Bill DeMain: Behind The Muse: Pop And Rock's Greatest Songwriters Talk About Their Work And Inspiration

As a songwriter, Bill DeMain has collaborated with the likes of Marshall Crenshaw and Jill Sobule, both for pleasure and to generate songs for his Nashville-based, Burt Bacharach-influenced lounge-pop band Swan Dive. DeMain is also a music journalist of some distinction, having written for Entertainment Weekly, MOJO, and, most prominently, Performing Songwriter. His book Behind The Muse brings together a decade's worth of interviews with songwriters ranging from "Stardust" lyricist Mitchell Parish to Tori Amos. Muse's 40 interview segments are arranged roughly chronologically by the era in which the subjects rose to prominence, but DeMain treats the varied tunesmiths as his contemporaries, asking nuts-and-bolts questions about work habits and what makes a good song. The responses are illuminating. Antonio Carlos Jobim confesses that he feels obligated to work his way through what he calls "the more-or-less songs" so he'll be prepared when he gets hold of a winner. Billy Joel, on the other hand, says he writes as many songs as he needs to fill an album, then shuts down until it's time for the next one. Bacharach explains that he'd rather write without an instrument, so he can hear the whole melody play out in his head without getting trapped by his own piano virtuosity. Jimmy Webb concurs, saying that the object is to get as much of the song down as possible before overthinking sets in. Andy Partridge, David Byrne, and Roger McGuinn all extol the virtues of copying. Todd Rundgren, Glenn Tilbrook, and Aimee Mann advise would-be songwriters to study Elvis Costello. In the book's introduction, DeMain grumbles that most how-to books about songwriting are written by nobodies, which is why he finds it exciting to seek the advice of the craft's masters, then let them write the book themselves. Behind the uniformity of his questions lies a curiosity that speaks to his frustrations as a music-maker: DeMain plainly wants to know whether Smokey Robinson or Phil Collins believe they channel songs from some higher power, or whether their craft is just a matter of methodology and grunt work. Behind The Muse offers valuable insight into how songwriters from diverse generations and genres agree and disagree about the way a melody should flow, or how important hits are, or the tricks for overcoming writers' block. DeMain may not offer a formula for successful songwriting, but he does readily provide a sense of awe at the vagaries of the creative process.