If Geddy Lee Can Sing, So Can I (And So Can You)

Week 2 ✅

This is the second song I’ve ever released where I’m singing. Singing is something entirely out of my comfort zone, but it’s also something I’ve been wanting to start doing for a while. Now, I’m making myself do it more. Growth happens outside the comfort zone, right?

Find Confidence However You Can

Whenever I get anxious or self conscious about singing, I just think of Geddy Lee. When I first heard him sing, I actually found it quite hilarious and wondered how anyone could enjoy it. It’s high pitched and (somewhat annoyingly) theatrical. I even read online somewhere that someone described it as “like a cat being chased out the door with a blowtorch up its ass.” But the more I listened to Rush, the more I realized that Geddy Lee just fucking owned it. I grew to like his voice, understanding that it fits perfectly with the 70s prog riffs and nerdy lyrics. Rush is not Rush without Geddy Lee. I also think about John Lennon and Bob Dylan. Both of them objectively have nasally voices… but no one really cares about that. They sang their songs and everybody loved them for it. I just need to own my voice and work to develop my style over time.

Letting Things (Music, Art) Go

When I wrote the bridge of this song, I had this vision that it would be a growing cascade of layered synths, guitar parts, oohs & ahhs, etc. I wanted it to be big with lots of components and panning, covering the full range of frequencies. Lots of delay, chorus and reverb. Well, that didn’t happen. I ran out of steam and lost interest. I’ve let go of that idea for now. I may come back to it if I ever re-record this song, but I may not. You don’t have to run with every single idea you have and you’re allowed to scrap things before you even start them. There are no rules.

Time Spent This Week

I’m still using a time tracker. Surprised that I spent over 3 hours mixing! It didn’t feel like it.

Sun 10 January 2021 -> Sun 17 January 2021
songwriting - 8h 05m 23s
        [arranging     13m 21s]
        [bassline     21m 20s]
        [guitar  1h 00m 56s]
        [lyrics     44m 19s]
        [mixing  3h 20m 45s]
        [synth     44m 16s]
        [vocals  1h 40m 26s]

Total: 8h 05m 23s

If you’d like to keep up with this project, subscribe for email updates. I send the updates occasionally, but not enough to overwhelm your inbox! If you’d like a list of all the songs I’ve written so far, here’s a link!