Words of Wisdom from ...Boogie Wonderland

Wisdom is often found in unexpected places. I picked up a copy of the Independent newspaper yesterday and read an obituary for the songwriter Allee Willis (1947-2019) who died on Christmas Eve. Now, I like to pride myself on my knowledge of pop music but I'd never heard of Allee Willis. It turns out she was a Grammy award-winning songwriter who, despite not being able to read music or even play an instrument, co-wrote a string of funky, soulful hits.  She had a hand in Earth, Wind and Fire's September and Boogie Wonderland as well as the Pet Shop Boys/Dusty Springfield collaboration What Have I Done to Deserve This?  She also co-wrote songs for the Pointer Sisters and the inescapable I'll Be There for You - the Rembrandts' hit theme tune from the TV series Friends.

I've recently retired from my job as a senior lecturer in mental health nursing - one of the reasons I now have time to read newspaper obituaries. I've retired partly to spend more time with my wife and family, having learnt in the last couple of years that it's a mistake to take for granted good health as you get older. In the light of this revelation, I've also realised it's best to spend as much time as possible with the people you love the most, doing the things you enjoy the most. So here am I writing about what I choose to write about. There are few greater pleasures for me.  Writing songs is another great joy. Forty years ago I'd write a new song every week; in recent years it's been more like a new song every two years. So any lessons that can be learnt from the likes of Allee Willis are worth noting. How do you get to be a songwriter? Well, Allee Willis happened to have been born in Detroit in 1947 and had the good fortune to be able to sit outside the Motown studios in their hit-making heyday listening to the records being recorded. And that, she once said, is how she became a songwriter. 

It makes sense: the best way to become a songwriter is to listen carefully to great songs and analyse how they're made - and, of course, it helps if you've got a way with words and tunes. The same applies to all types of writer - first, read a lot of good writing, then start writing.

But what struck a chord with me most about the Allee Willis obituary was a quote with which fatalists the world over will identify: "My whole career is based on two truths," she once explained. The first of these is: "What can't possibly happen, happens." And the second is: "What should be happening, doesn't."  These are important lessons, and worth keeping in mind at those times when, as the song goes, it hasn't been your day, your week, your month or even your year.