• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Crushing Krisis

Comic Books, Drag Race, & Life in New Zealand

  • DC Guides
    • DC Events
    • DC New 52
    • DC Rebirth
    • Batman Guide
    • The Sandman Universe
  • Marvel Guides
    • Marvel Events
    • Captain America Guide
    • Iron Man Guide
    • Spider-Man Guide (1963-2018)
    • Spider-Man Guide (2018-Present)
    • Thor Guide
    • X-Men Reading Order
  • Indie & Licensed Comics
    • Spawn
    • Star Wars Guide
      • Expanded Universe Comics (2015 – present)
      • Legends Comics (1977 – 2014)
    • Valiant Guides
  • Drag
    • Canada’s Drag Race
    • Drag Race Belgique
    • Drag Race Down Under
    • Drag Race Sverige (Sweden)
    • Drag Race France
    • Drag Race Philippines
    • Dragula
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race
    • RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars
  • Contact!

songwriting

May 26, 2001 by krisis

I have this mass creative urge and i don’t know where to focus it.

I used to have these days all the time when i was younger… i’d feel like i needed to output my thoughts somehow or else i would just endlessly spin in place for a whole day getting absolutely nothing done. My relief for this emotion in the olden days was either writing or playing with my G.I.Joes. Writing then was fiction rather than songs and blogs, so both forms of expression allowed me to create personas other than my own and then intermingle them all together in a storm of creativity that i could reflect upon later. If i was really stuck for resources i’d funnel all that creativity back into a pre-made creation like a novel, but that wasn’t ever wise because i could devour those books in a matter of hours and they would only leave me more hungry to create a piece of my own.


Songwriting was the perfect cure for the whole mess in two ways. The first was that even my longest song clocks in well under six minutes, so now i have a library of hundreds of facets of my own personality that i can trot out one after another, delve into deeply, and then end with a simple resolving chord (or lack thereof). The second was cover songs: the perfect way to focus my energy into someone else’s creative work but to still come out with my own product. Cover songs are much more productive in the long run than my old alternative of writing fanfics, which are inevitably not only totally invalid when held on their own but also totally the property of the originator of the universe the writing occurs in. Cover songs are not my own, but my interpretation of them is, and i’m always allowed to climb into the feelings a song portrays for a single performance, during which it’s as valid as any of my own songs.

However, my guitar occasionally fails me and i likewise have been known to fail it, whether it be due to a broken string or a lack of physical motivation to play. In some of these instances i’ve been left listessly strumming a G chord (or the remainders thereof) trying to get up enough rhythm and momentum to have a go at a song, but otherwise all of my energy would be wasted. That’s where this log came in last summer … a way to make sure that none of my creative energy would have to go to waste, and also a way to integrate my other creativity into one tangled web of personal thoughts and experience. However, as i become more and more comfortable with my guitar and my own voice (as a lyricist, as a blogger, and as a vocalist) i’m again branching out into other artistic and creative endeavors, which in turn can seem quite fruitless because i never created a mechanism to tie them back into this log. Shortly before this log came about i wrote half of a novella that ran over 100 pages, but it was hosted elsewhere on the internet and was based on years of other writing, so i left it to itself rather than ever mentioning it. During the run of the log i’ve continued to chip away at the novel i began six years ago in my endless churning loop of revision after revision to the same essential chapters, but it never manages to see the light of day. More recently i’ve been reviewing music somewhat consistently, and that i have managed to integrate into this domain at both jla and cor (though their participation with this page is usually limited).

It’s easy to see that i’m presented with several problems tied into this new creative urge of mine. The main issue is that i feel like any content that isn’t integrated into this log is essentially being forgotten before it’s ever found, and also that it’s liable to simply fade away from beneath my fingertips if i don’t sew it into my daily fabrication. I’ve been known to be hesistant about posting to the Ani Discussion Board, Shafted, or even the BlogVoices at Wockerjabby because i’m afraid that one precious paragraph of mine will fade into the ether of someone else’s site to never be retrieved again (a fate that blogger often forces onto posts of this epic length and breadth, which leaves me rather paranoid at the moment).


