Arts vs. Craft and the Songwriter's Dilemna

What came first, art or craft? I would argue that art came first, that is, if art is described as human feeling expressed through a physical medium.  Craft is then defined as the dogma to which an artist ascribes to in order to express his or her creativity. 

So, are you an artist or a craftsperson?

I spent most of my teens pursuing a craft: guitar.  I had no intention of deeming myself an artist.  I just wanted to play my guitar and get better at it, as fast as possible.  I might have been a tad ambitious in those years, because that ambition quickly exploded into an artistic awakening, and my craft was soon forgotten in a pursuit of effortless artistic expression, songwriting. 

Songwriting, to many, is a craft.  To me, it is not.  Songwriting is pure art.

Living and working in Nashville, I hear so many songs that I have never heard before.  Some blow me away, and others just blow...

A well-crafted song is a testament to the hard work of the songwriter, he or she being diligently witty and forcing a fixed amount of expression into a fixed amount of time, so as to make it suitable for radioplay.  This is pure craft.  I respect it, surely, but the songwriter's artisitc merit very quickly dminishes when it becomes clear why the song was written in the first place.  It's just another shot to be played on country radio, or top 40, or what have you. 

Songwriting as art is an entirely different force altogether.  Examples include Bob Dyan's "Pawn in Their Game," The Beatle's "Long, Long, Long," and the countless Sebadoh songs that were written because Lou Barlow was feeling sad.  These songs are not desirous of anything, be that exposure, wealth, or another listen.  These songs were written because they had to be.  When it takes effort to write, there must be intention, and if the intention is worldy, what's the point?  Professional songwriting is a hard enough career to pusrue as is.  Why do it for the money? It's kind of like writing a book for the money.  I really don't see the point.

Is it possible to marry art and craft?  Yes, and that is where the masters reside.

It is important to always be discovering. This is the state of art. 

If this state is maintained without effort, then craft becomes a secondary outcome, a win-win.

What comes naturally? 

There lies your art.


Leave a comment