Where's the Soul?

I’m never satisfied with my songs or arrangements. I wish my guitar playing was better, I wish the grooves were funkier, I wish the songs were catchier. My lyrics are overwritten — too wordy — they’ve always been especially hard for me. And I wish it were all just more soulful.

A while back I was having a moment, really lost in and marveling at a well known track by a fantastic artist we all admire and love — no names, sorry — and I thought, I’d love to be able to write something like this. This is what I aspire to. Groove, and soul, and all that deep good stuff.

It’s got a beat; you can dance to it.

I’m not much of a dancer, but I love a good groove. My favorite may be a mid-tempo shuffle (if you know what that is), but I love them all. A lot of today’s indie music doesn’t seem to embrace the groove. The groove, the beat, was and continues to be a big part of what moves me musically, along with melody of course. OK, and lyrics. And soul. Of course there’s plenty of music that’s soulful that’s not all about the beat. Maybe I just wanted to talk about the beat. It don’t mean a thing if it ain’t got that swing.

Actually. there’s something about a great groove that gets way down there, down to the core, almost as if it stimulates the deepest nerve endings connected to one’s sense of being human. Maybe that’s the soulfulness I’m talking about.

You won’t be surprised that some folks have looked at this idea. (And you won’t be surprised that I want to know what the scientists have learned — sorry, can’t help myself.) Charles Darwin concluded “that musical notes and rhythm were first acquired by the male or female progenitors of mankind for the sake of charming the opposite sex. Thus musical tones became firmly associated with some of the strongest passions an animal is capable of feeling, and are consequently used instinctively, or through association when strong emotions are expressed in speech.”

Well there you go, “some of the strongest passions an animal is capable of feeling”. That sounds right. Scientists have looked further into this since Darwin’s time, and there’ve been debates about whether certain musical and rhythmic attributes are exclusive to humans. But that’s another post, and I’m not going to write it, so back to my main point, that I aspire to more soulful grooviness — you know what I mean, I think.

I’m sharing a song that came out of that aspiration. I do like it, but … I’m still not satisfied. I wish my guitar playing was better, I wish the groove was funkier, I wish the song was catchier. The lyrics are kind of fun, but …

Anyway, here it is; it’s also my first “lyric video”. Tell me what you think:

I look forward to playing this live with the band, stretching out the middle section, maybe even having a real horn section, cookin’!

I know I’m looking for soul, but back to the groove: I claim there’s a bit of “cha cha cha” in this otherwise thoroughly pop rock track from our first album, I Am More Than This. What do you think?


Please share your thoughts about anything, either in the comments on this page or by emailing me directly at guy@storytownband.com. And please share this post with a friend who might enjoy it. Until next week….

Guy StoryComment