So, i have an obsession to track everything i do, and to tie it back into this very page. Is there any doubt about why i want a webcam? But, anyhow, i often lack in the motivation, organization, and programming skill it would take to seamlessly integrate all of my creativity into Crushing Krisis. However, where i fail in those latter two aspects i’ve been excelling in the first, and so things just like cor have been cropping up everywhere offering me and alternative for dispersing my creative output. Sadly and somewhat ironically all of these venus seem to be detracting from their intended nucleus: this very log.

And, so, i am left here with this mass creative urge but with nothing to blog and a currently irreplacable broken guitar string. And, i’m wondering what’s going to come out, and how i’m going to record it for posterity if it’s something worthwhile.

{some of the links in this entry have additional blog-length exposition that will show up in most browsers when you hover over them. enjoy.}

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/05/3808323/

Filed Under: only childness, songwriting, stories, Year 01

May 25, 2001 by krisis

So, yeah, i keep telling people that i’ve written a whole new album in the space between “hold on me” and today (the latter being referred to lovingly by Hillary as “the creepy fingers song”). Now, i don’t honestly think that i’ve got some masterpiece on my hands, but it’s almost like a signpost indicating forward movement when you have enough fresh material to record again, even if you don’t like all of it. The first time i managed to write twelve songs (twelve songs you’ll never hear, to be sure) it was a momentus occasion because i had an album, even though at this point i’ll probably never play any of them ever again. The funny thing about this new album is that it’s a whole hour of the same song … “Hold On Me” shares some of the same lines and subject matter with the song i posted only a few minutes ago.


I’ve obviously mastered the art of writing “the kiss-off song,” as Gina eloquently puts it, and now what remains it for me to write some other songs to flesh out the emotional landscape of my work. Obviously i just have a surplus of ‘breakup’ feelings floating around, and while i can focus them into many facets of break-up song, and i can’t seem to focus them into anything else. However, musically i’ve been all over the board, from the acoustic rock of “Hold on Me” to the fingerstyle guitar of the two untitled songs to folk bop in “Because” to 3/4 jazz in “Unstrung” to ballad in “Colorblind” to tenor guitar in “Either/Or” back around to punk rock in this new one. So, the trick is to now hang on to that broadened musical pallette, but manage to feel something else. Here goes…

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/05/3790018/

Filed Under: songwriting

May 5, 2001 by krisis

I think i’m trying to hard too write Ani DiFranco songs.

Let me qualify that. Ani gave some funny little interview in the last year or two where she said that “Out of Habit” is a bitch to play anymore because it has too many chords. All of her newer songs have less chords than “Out of Habit,” and so to make it match them she effectively chopped out half of the chord progression so now it sounds just like “Firedoor.”


It’s important to keep in mind after hearing this that “Out of Habit” only has eight chords in it, and they aren’t especially hard chords. And two of them repeat. The result of Ani’s elimination of 8-chord songs is that her music is much more hook-ridded then it first turned out, but disappointingly simple once you figure out what tuning and voicing she’s been using. Going through Relief the two most complex songs structurally are “Relief” and “Bridge,’ both of which just tack together several easy chord progressions and riffs to make one decent song. Am i becoming boring before i ever got interesting? Should i be striving for more complex and sprawling chord structures? Should i be looking inbetween the lines for the passing chords? Or, should i just stop second guessing what comes out of my head and enjoy it for what it is? One to think about.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/05/3511487/

Filed Under: relief, songwriting Tagged With: Ani DiFranco

May 2, 2001 by krisis

They’re all tiny facets of the same song. I do this sometimes… circle the drain. I just spin and spin and spin without ever getting to where i need to go. But, sometimes the end result is just somewhere in all the spinning. I have my guitar with me today at work and it’s lunchtime. We shall see where the day leads me…

