(no subject)

[janradder]

Why is that when a person can't sing or really play an instrument they can still sometimes create great songs but when a person can't really write all they produce is crappy writing?

Comments

[fengi.livejournal.com]

Because a weak musician can improve by learning the mixing board programs, but no matter how much you understand and appreciate spellcheck, it won't make your work suck less.

[janradder.livejournal.com]

There is a lot you can hide in mix-downs but I'm talking about someone hiding the fact that they suck through technology. I'm talking about when you hear a song and think, "Wow, that guy really can't sing in tune," (Jonathan Richman for instance) but it doesn't matter because in some way that fact is what makes the song good.

I ask the question because I've been reading a bunch of first person accounts by people describing the first punk show they ever went to. Most of the writing is absolutely dreadful (writing words in all caps for emphasis, tortured analogies, awkward phrases, etc.) and it got me thinking how so much of punk started out as kids/adults who couldn't sing or play their instruments (and the production techniques weren't much better) but somehow created something transcendent in part because of their lack of skill. But if you apply that same formula to writing you get the crappy book I've been reading.