What is songwriting?

All the information on this site is about the songwriting project in Lesbos, but what is songwriting? And what is a song? The meaning of a song is often culturally loaded. But, the common thing about songs is that they contain information. In the form of lyrics and music, songs tell stories and express feelings (Baker, 2015). Songwriting in general is the writing of songs. In a therapeutic context, songwriting is an intervention that is used within music therapy. Songwriting is then applied through a therapist-client relationship with a therapeutic goal. Goals could be processing trauma, working on self-reflection, self-esteem or self-expression. Within my project I wanted to create a space where refugees could express themselves and stimulate collaboration in the group process. 

Baker, F.A. (2015). Therapeutic songwriting: Developments in Theory, Methods, and Practise. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan.

How it started

The idea to start a songwriting project was born when having a walk through a Dutch forest after returning from Lesbos. I realized that writing makes me happy. I had also just returned from doing voluntary work with Connect by Music, where I tried songwriting with a colleague. This session with five girls worked out really well and we saw the fun and contact grow within the group. During the walk I asked myself: "What if I could go back to write songs with the people in the camp? So that they could have a place to express themselves?".  I felt in everything that this is what I wanted to do. The idea of continuing to study after the bachelor was always an option for me and now I had a plan to subscribe for the master of music therapy.

The process beforehand

I was accepted at the ArtEZ University of the Arts in Enschede and learned about how to set up research. I chose to write songs in 'single sessions', because from experience I knew that making appointments in a camp is difficult. If I would have asked the songrwriters to come back the next day to finish the song, half of them wouldn't have been there because of sudden other appointments (doctor, lawyer, foodline, classes) or because of simply forgetting it. Making it a success experience for the songwriters was important to me. So, it had to be finished by the same group on the same day. 

The songwriters

The organization Connect by Music is active in various places on Lesbos. The initial idea was to write songs with three groups in these various places: men, women and adolescents. Due to many practical reasons, this was too complicated. Therefore, it was decided to focus solely on male minors and adolescents, aged 15 to 20, in camp Moria. In these groups, I could sometimes implement songwriting sessions during the regular Connect by Music sessions. In these sessions, I worked with colleague Lore Smits. First, the boys were asked who wanted to participate in songwriting. They could register for the next session. Not everyone always showed up the next session. If other boys were interested, they could participate as long as the group existed up to six persons. This was because of group dynamics and the time limit of three hours. Also, every language had to be represented by someone who could speak English, so that communication during the process was possible. Eventually, 35 songwriters have participated in total! Some of them wanted to participate again after the first time, and were seen as new participants in the research. This resulted in a total of 47 participants. Of these participants, no fewer than 84% came from Afghanistan. The other countries of origin were Pakistan (4%), Ghana (4%), Syria (2%), Sierra Leone (2%), Guinée (2%) and Nigeria (2%). 

The beginning of a session

The sessions took place in a classroom (iso box) in camp Moria. It was furnished with some chairs and tables and sometimes a whiteboard. The sessions started with explaining the process and filling in the consent forms and personal data forms. These were available in four languages: Farsi, Arabic, French and English. The boys had to give permission to gather personal data (age, origin, lyrics) and to make audio recordings. After that, I asked them to write down an answer to the question: "What is important to you right now?". This question had to do with my research question: "What do refugees express within songwriting?". They could all write it down in their own language. Some wrote one word, others a whole page.

Forming a song

After everybody had written something down, it was shared in the group. I wrote down their ideas on a whiteboard to get an overview. These conversations were interesting, because some boys found recognition in someone else's story. After this, a structure was made of all the text, to make it into the lyrics of the song. Is there a global theme or are there more various themes? Are some pieces suitable for a verse or maybe a chorus? This is how, together, the structure was made. It was also decided who would start and who end the song and who wanted to rap, speak or sing. The music was made with the app GarageBand on the iPad. This technology made it possible to create music and record in a relatively short time. We started on the iPad with finding a beat ("Do you want an electrical beat, acoustic drum kit or percussion instruments?') and built the musical base from there: What is the mood of the song?  What tempo fits the best? Which instruments have to be in there as well?
If someone wanted to record live guitar, that was possible as well. It was important to consult with each other, face problems and solve them together. In some groups different cultures came together and it was nice to see how they had conversations with each other about the music. 

Recording

When the musical base was somewhat set, de microphone was put on the table. Some boys became very enthusiastic at this point, others very nervous. First, I let them get used to hearing themselves through a mic and headphones. They could also practise their piece first. A difficult thing for the rest of the group, was keeping total silence during the recording. Not everyone had the concentration or patience to do this. Also, complete silence in a refugee camp is almost impossible. When recording the songs in Lesbos, it was winter. This meant that the heater was on almost all the time, which you can hear on some recordings (like song 3 on the album). Sometimes there were kids playing outside or a door was slammed which was also audible on the recording. This also has its charms, in my opinion. 
It was scary to do for most of them, but when the first songwriter made the first step, the rest followed.

And then?

When everyone had recorded their piece, we ended the session with finding a title and with filling in the evaluation forms for the research. I took the recordings home and finalized the song there. Most of the times,  the song existed of loose puzzle pieces that had to be put together in the structure that we made. In some songs, the boys wanted something extra like strings or our voices. This was done at home too because of time limitations. The days after the session, the boys would often ask: "When is my music finished?". And when it was ready, I took the song and we listened to it with the whole group. Some boys found it strange to hear themselves and some were enthusiastic. When they approved of the song, I send it to them via e-mail. This was an important part of the process, because I could literally give them something. A product, their product. In total, ten songwriting sessions took place and ten songs came out of these sessions. These songs are brought together on the album 'Songs of Moria'. After returning from Lesbos, Justin van Brussel mixed the songs. Together with Lynn Rouwhorst, the art work was made and this is how the CD came about. If you don't have the album yet, but you do want it, click here to order it within the Netherlands. Contact me if you want to have it shipped outside the Netherlands. Like the Songs of Moria Facebook at the bottom of this page for updates on the research or stories about the songwriters.