Hey everyone….Rob here.

So I’m wandering around the city yesterday and this little melody creeps into my head. I get on the train and start humming it (quietly) to myself and slowly lyrics take shape. I end up with something like…”The best I can do is say I’m sorry, the most I can hope is that you’re willing to try, the worst I can think is that you’re already saying goodbye”. Nice little words, catchy melody…all good stuff. Don’t steal it. Here’s the thin: everything is fine between me and my wife. Life is good. I am not in some argument where apology and concern is necessary. So, this begs the question…where did these lyrics come from? Maybe it’s just the sound of the melody that suggested those initial sounds of the first line, which in turn suggested the repeated hook of best, worst, most. However, there is an even bigger question here: what if I write this whole song and flesh it out and it never quite gets connected back to something I feel but still remains in the abstract? Does this lack of connection to the writer come through to the listener? Is that a remove that can be felt?

I pose this question to you our friends / fans: to what level does the writer have to feel an emotional connection to his/her lyrics in order for the listener to get something from the song?