[Tim Bowen]

I'm a decent co-writer, and a lousy tunesmith as left to my own devices. I think it's important to understand the differences between song writing, song crafting, production, and arrangement. A great song will stand up with little more than words, a vocal, and an acoustic guitar or piano. A great piece of music or a great recording owes much to arrangement. Sometimes the two camps coincide, other times they're apples and oranges.

Some things I've learned from really good songwriters:

A story has to be told in a way that relates to people, and that, usually, the best songs are written as based on life experiences. An associate of mine that I consider one of the best songwriters I've ever met has said on many occasions that he actually dreads it when his life is running smoothly; he says that he can't write diddly. If you've disdain for songwriting pandering such as basing a tune on a tractor or a four wheel drive truck, then I needn't say more.

Also, many great tunes were written very quickly, and in some cases, very nearly forgotten. James Taylor wrote "Mexico" in a drunken stupor, not that I'm advocating such. Nonetheless, had not Taylor's vacation buddy on this excursion helped him to recreate the tune during the fog of the morning after, this is a tune that none of us would've likely ever heard.