Members Mark L Posted February 8, 2013 Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 I think soWhat do you think? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members bee3 Posted February 8, 2013 Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 I do not believe this to be true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted February 8, 2013 Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 bee3 wrote: I do not believe this to be true. But sometimes the little voices say that it IS true, which gets awfully confusing after a while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted February 8, 2013 Author Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 Sorry to crash your forum, blue This topic just occured to me and I had to post it here Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderators Lee Knight Posted February 8, 2013 Moderators Share Posted February 8, 2013 Ask me and I'd say absolutely not. Ask my wife and she'd say absolutely! Ask my boss and she'd say why are you bothering me with this stupid {censored} again? Ask my daughter and she'd say I think he's pretty cool but a little weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Mark L Posted February 8, 2013 Author Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 Lee Knight wrote: Ask me and I'd say absolutely not. Ask my wife and she'd say absolutely! Ask my boss and she'd say why are you bothering me with this stupid {censored} again? Ask my daughter and she'd say I think he's pretty cool but a little weird. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members blue2blue Posted February 8, 2013 Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 Crash?I've been subtly trying to lure you over here for at least a couple of years -- at least once I figured out what you were all about. = )[i'll admit, first time I saw your old "salty" moniker, I thought you were an outside agitator sent from someplace like OJ, sent here to break the heads and arms off our statues and all that visigoth type stuff. But now I get it. = ) ] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members LCK Posted February 8, 2013 Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 MarkydeSad wrote: I think so What do you think? Slightly insane? Yes, that's one way of putting it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members oldgitplayer Posted February 8, 2013 Members Share Posted February 8, 2013 'Songwriting is a sane way to deal with living in an insane world'.Misquoting the late Ronnie Laing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Chicken Monkey Posted February 9, 2013 Members Share Posted February 9, 2013 I think it's a tired, unhealthy idea. The few actively creative mentally ill folks I know are creating in spite of their illness, not because of it. Mental illness makes accomplishing things difficult. Among successful (ya know, FAMOUS) creative types, I think that what looks like mental illness is usually drug abuse, selfishness that has been indulged, and paranoia about losing grip in fame/wealth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Monkey Uncle Posted February 10, 2013 Members Share Posted February 10, 2013 MarkydeSad wrote: I think so What do you think? Hmm, maybe that's why my songs suck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Monkey Uncle Posted February 10, 2013 Members Share Posted February 10, 2013 Chicken Monkey wrote: I think it's a tired, unhealthy idea. The few actively creative mentally ill folks I know are creating in spite of their illness, not because of it. Mental illness makes accomplishing things difficult. Among successful (ya know, FAMOUS) creative types, I think that what looks like mental illness is usually drug abuse, selfishness that has been indulged, and paranoia about losing grip in fame/wealth. I think this is mostly true. There are many types of mental illness that vary greatly in their effects on a person's ability to function, but, generally, you don't see too many brilliant creations coming from people who have had a psychotic break from reality. (Though the OP did say "slightly," so he probably wasn't talking about major psychosis. I'm not sure what "slightly" insane would look like.) My wife worked with mentally ill folks for years (mostly schizophrenic, bipolar, and substance abusers), and she can tell you that it is a daily struggle for them just to keep themselves clothed, fed, and housed.All that said, it's pretty obvious that a certain amount of emotional turmoil can feed the muses (see all the songs ever written about drug abuse, teen angst, relationships gone wrong, etc., etc.). Some of my favorite songwriters/musicians had their best creative periods when they were teetering on the brink of drug abuse hell (e.g., James Taylor, Aerosmith). The stuff they produced when they came out the other side was pretty boring and lame in comparison (anyone remember the albums that James Taylor put out in the late '80s? And yes, I know Aerosmith went on to have a pile of blockbuster hits in their post-drug abuse era, but I thought they sucked compared to what they sounded like in the late '70s). Of course, when they fell over the brink, they weren't producing anything, and they're lucky they lived to make boring, lame music. I'll take boring, lame, and alive over legendary and dead any day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members grace_slick Posted February 14, 2013 Members Share Posted February 14, 2013 I don't think true mental illness really helps with doing ANYTHING in a productive way, whether it's a creative activity or not.There is a fine line between being REALLY creative, indulgent in terms of that creativity, quirky and free & open minded, and being viewed as "insane", even slightly so.Also, I actually find those songwriters who write what I would consider NOT overly creative and interesting songs to be more "insane" than those who people might assume ARE more mentally...odd.Kate Bush...everyone thinks she's a weirdo because her music is not mainstream and it's kind of strange and very creative. But actually, she lives a very normal, quiet life and is down to earth and happy. Well adjusted.Britney Spears...her songs wouldn't be called hugely quirky or creative by any stretch of the imagination and yet her personal life is...NOT stable or down to earth at all.So I think songwriting channels and expresses any "insanity" anyone has. Maybe if Kate Bush couldn't write songs (or do anything else creative), she'd shave her head and attack someone with an umbrella too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rangefinder Posted February 21, 2013 Members Share Posted February 21, 2013 No, but I think you have to be a misfit if you are going to do well at it, because only misfits will spend the time to craft great songs instead of living a normal life, and only misfits will have something interesting to say. "Happy families are all alike" as the saying goes... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members rsadasiv Posted February 21, 2013 Members Share Posted February 21, 2013 rangefinder wrote: No, but I think you have to be a misfit if you are going to do well at it, because only misfits will spend the time to craft great songs instead of living a normal life, and only misfits will have something interesting to say. "Happy families are all alike" as the saying goes... That's a saying, but Tolstoy was not insane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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