Songwriting

Writing Your Life In Song

by Marty Dodson
Jan 14, 2022

The area in which I have had the most career success is writing my life in song. I believe that to be successful as a songwriter, you have to be very versatile. I have had songs recorded by artists as varied as The Oak Ridge Boys and The Plain White T’s.

When I have written (well) the experiences that have shaped and molded me, I have had success.

In my former life, I was a youth minister.

So, I saw the good, bad, and ugly of church life. Those experiences creep into my writing often. There is a spiritual thread that runs through much of my writing. In many ways, I process and “work through” that time in my life through my writing. I’ve posted a couple of songs here today that were based on that time in my life. If you’d like to hear them, check them out below. (You don’t have to be a member)

I am a very passionate person, so that part of me runs through my music as well.

“Must Be Doin’ Somethin’ Right”, “Let Me Down Easy” and “While You Loved Me” are examples of that side of me.

I believe that your unique life experiences give you the BEST shot at crafting a song that stands out. Nobody has lived YOUR life. So, write it. Don’t try to shine it up or make it sound better than it has been. Just write it. Be raw and real.

Only YOU can write from your perspective, so don’t miss that opportunity for writing your life in song.

Writing your life story in song - SongTown

Take the good, bad, and ugly of your life and write it in a way that others can relate. If you do that well, you’ve got a shot.

Write on! MD


They’ll Kick You Out Of Church For That

Everybody Wants To Go To Heaven

Marty Dodson

Marty Dodson

Marty Dodson is a multi #1 songwriter, co-founder of SongTown, and co-author of  The Songwriter’s Guide To Mastering Cowriting and Song Building: Mastering Lyric Writing

share

Write Better Songs Faster

Songwriting Success is Clay & Marty's 10-day video series that will help you level-up your songs and finish them faster. Enter your email address to get started!

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.