The Musings Of An Opinionated Sod [Help Me Grow!]

The reason I mention this is because recently I came across a quote that seemed to explain why these 2 subjects are inherently linked:

You see the problem I have is that I often think too much about something.

OK, that’s wrong, we should never undermine the ability to think something through with rigour and purpose … it’s just that sometimes, in my focused state [I know, amazing eh!] I find it almost impossible to express all that I’ve learnt and had to consider in a simple – yet interesting – way.

And that’s where music helps and why that quote is so good.

You see once I’ve worked out the context of what I’m trying to convey, I basically look for songs that have that theme in their title and then just listen to them.

I know that sounds utterly ridiculous, but you’d be surprised how often there is a lyric that captures what you are looking to express but in a thought-provoking, infectious way.

Of course it doesn’t always work, but recently I was trying to think of the best way to articulate an idea around the concept of ‘restlessness’. I had tried so many different ways but my gut told me I didn’t have it.

[That’s another thing, for all the talk about processes and tools, more often that not what is right is something you ‘feel’, but that’s a post for another day]

So I went through my music collection and found a song by Bad English called – conveniently enough – The Restless Ones.

Anyway, as I was listening, I heard a line which said, “Let Them Know You Came” and immediately I knew that was it.

It perfectly encapsulated what we needed to say.

What would resonate and also liberate.

What would let us create work that you would feel, rather than be told.

What would turn my creative brief from functional to exciting.

And that’s why I like that above quote so much.

Sure, I know what I’ve described isn’t exactly true to what is being said, but the whole ‘released from the tyranny of conscious thought’ made a big impression on me, because when you’re at the point of writing a brief, it’s sometimes hard to turn off your brain from screaming out all the details you’ve learnt along the way … details that can throw you off course because they add distractions rather than clarity.

You see when you write a brief, you want it to be as exciting, infectious and ‘bursting with possible’ as possible … and the reason I often fall back on the power of music to help me out of a hole is because musicians often have a way of expressing a viewpoint in the most powerful, meaningful and emotional of ways, and if you can find the right fit, you can end up with a perspective that opens big doors rather than creates small boxes.

Or said another way, music removes the noise but keeps the beat.