Six Degrees of Don't Stop

[michelej1]

[This is an excerpt from an interview with Kevin Bacon and his brother Michael. It's funny how the phrase "mystery to me" was in his answer too]

MS: How is songwriting different from composition and poetry?

Michael: What makes it different than being a composer or a poet is that it’s an amalgam of the words and the music. And it’s hard to figure what makes great songs great. The example I always give is Fleetwood Mac’s “Don’t Stop.” The chorus is just perfect, especially where they sing the line “Don’t stop thinking’ about tomorrow.” The lyrics and melodic beat fall into this infectious world that people can’t resist. Unfortunately, even though I understand it, I can’t duplicate it. Songwriters have a much more difficult struggle than composers do. It’s also dependent on moods that are equally elusive. You sit around for two days strumming your guitar and get nothing. Then you get an idea in the middle of the night, and that turns into a song. I’ve been doing it for close to 40 years, and it’s still a mystery to me.