Ariel Pink is in my opinion one of the greatest artists of his generation.
This a genius song! So beautiful. This is about the creative process of writing a song, probably more specifically the lyrics of a song. So, a meta-song. A song that is talking about songs. It is pretty straight forward, but let's state the obvious anyway:
"will I write a song you love today?":
{ Wondering if the listener will actually like the song. The main goal of an artist is to be loved. }
"there’s no way to tell and who cares, well I don’t":
{ Trying to guess if something will or will not be commercial/likeable/lovable is a waste of time. After all, not that important. }
"thank the lord that my standards for success are so low":
{ Not caring about being commercial is a blessing because it gives you artistic freedom. }
"every time I pick up the pen I get interesting results":
{ The artist surprises himself every time he attempts to write something. He cannot predict what will come next. }
"every time I sit down and I try I get interesting results, at least interesting results":
{ AT LEAST, they might not be good results, but they are AT LEAST interesting, for the listener, or for the artist himself, who discovers something about himself, every time he tries. }
"will I write a song I like today? decidedly no, there’s no way, but okay":
{ Well, ok, the listener might like the song, but what about the artist? Will he like it? There is no way. The artist will never be satisfied. A modest artist will always deep inside believe that he has not reached excellence or truth. }
"I guess I’ll just go sing what’s on my mind":
{ When in doubt, just sing what is on your mind, at least it will reflect the truth, and truth never fails }
"I’m not gonna try
I’m not gonna try anymore":
{ Realising that you don't need to try hard or get stressed about it, you just need to do it, sit down and write what you feel - the rest will come automatically - an interesting result - a good song. Famous quote by Pablo Picasso: I DO NOT SEARCH, I FIND. }
"this is not tryin’
this is not trying’":
{ Voices talk to the artist reminding him not to fool himself, he is actually not trying hard. }
"it may not be much, but let’s see you try":
{ He challenges the listeners who dismiss him as unimportant, to try writing a song themselves.}
Ariel Pink is in my opinion one of the greatest artists of his generation.
This a genius song! So beautiful. This is about the creative process of writing a song, probably more specifically the lyrics of a song. So, a meta-song. A song that is talking about songs. It is pretty straight forward, but let's state the obvious anyway:
"will I write a song you love today?":
{ Wondering if the listener will actually like the song. The main goal of an artist is to be loved. }
"there’s no way to tell and who cares, well I don’t":
{ Trying to guess if something will or will not be commercial/likeable/lovable is a waste of time. After all, not that important. }
"thank the lord that my standards for success are so low":
{ Not caring about being commercial is a blessing because it gives you artistic freedom. }
"every time I pick up the pen I get interesting results":
{ The artist surprises himself every time he attempts to write something. He cannot predict what will come next. }
"every time I sit down and I try I get interesting results, at least interesting results":
{ AT LEAST, they might not be good results, but they are AT LEAST interesting, for the listener, or for the artist himself, who discovers something about himself, every time he tries. }
"will I write a song I like today? decidedly no, there’s no way, but okay":
{ Well, ok, the listener might like the song, but what about the artist? Will he like it? There is no way. The artist will never be satisfied. A modest artist will always deep inside believe that he has not reached excellence or truth. }
"I guess I’ll just go sing what’s on my mind":
{ When in doubt, just sing what is on your mind, at least it will reflect the truth, and truth never fails }
"I’m not gonna try I’m not gonna try anymore":
{ Realising that you don't need to try hard or get stressed about it, you just need to do it, sit down and write what you feel - the rest will come automatically - an interesting result - a good song. Famous quote by Pablo Picasso: I DO NOT SEARCH, I FIND. }
"this is not tryin’ this is not trying’":
{ Voices talk to the artist reminding him not to fool himself, he is actually not trying hard. }
"it may not be much, but let’s see you try":
{ He challenges the listeners who dismiss him as unimportant, to try writing a song themselves.}