Page 9 of Hard Rock Muse

Julian looked at me so expectantly I couldn’t help but laugh.

“You should know it’s not as easy as all that,” I said. “I need to know what the song is about. I need to know what sort of feeling or message you want to convey.”

“Can’t you just come up with something?”

“Not by myself. The lyrics have to match the song. And this song is about what you want to say, not what I want to say.”

Julian was silent, looking back down at the keys. He tinkered at a few notes.

“What if I don’t know what I want to say?” he asked.

“Then I guess we start with that,” I replied. “What is this song about? Even just a word or two to describe it is a good start.”

Julian opened his mouth, then closed it, looking at a loss for words.

“How about this,” I said. “Is the song supposed to be about something tangible? About a person, or about something you experienced? Or is it about something more ephemeral, about a concept like l—” I nearly choked on the word, but forced it out, “love or grief or something?”

“It’s…” he trailed off, then went silent.

“You’ve composed most of the song already,” I said. “What were you thinking and feeling when you wrote the music?”

Julian shifted on the bench, looking uncomfortable.

“It wasn’t any one thing,” he said. “I don’t know. I can’t explain it in words.”

I gingerly took a seat next to him on the piano bench. I didn’t want to invade his personal space, but I needed him to know I was serious about this.

“If you can’t explain it in words, maybe that’s where we start,” I said.

He looked at me, confused. “What do you mean?”

“Why don’t we play a game?”

“A game?” he repeated.

“Like a word association game. I say a word, and you say the first word that pops into your head.”

“That’s a children’s game.”

That’s because most people learn to express their feelings when they’re children,I thought to myself.Most people aren’t emotionally stunted.

“Let’s just try it,” I said out loud. “Okay?”

Julian waited a beat, then nodded.

“Close your eyes,” I told him.

He raised an eyebrow. “You serious?”

“Just do it.”

With no further protest, he did.

“Elephant,” I said.

He let out a sort of snorting laugh and peeked an eye open. “Elephant? Really?”

“I’m starting off easy.”