Nearly two years on from sharing memoir Let's Go (So We Can Get Back), Jeff Tweedy has readied a new book. The Wilco leader will deliver How to Write One Song: Loving the Things We Create and How They Love Us Back on October 13 via Dutton.
As its title implies, How to Write One Song will examine the "intimate process of writing one song — lyrics, music, and putting it all together," while also reflecting on "the importance of making creativity part of your life every day."
An abstract for the book reads in part as follows:
There are few creative acts more mysterious and magical than writing a song. But what if the goal wasn't so mysterious and was actually achievable for anyone who wants to experience more magic and creativity in their life? That's something that anyone will be inspired to do after reading Jeff Tweedy's How to Write One Song.
Why one song? Because the difference between one song and many songs isn't a cute semantic trick — it's an important distinction that can simplify a notoriously confusing art form. The idea of becoming a capital-S songwriter can seem daunting, but approached as a focused, self-contained event, the mystery and fear subsides, and songwriting becomes an exciting pursuit.
Tweedy himself added in a press release, "The feeling I get when I write — the sense that time is simultaneously expanding and disappearing — that I'm simultaneously more me and also free of me — is the main reason I wanted to put my thoughts on songwriting down in book form to share with everyone so inclined."
Tweedy recently made a musical commitment to racial and social justice. He shared new song "Tell Your Friends" with Wilco earlier this year, and collaborated on another new single with Mavis Staples.
As its title implies, How to Write One Song will examine the "intimate process of writing one song — lyrics, music, and putting it all together," while also reflecting on "the importance of making creativity part of your life every day."
An abstract for the book reads in part as follows:
There are few creative acts more mysterious and magical than writing a song. But what if the goal wasn't so mysterious and was actually achievable for anyone who wants to experience more magic and creativity in their life? That's something that anyone will be inspired to do after reading Jeff Tweedy's How to Write One Song.
Why one song? Because the difference between one song and many songs isn't a cute semantic trick — it's an important distinction that can simplify a notoriously confusing art form. The idea of becoming a capital-S songwriter can seem daunting, but approached as a focused, self-contained event, the mystery and fear subsides, and songwriting becomes an exciting pursuit.
Tweedy himself added in a press release, "The feeling I get when I write — the sense that time is simultaneously expanding and disappearing — that I'm simultaneously more me and also free of me — is the main reason I wanted to put my thoughts on songwriting down in book form to share with everyone so inclined."
Tweedy recently made a musical commitment to racial and social justice. He shared new song "Tell Your Friends" with Wilco earlier this year, and collaborated on another new single with Mavis Staples.
