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I can totally relate. Almost every lyric I write makes me wanna puke, very difficult to get anywhere when I'm judging myself so brutally. Small wonder I never get anything finished!!
RonAsheton-
You just have to let stuff go sometimes. For me it's about finding that balance of not being completely happy and not working it to death and standing half a chance of ever finishing anything. Difficult to manage when you have limited time to work on stuff meaning that the process gets stretched out over a much longer time period. Stuff gets stuck.
I find it fascinating that my own "rules" (they're not written down or anything) are so flexible in certain specific circumstances as well. Like, I'm not a fan of overly specific references, but then again i like just enough specificity to make a situation seem real, but then again... ad nauseum.
Another one is that I will not let anything overly "feely" that doesn't actually make grammatical sense pass... but then again sometimes I do. I was called on it the other day when someone had to learn one of my songs to sing harmony on it - they asked "what are you singing there" and when told them, they asked "does that make sense?". My response was that "It sort of does... to me.. at a stretch... well, I know what it means anyway". The point being that I say to myself that that logical grammital correctless is a red line for me, but then i wave it through if it sounds good, and flows, and i kind of like the slightly odd ambiguity...
Dooks-Fatberg
Not strictly guitar but songwriting... For the last week or so I've been making a concerted organised effort to finish a song that's been kicking about for at least a couple of years and although I'm kinda blocked, i'm actually finding the process strangely interesting.
My run-rate is about one a year lately so i'm not worried about the amount of time it's taking, no-one is exactly waiting for it so I'm letting myself do some navel-gazing as to what does and doesn't work. Thought i'd stick it down here in case anyone else finds it helpful.
The thing that I'm finding interesting is that the central foundation of the song is the bit that I think i'm gonna have to kill off if i'm ever going to finish it. The lyric is build around a couple of images and feelings that are all tied up with the passing of my last grandparent shortly after I became a parent a few years ago. What does it mean when someone dies? What happens to all of those memories and all of that love. All of that. What Not a novel concept i'm well aware, but it's a classic theme for a reason. All of the lyrics kind of spin off off from this super-vivid childhood memory of being with my grandparnets in this kind of (probably imagined) idyllic pastoral situation. But as i've fettled and changed the song and added and deleted verses i've come to realise that the one bit that I just cannot live with is the bit that overtly references that memory. It just really sticks in my throat when I sing it. It feels forced and like really obvious piece of artless sentimental guff right in the middle of what (i think) has turned into a reasonably decent piece of writing.
It's the trigger's broom effect.
I came to the realistion this morning that it has got to go. Now -just need to replace it with something. *chews pencil and looks thoughtfully out of window