Songwriters on Songwriting: Brian Wilson

“You write in two ways… One, you go where your heart tells you to go. And you also consider, ‘What is it that people like?’ Commerciality, they call it.”

I wrote my first song when I was 14 years old. Over the years, I’ve composed hundreds of songs. It was that interest — music — that led me to take a year off from pursuing a doctorate and led me down the circuitous path that has been the rest of my life.

I don’t write songs nowadays, more focused on screenplays and writing about writing. But I can’t help but think at least some of who I am as a writer derives from all that time studying and composing songs.

Which is why I say that one of my favorite ‘screenwriting’ books is “Songwriters on Songwriting,” a collection of interviews by Paul Zollo with some of the great songwriters of our time, from Mose Allison to Frank Zappa. For what are songs but stories?

Each day this week at this time, I will post insights from a songwriter about their craft in the hope their words may inspire us as writers.

Today: Brian Wilson, one of the founding members of The Beach Boys.

You’re one of the few songwriters who has been able to write commercial songs that are also very artistic, creative songs. But often the artistic songwriters never get on the charts. Do you work at making song commercial?

Oh, yes. You write in two ways… One, you go where your heart tells you to go. If that heart says, “Hey, this kind of song today, “ you go, “Thumbs up! That’s what I’ll do today. I’ll do a hot song.” And you also consider, “What is it that people like? What would somebody like? What is that certain something that everybody is looking for?” Commerciality, they call it. There should be another word for it. What is that word? Commerciality might mean mass appeal. That’s how I feel. I think it’s a positive to down that road. I mean, it’s a good place.”

When I lived in Aspen from 1978–1980 playing music for a living, it presented an interesting creative experience. On the one hand, there were all these famous musicians who had homes there or down valley: John Denver, Jimmy Buffett, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band. On the other hand, there were the ‘working class’ musicians, people such as myself who gigged in local watering holes. The proximity to musicians with wealth and fame provided an interesting backdrop to conversations, many of them along the lines of this:

“I could do what John Denver does, I could write commercial music. But that’s a sell-out, man, that’s not real music, that’s just pap for the masses.”

The word “commercial” would be accompanied by a disdainful air quotes.

Here’s what I thought of that line of reasoning: Bull shit. It’s no easier — and in some ways harder — to write a song which resonates with a lot of people than it is to pen one which only a handful of listeners will get.

That’s what I take from Brian Wilson’s comment. You start with your heart, with your creative spirit, always begin there. But soon in the process, you think about this: Who is your audience? What would connect with them?

For me, it’s the same thing with screenwriting. You start with a creative foundation, deriving from something which is essential to who you are, an expression of your voice. Then you shape that narrative with an eye toward an audience. And if this is true for movies, it’s even more true for TV.

There is no shame in trying to write commercial scripts, stories with “mass appeal”. That requires a special combination of creative skills, no less laudable than an avant-garde artist.

As Brian Wilson aptly demonstrates in this performance of his song “Love and Mercy”:

What’s your favorite Brian Wilson song?

For the rest of the Songwriters on Songwriting series, go here.