What Would You Do?
I have a philosophical/ethical question for musicians and songwriters. The question will come after an in depth description of the event that leads me to wonder about this thing.
I recently found myself drawn to a person that I was "hanging out" with. Hanging out is one way to identify two people who get together for, well... hanging out without actually calling it a relationship. I thought we were having great times together and things were progressing nicely. Although I knew she only wanted someone to "hang out" with, I felt like we clicked in such a way that resulted in more chemistry or whatever and required more exploration. After spending a weekend with this person, I noted a big change in the frequency of her wondering about me (she stopped texting) and a while later (after being turned down for dates) I asked why. Admittedly, she was correct in assuming that I had made nothing into something and, essentially, broke the rules of engagement that she had laid out for me. Fail -- as they say it -- on my part. But, I don't have the type of heart that listens to my head (or someone else's head or heart, even) and I eff'd up what she wanted us to be (I do that an awful lot, don't I? Ha! Take THAT world!).
There was one night when I was hoping to get together with this girl and I had sent her a text asking her what was up. I spent hours waiting for my phone to light up. While I waited, I played my guitar and inevitably wrote a song about waiting for the phone to ring (or vibrate). It never did buzz, even though it does in the song, but the song came out really good. It's one of my favorite songs to play and could be construed as a love song (probably more accurate would be: an unrequited love song with a twist ending).
Here is the question: What do you do with a song that you wrote about someone, who you don't see anymore?
Note: this song ends with two people meeting up with each. Thus, it's not at all about the relationship (or lack-there-of) that ensued. So, it's not an accurate reflection of my state of mind about the person that song is written about. So, should the song die? Or should it live on?
What would you do?
I recently found myself drawn to a person that I was "hanging out" with. Hanging out is one way to identify two people who get together for, well... hanging out without actually calling it a relationship. I thought we were having great times together and things were progressing nicely. Although I knew she only wanted someone to "hang out" with, I felt like we clicked in such a way that resulted in more chemistry or whatever and required more exploration. After spending a weekend with this person, I noted a big change in the frequency of her wondering about me (she stopped texting) and a while later (after being turned down for dates) I asked why. Admittedly, she was correct in assuming that I had made nothing into something and, essentially, broke the rules of engagement that she had laid out for me. Fail -- as they say it -- on my part. But, I don't have the type of heart that listens to my head (or someone else's head or heart, even) and I eff'd up what she wanted us to be (I do that an awful lot, don't I? Ha! Take THAT world!).
There was one night when I was hoping to get together with this girl and I had sent her a text asking her what was up. I spent hours waiting for my phone to light up. While I waited, I played my guitar and inevitably wrote a song about waiting for the phone to ring (or vibrate). It never did buzz, even though it does in the song, but the song came out really good. It's one of my favorite songs to play and could be construed as a love song (probably more accurate would be: an unrequited love song with a twist ending).
Here is the question: What do you do with a song that you wrote about someone, who you don't see anymore?
Note: this song ends with two people meeting up with each. Thus, it's not at all about the relationship (or lack-there-of) that ensued. So, it's not an accurate reflection of my state of mind about the person that song is written about. So, should the song die? Or should it live on?
What would you do?