I was most likely made to apologize. If it be necessary, I will apologize again. What a simply stupid thing to say!
Since that display of mean spirited inferiority I have thought about those words.
Depending on the emphasis this phrase can mean very different things.
Every song has been written.
First, on hearing this you could think, “There are no new songs to be written.”
If you hear it differently you could derive from that statement, “All songs have been written in some form: be it on paper, on a vinyl record, on a tape, or simply on the heart.”
When I think that there are millions of books in existence I could defer to the inferiority of yesteryear and talk myself out of writing all together. On the flip side I could embrace the truth that since millions of books have been written and millions of books are yet to be written then I can be a part of those. Why can’t my writings be published alongside the piles of papers yet to be printed?
That is my motivation for writing.
Thank you, Shawn, for inventing your sweet little song and singing in spite of your bullying big sister. You are beautiful!
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{ 12 comments… read them below or add one }
Write, Angie, write! It would be a book well worth reading!
Lynn, you are a great encouragement!
Angie,
I have a few comments (te he he)…
One is that Allison has “written” a song since she has learned to play piano. I am not of the ear to know if it already in existence, but I like it nonetheless.
Two, we often discuss this topic in art. Has all art already been done. Is there anything new. The answer is usually there is nothing that hasn’t been done. But then you get to art that is social or political and reflects the current landscape of such topics which is ever changing in itself.
Then you talk about the Godly landscape which is too ever changing. Even one artist (Monet) would paint out of the same loft windows, one painting was the morning light and the others were all from different times of the day of the same subject. And then you can even follow the seasons from one vantage. And then you can change your vantage too.
Then you come to abstract art. This is where we have the most problems. Even if your painting looks different from another they can be called the same painting and you might not recognize why. But since they are probably done by hand an associate expert in US patents says if it is done by hand it could not be an infringement whereas usually it must deffer by at least 10 or 20% from the original not to be an infringement.
When you talk about art, literature, music, or whatever that may have already been written does not mean people want to experience the old stuff. Literature is even dated by its verbiage as art and music surely has tells to the age. We want what is current. Sometimes what is interesting about all the arts is how it references and plays with past applications of art. This artistic conversation then spreads over centuries and we are able to associate with the greats of each form.
In conclusion, keep making art. Keep creating, it is how we are in God’s image. He has given us the gift of being creators, use it.
Emily I loved hearing you speak from your passion here. I am looking forward to hearing Allison play. No worries about the length of the comment, I have done the same thing before and will do it again. It is a bloggers delight to get such thorough feedback from his or her readers. Thanks!
Okay, sorry for the long comment. I just counted the words in Word and it is longer than your original post, Angie. Yikes, that’s crazy.
are you sure that was me angie? i dont remember that at all.
and where did you come up with such a crazy idea?
i tend to believe that the univers is full of infinate possabilities when it comes to creativity.
besides, the question is not “has this been done before?” the questions should be, “is this of value? and to who?” if it will be of value to someone, even just one person, then it is worth writing.
i write because i enjoy it and it makes me feel better. it is of value to me, therefore it is worth writing.
think less about the end product and just enjoy the process
It was one of my siblings. I thought it was you. Although I am known for my creative memory that tends to fill in the blanks.
Thank you for chiming in with your thoughts.
Love and hugs to you!
oh, by the way, i love you too. soooo much.
Oh girls, You have given me, and continue to give me, such delight! Shawn, i don’t remember this event either. But, I am sure that I need to apologize to Angie for being so hard on her that she was traumatized by the whole thing. So sorry, Baby. Please forgive me.
Love you all!
Absolutely no need to apologize mom. Quite the contrary. I was not traumatized in the slightest. I thank you for speaking the true truth to help me eliminate constrictive thinking. The fact that this encounter has stuck with me so long is proof that you have had a far reaching positive influence in my life. I am better for it. I am freer and kinder for it, too. I love you, mom!
family time! how fun. it took us all day, but we just had a conversation. lol
You are right, Shawn! fun.