Sunday, May 4, 2008

Darrell Brown: ""The only people you need in your life are the ones that prove they need you in theirs"

photo by marguerita
When it comes to writing songs, I’m the same way. I just love co-writing. I can write songs by myself all day long, but it’s simply not as much fun for me as writing with someone else. As it turns out, most of the songs I write are collaborations. So I am happy on that count. I have found collaboration to be a brilliant way to grow as a writer, take a new path or discover a different view of a song. It always teaches me something.Sometimes, if I know I am going to be writing with someone else, whose personality and style I don’t know that well, I may gather the scraps of a musical or lyrical idea on my own, but I intentionally don’t go past a certain point with some aspect of the song, to leave room for my collaborator’s input. It’s like being an actor and preparing for a scene. You do your homework, show up, then react to what your partner gives back.
I will learn to let go what I can not change
I will learn to forgive what I can not change
I will learn to love what I can not change
But I will change
I will change whatever I…
Whenever I can.
I try in my life to write with those who like to write and win through teamwork, people who lift others up and make them feel a part of everything that is taking place in the writing of a song. It takes a delicate dance between freedom and discipline for that situation to appear but that’s where the glory lies. It’s waiting to be discovered on that line, somewhere between what we believe is right and wrong.http://measureformeasure.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/03/it-takes-two-baby/

Darrell Brown_is a songwriter, arranger and producer who has written hit songs for dozens of recording artists, as well as music for film and television. Recently, he has co-written songs for country music stars LeAnn Rimes and Keith Urban (including the Grammy-award-winning song, "You'll Think of Me") and recently collaborated with Neil Young on his records "Living With War" and "Chrome Dreams II." He lives in Los Angeles and Nashville.

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