Trust Me, He Didn't Get Your Recipe Wrong

Hello There!

     Hey guys, I'm back. :) Life is a lot harder to write about when nothing's happening, ya know? For so long I haven't known what to write about. I've been sitting around waiting for something amazing and inspiring to happen to me; waving it's way into my life with a bright colored flag that says "Blog me! Blog me!" Just one, little golden nugget of "Wow, was that a learning moment."

I love those moments.

I LIVE for those moments. 

But no moment came, and last week I was all prepared to get over myself and admit that life isn't always going to teach you something remarkable. I told myself to just sit down and write about what I'm learning and not worry about the fact that I haven't learned anything awesome recently. (I tell myself a lot of things. I'm weird like that. )

     But then, just when I seriously thought I was gonna have to talk about nothing, it happened. Sometimes life can be nice to you. Sometimes. ;) 

(Hang on, Spotify just totally threw off my groove. :P Anyone else thing the "turning Halloween" ad is really weird?!) (Ah that's better. Music helps everything guys, but we know that. ;) ) 

   That Long Awaited "Moment"

     I was upstairs chatting with one of my favorite girls, and my dad called me downstairs. I told her I'd be right back. Poor girl, She had no idea. I had no idea. 

     Apparently I had forgotten about soup in a pot on the stove and not put it away. I forget a lot of things. (I'm special like that.) 
     As I was putting it away my dad started to talk. I don't remember what he said first, but he's a lot like me, which meant I would be there awhile... ;)

     We sat there talking about everything from cars to dog food (literally) for like an hour, and then the conversation turned to music. Two musicians = What can you expect? 

That Weird Banana Question...

     We talked about his days on stage and lots of other things, (by this time it was past midnight) and then he said "I'll leave you with this little music secret, Arianna." 

My ears perked. 

I like secrets. ;)

Then he grabbed a batch of bananas off the table and held them up. "Is this appealing?" were his exact words.

Heehee... pun pun pun ;) (sorry not sorry. I was looking for a picture of bananas for ya'll and found this. it was too funny. I smirked when he said it too ;) )

     

     *Ahem* done laughing now. Promise. 

     

     Anyway... I gave him a weird look, and he said "not like... peeling, but appealing, is it pretty? or.. nice? or whatever."

"I guess so... I mean, I never thought about it before, but yeah, sure."

"Okay, well, what would you say if someone painted this bunch of bananas exactly like it is?"

(I seriously didn't know where he was going with this...) 

"Um... I would say "wow!" and "that's amazing." I guess.."

"Right" he said, looking like he'd just made his first point, "but you wouldn't want to buy it and hang it on your wall or anything... right?"

"no... not really."

(still no clue...)

His Point Was?

He put the bananas down. "He're my advice" he said, "If you write something that you really don't like, it's probably really good, and if you write something that you think sounds pretty good, it's probably never going to be a hit."

this is when I thought "Well someone's lost his marbles..." because honestly... that made no sense. Yet I still held a tiny hope that what he said had reason behind it, because I haven't been totally happy with any of my songs yet... and I've been despairing about that fact lately.

     Then He Finally Started Making Some Sense...

      "What I mean darling," he seemed to catch on that I thought he was crazy, " is that no one likes a copy-cat." 

This was my all-too-blonde-sounding "ohhhhhhh..." moment. 

     His point was this: If you heard someone who was trying to sound like Owl City, would you think "Heyy this is my jam!" or would you be offended, and think things like "They don't do it nearly as well..." and "Who do they think they are anyway?!" My answer is a lot closer to the second one. 

     There are different styles of music, but no two famous musicians or bands sound exactly the same, even if they're in the same genre! The very reason they're famous is because They.Are.Them. 

      How do you know when you hear your favorite band/artist? When you're flipping through the radio how do catch their voice in a second? Because they are themselves. They're not trying to copy someone else or sound like someone else, they're trying to sound like them. 

     That was my dad's point. No one wants me to sound exactly like Britt Nichole, or Meredith Andrews. If they like me, it will be because they like me, not because I'm trying to copy their other favorites.

The Composer Who Hated His Song

     My brother (who is pretty much a walking dictionary) told me the other day that an interesting fact about Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. (Try pronouncing that. I dare you.) He was the composer of the music in the Nutcracker Ballet. The interesting thing, is that he hated his song "The Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy" and never dreamed it would be one of the most famous one he wrote.

(if you don't know which one I'm talking about, here: you'll remember it pretty quickly, I think we've all heard it. Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairy )

     My guess is that he hated it because it was different from what the other composers were doing... and because it was different, he was insecure about his own style. Who would like it? Apparently a lot of people... He seriously had no idea. 

     That's what my dad was talking about when he said "If you don't like it, it's probably really good, and if you think it's really good, it's probably never going to be a hit"
       People like what they're familiar with, but an artist's job isn't to be familiar, it's to be bold, daring, and original. To make new things, and teach people that there are no limits.
     That story helps my security a lot, because as I've said before, an artist is never happy with their work. I've wished and wished to make my songs sound more like what the other artists were doing, but I'm learning that that's not what I need to focus on. 

Be Yourself, cuz Everyone Else is Already Taken

     We've heard this/seen it all kinds of places, but I just think it fits so well right here. This goes for more than just musicians. Everyone should be themselves. Would you rather have the wrong people like you for who you are when you're fake? Or have the right people love you for who you are when you're real. 
     Gosh I love real people. I love getting to the core of someone's heart, I love seeing who they are underneath, imperfections and all. I adore seeing them open up and let themselves realize who they are, through and through. As I said before, I live for those "moments." 

     I leave you with this today, There is nothing you could ever be, that would be better than who God made you to be. What He put deep inside of you was made to touch lives and change other people for the better, don't hide it. Trust me, God didn't get your recipe wrong. Be You, through and through, because  

You are most beautiful when you are real. 

~Arianna Rose