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/05/3465355/

Filed Under: songwriting, thoughts

May 2, 2001 by krisis

#3

because i feel like

i am going up in smoke

because i feel like there is

nowhere else to go

because i feel like

i am melting down

     and i can’t slow down

because i feel like

a marionette burning up my silken strings

they aren’t strong enough to hold me

but i can’t do anything to get away

i am trapped up on my cardboard box

stage with nowhere else to go

like my life is just some five year olds

putting on a clumsy little show

and i’ve got my boxed up view

of paradise shining in

with everyone staring back at me

and i can’t slow down

It works, honestly it does. Pretend Fiona Apple is singing it. But, Rabi’s the one who wrote it, really, not i. I just had this instant “make me a song” reaction when i read her post. Apologies for maiming it so badly, R.

https://crushingkrisis.com/2001/05/3465339/

Filed Under: songwriting Tagged With: rabi

  • « Go to Previous Page
  • Page 1
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 12
  • Page 13
  • Page 14
  • Page 15
  • Page 16
  • Interim pages omitted …
  • Page 24
  • Go to Next Page »

Primary Sidebar


Support Crushing Krisis on Patreon
Support CK
on Patreon


Follow me on BlueSky Follow me on Twitter Contact me Watch me on Youtube Subscribe to the CK RSS Feed

About CK

About Crushing Krisis
About My Music
About Your Author
Blog Archive
Comics Blogs Only
Contact Krisis
Terms & Conditions

Crushing Comics

Marvel Comics

Marvel Events Guide

Spider-Man Guide

DC Comics

  • Marvel Omnibus Announcement: Runaways by Rainbow Rowell and Predator vs. The Marvel Universe
    Near Mint Condition announced new Marvel omnis for January 2027: Runaways by Rainbow Rowell Omnibus and Predator vs. The Marvel Universe! […]
  • Patrons-Only: Crushing Comics Club Aftershow – Post Ranking X-Men Events Hangout and Q&A
    Every week after my Sunday stream I keep on streaming […]
  • Ranking the 100 BIGGEST X-Men Events & Stories with OneWheelChairX! | Crushing Comics Live
    Because you demanded it – my opinion on every […]
  • Patrons-Only: Crushing Comics Club Aftershow – Post-Marvel Omni Price Check Hangout and Q&A
    Every week after my Sunday stream I keep on streaming […]
  • Marvel Omnibus Price Check! | How much do Marvel’s most-obscure omnis cost online?
    Price check on Aisle Marvel! I’m doing a price […]
  • Patrons-Only: Crushing Comics Club Aftershow – Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Ballot Hangout and Q&A
    Every week after my Sunday stream I keep on streaming […]
  • My Most-Wanted DC Omnibus, 2026 Edition | Tigereyes Most-Wanted DC Omnibus Poll
    Because you demanded it, I’m here with my picks […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted DC Omnibus 3rd Annual Poll in 2026 Announcement
    It’s time to kick off The 2026 Tigereyes Most […]
  • Crushing Comics Live Aftershow 2027 Marvel Omnibus Fantasy Draft PicksPatrons-Only: Crushing Comics Club Aftershow – Post-Fantasy Draft Hangout and Q&A
    It’s time for another hour of Krisis uncut, […]
  • Crushing Comics Live 2027 Marvel Omnibus Fantasy Draft PicksMarvel Omnibus Fantasy Draft 2027 – Predicting Next Year’s Marvel Omnis (& you can too!)
    I’m back with an absolutely massive new […]
  • Patrons-Only: Crushing Comics Club Aftershow for Ranking Every X-Men Omnibus
    We’re trying something new! Yesterday after my […]
  • Crushing Comics Live - Ranking Every X-Men OmnibusRanking Every X-Men Omnibus, Ever
    Today, I woke up and chose violence… violence […]
  • Haul Around The World: 2026 So Far in Omnis, Epics, DC Finest, and more!
    It’s Sunday, and that means it’s time for […]
  • Tigereyes Most Wanted Marvel Omnibus 14th Annual Secret Ballot – 2026 Results
    Join me on Near Mint Condition along with Uncanny […]

Content Copyright ©2000-2023 Krisis Productions

Crushing Krisis participates in affiliate programs including (but not limited to): Amazon Services LLC Associates Program (in the US, UK, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, and Spain), eBay Partner Network, and iTunes Affiliate Program. If you make a qualifying purchase through an affiliate link I may receive a commission.