It's all about Style!

OK, so Diann and I are sitting at Big Boy, minding our own business and enjoying our meal. There are these two high-schoolish guys sitting at a table across from us. They have obviously been there a while, the waitress who served them finally comes and asks them to cash out so she can go home. They are hunched over a notebook, discussing something. I can't help but overhear from time to time, and it is obvious they are writing a song.

We eat our meal, and they do their thing, and then one of the guys comes over to our table with a sheet of notebook paper and asks us if we will do him a favor. He writes songs he explains and he is working on a love song. Will we read it and tell him what we think.

A whole bunch of thoughts run through my mind. Do we look like a pair of star crossed lovers who are ready to swoon at being serenaded? Or do we look like artsy kind of people who could attend a poetry reading and give our input? Do we look like traveling troubadours, or minstrels who roam the country writing a bit of song for a bite of bread?

But there I go, off on an imagination tangent.

Diann recovered faster than me and pointed at me, explaining to the young man that I write songs myself and I would be the one to ask.

Great Diann, put me on the spot here.... LOL.

So I read his song.

Now, first of all I have to say that yes, I do write songs and poetry from time to time. When I do, I pay a lot more attention to rhythm, cadence and meter than most songwriters today seem to, and I will often spend weeks working on a particular line until I get the words, all in the right place. When I write a poem or a song it is important to me that not only the lines rhyme when they should, but that they have the right number of syllables in them and that the emphasis is on the same syllable in each line so that the cadence and meter are consistent.

Diann knows this and so she was quick to point out to the guy that he was about to get an actual critique, of meter and rhythm. He acknowledged that would be okay, so I gave him a few tips, pointed out a few spots where he could add a word or two to make the first verse and the second verse more consistent.

He was happy, and he went to work. As we were leaving, he beckoned me over and showed me what he had added, and asked for help coming up with a word. I helped him rearrange a few words, so that instead of finding a word, based solely on the fact that it rhymed, he could find a word that fit the sentence, and we moved the two rhyming words around so they both were at the ends of the line.

He was happy and offered to put my name on the song along with his.

As I walked away, I kind of shrugged that off. This was clearly not the type of song, the style of poetry that I write, nor even the genre of music that I enjoy.

But as I thought about it, I came to a few conclusions.

First, it was flattering to be asked an opinion and then see the askee actually take my suggestions seriously enough that he would change his song based on my recommendation.

How often do we give our opinions in life only to have them ignored. Even when someone asks our opinion, more often than not it seems like they are only looking for a confirmation of their own opinion, and if ours differs then they want to argue or ignore us.

Second, It was fun to see my own experience and work with writing be able to be put to use in helping someone. I don't have a degree, I'm just an average blue collar kind of guy, and it isn't often that I can take something I have learned over the years and pass it on to someone else and have it help them. It was rewarding to be able to do that. I don't get that opportunity as much as I would like.

Third, It was just genuinely refreshing to see someone of that generation not only have confidence in themselves, but actually proactively be working on whatever goal or project they have in mind.

Too often in the last year or so, I have watched as one particular member of that generation wouldn't try anything new, because he was sure he would fail, wouldn't set goals because it was too depressing when he didn't reach them, and basically sat on his butt waiting for someone to do everything for him.

It was so nice to see two guys working toward their goal, asking for help when they needed it, accepting constructive criticism when it was given, acting on that criticism, and then, extending an offer to share the credit for the end result.

Whether the song ever makes it big or not, these are two young men who already are more successful in life than they know. They have developed some skills that far too many of their generation don't have.

I may not like the music, but I admire their style.

Maybe there is hope for the future after all.