Top 10 Books of 2010

The title is something of a misnomer as I'm always playing catch up. Two books were published last year, one was published in 1851, the rest ... somewhere in between.

These are the best books I read in 2010.

1) Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties

A erudite, witty & iconoclastic analysis of every song the Beatles recorded. Read my review here.

2) The Complete Beatles Chronicle: The Definitive Day-By-Day Guide to the Beatles' Entire Career

Provides the context of the greatest pop music ever recorded in a story that is almost beyond belief. Parts of the story of Beatlemania resemble nothing so much as the great awakening and from the 62-66 they definitely earned the title of hardest working men in show business.

3) Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age

Who killed the music business? Steve Knopper takes us on a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions. Read my review here.

4) The Runaway Jury

Don't judge me.

5) This Sceptred Isle : 55BC-1901

2010 was the year I finally learnt something about the country I've lived in all my life. Christopher Lee (not that one) made it as painless and entertaining as possible, despite his prejudice against the puritans, Cromwell and Disraeli (?!)

6) Moby Dick

Thanks to this monster of a book I now know more about whales and whaling than I ever wanted. An epic in every sense of the word, Melville takes you on a trip, sometimes so bizarre it feels more like an acid trip.

7) Mortal Engines

Reeves spins an utterly original children's yarn of a dystopian future where the great cities are mobile and survive by devouring smaller cities. Peter Jackson has the film rights, so expect a movie sometime around 2050.

8) The Creative Habit: Learn It and Use It for Life

Never thought I'd enjoy a book by a choreographer, but Tharp is so widely versed in all art forms that her illustrations make everyone feel included. Full of great ideas for artists in any field.

9) Futurehit.DNA

Jay Frank examines how previous waves of technology have shaped songwriting before turning the spotlight on the digital age. Thought provoking insights on every other page.

10) Love Me Do! 

One of the earliest books on the Beatles means that this is entirely free from the airbrushing and Paul vs John agendas that mar recent books. The raw honesty is breathtaking, and the verbatim comments from press conferences are hilarious. 

Postscript

I did read some Christian books this year but non of them grabbed me sufficiently to make the list. For most of the last 20 years I've read almost exclusively Christian non fiction titles because that's what interested me the most, but it was probably to my detriment if for no other reason than I found myself judging Christians who 'wasted their lives' reading fiction. I hope I'm becoming a little more balanced in my old age.

What's been some of your best reads this year?

My latest song: You Spoke The Stars
Other free songs by Matt Blick

Writing Songs With - Stephen King

All A Songwriter Needs Is A Door

Here’s one of many things I’ve gleaned from horror writer Stephen King’s excellent book On Writing and transposed from books to songs.

“The space [where you write] can be humble…it really only needs one thing: a door you are willing to shut”.

Write With The Door Closed

Stephen learned this from newspaper editor John Gould who told him, “Write with the door closed. Rewrite with it open.” Meaning a songwriter should try to write the first draft of his/her song “with no help (or interference) from anyone” and then rewrite with the help of feedback from others.

He recommends finishing the song as quickly as possible saying, “If I write rapidly…I find that I can keep up with my original enthusiasm and at the same time outrun the self-doubt that’s always waiting to settle in”.

Once the first draft is finished “[let it] rest and go to work on something else.” Resist the temptation to go back and repeatedly listen to the demo. You want to be able put it on in a few weeks and hear it with fresh ears, the way your audience will.

Rewrite With The Door Open

When you start seeking objective advice the first person to ask is yourself. If you’ve been good and not put the song on heavy rotation on your mp3 player you should have gained some much needed objectivity (or at least a tad more than you had when recording it). Make notes of possible corrections, revisions etc, but don’t do anything about them yet.

Now get a few trusted people to give you feedback. There are two types

Factual. If your grammar or theology or anything else is objectively incorrect - change it, without delay or argument.

Aesthetic. Look for consensus. Do they all hate the chorus? You probably need to change it. Does everyone has a problem with a different aspect of the song? You don’t need to change anything unless you want to. And if some people love the part that you hate or haven’t noticed that 'horrendous' note in the pre chorus maybe you need to let that go too.

The 'get the first draft finished as fast as possible' approach is new to me. I have to confess that struggling over a song for ten years has felt like a badge of honour for me, but perhaps it's the most insane example of multitasking ever attempted. I'll let you know how it works for me.

What's your method?

How does Stephen's advice differ from your approach?

Has this post inspired you to try anything different?

Related Posts: Songwriting with Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg

Lessons from U2's coffee table

Keith & Kristyn Getty songwriting seminar

Lessons From U2’s Coffee Table

I’ve been enjoying reading U2 by U2. Made up entirely of interviews with the band (and manager Paul McGuinness) it's full of insight into what makes them one of the world's greatest bands despite not being able to play anyone else's songs. Their productivity is remarkable considering that they write songs in the most painfully awkward way possible.

They have, as you would expect, a gift for a pithy quote -

Songwriting: self editing

BONO: All writers think their feelings are important but a great writer realizes that, though his feelings may be important, they’re not all important enough to share. (p196)

How universal are your songs?

EDGE: I once said to Bob Dylan, ‘People are going to playing your songs for thousands of years.’ He said, ‘Man, they’re going to be listening to your song too. It’s just that no-one’s going to know how to play them.’ (p.228)

Bad mix or bad song?

EDGE: If you can’t mix [a song], it generally means there’s something wrong with it (p.270)

Limit your options

PAUL McGUINNESS: [The ‘Pop’ album] was the first time I started to think that the technology was getting out of control. When people are trying to choose between mix 26 and mix 27…the sheer range of possibilities [creates] a form of paralysis. (p.270)

Ask an audience

BONO: When you’re playing something live, there’s no time for whimsy. It either works or it doesn’t. Your decision-making is made so much simpler, because you can tell when you’re losing people. (p.273)

The worst songwriting method in the world?

EDGE: Sometimes it seems the way we work is like building a house from the roof down…the production approach almost comes before the song itself – and the lyrics are the last thing. So you start with a sound and end with a song. (p.289)

“Ladies & Gentlemen! On tambourine…”

BONO: We always spend some time in prayer before we go on, we pause and ask for a blessing on the show. Some people do it in a very showy, kind of theatrical way, like they want to get Jesus to play the tambourine. (p.342)

Why you should record your next album in Berlin/Seattle/Grimsby

BONO: When you are in place like Nassau, you don’t really want to go in and work. You realise why all these great groups make crap records when they go to record there – who wants to go to the Bahamas and sit in a studio? (p.113)

Get it here

(Be warned if you're paying postage, it's huge! It's called a 'coffee-table book' because you could attach some legs and USE it as a coffee table!).

If you'd like to read something a little shorter Giant Impact has a nice article on how U2 have managed to stay together for so long.

Related Posts: Songwriting advice from Joseph Pulitzer
Write Better Lyrics (Brenton Brown)