Perfection is a Pipedream

Perfect Songs Don't Exist

Basically, there are no perfect songs. Perfection is impossible. It doesn't happen in nature, and it's certainly not reality in songwriting.

Imagine the perfect song like a featureless box that's all one colour – grey – with nothing standing out. No texture, colour, imperfections, or details. Who wants to look at a flat, featureless box painted grey?

Nobody! It's dull and boring!

It's the imperfections that make things interesting. Those little quirks that stand out and say, 'hi' are what spark imagination and give a song its character.

Perfectionism Kills Creativity

The need to get your song "right" too early sucks the life out of it. Being precious about every idea in your head stalls the creative flow and stifles genuine expression. Just let go.

Get down whatever idea comes, good or bad, and don't judge it before you note it down. Too many good ideas are killed before they reach the page because we judge them too early.

Your First Draft is Supposed to Be Awful

Let your first draft be messy, imperfect, and downright terrible! That's exactly what it should be. The first draft is just that – a first attempt.

Let the ideas flow freely. Allow the full expression of your emotions to pour out onto the page. Write down everything that comes – without judgement. Don't block your flow of ideas.

You can rework them and craft them into something more refined later. That may be another day entirely.

Real Emotion Beats Perfect Structure

Overworking a song can kill its raw emotion and authentic expression. And it's the emotional impact that people want when they listen to your music. They want to feel something.

Focus on expressing your authentic, heartfelt emotions. Real feelings and authenticity matter much more than technical perfection. People don't want perfect structure – they want the feeling your song gives them.

Perfectionism is Procrastination in Disguise

The need to be perfect holds us back from doing the hard work, finishing the song, and getting it out there. We can fiddle with tiny details all year long, but if we don't draw the line somewhere, we never share our work with others.

And that's the whole point of a song – to share it! Songs are for other people. They're not meant to exist in a vacuum.

Progress Beats Perfection

The thing to focus on is progress, not perfection. Progress happens when we improve step by step over time. Instead of obsessing over tiny details, call your song finished – even if it's not perfect. Move on.

Yes, move on and share it. Play it for family and friends. Get feedback. And if you're brave, perform it at open mics. You'll get even better feedback from strangers, while building confidence and resilience.

Done is Better than Perfect

At some point, we need to draw the line and call the song done. Otherwise, we can tinker with tiny details until the end of time. It'll never be perfect, so stop obsessing over microscopic things that no one else will notice anyway.

If your song is 85-90% finished, it's probably time to call it a day. It'll never be 100% perfect – not ever!

Share Your Work!

It's time to let your song fly and share it with people. You'll get valuable feedback that will help you move forward.

By sharing your work, you'll gain confidence and build resilience to keep going and improve the next time you write. Songs are meant to be shared.

Call them done, get them out there, and move on to the next one.

Enough said!