It's not the Destination, but the Journey

For one night every year, the world used to stop and listen to an awards show that would present-among other awards- the best album, song, and artist of the year. It was a huge event and people everywhere dreamed about being on that stage.  Today things have changed.  Although the Grammys are still a very big deal, other award shows, like the country music awards, the spike TV music awards, MTV Video Music Awards (the VMA's), and the European VMA's have given young people and artists all over the world many more dreams of being number one, or even being number one multiple times; a dream some will stop at nothing to accomplish.  But with all the fame and fortune, the whole purpose of music can be lost.

"It is not the destination, but the Journey."  A quote that I grew up hearing at sunday school.  I feel that it applies to nothing as strongly as it applies to music.  The best musicians in life today sing about true life feelings, hardships and overcoming them, roadblocks and distractions. However, once you make it to the top, your life complete changes and that inspiration is all but gone.  Instead of singing about hoping you get a gig here or have enough money to not get kicked out of your home, your singing about how much money you have, how the women/men of your dreams flock to you, and deciding which car to buy.  Similarly to how one needs good voice in writing too keep the audience interested in their work, if one's music doesn't tell a good story, then they will lose their audience as well.

So it comes down to "How do I keep my songs inspiration and subject matter to things my fans can relate to and will keep then interested?  Well, rather then sing about all the new things you have, sing about the things that, rich or poor, tall or short, fat or skinny, we all go through.  Love, loss, relationships, and experience are all things that everyone can relate to.  Talk about the things that made you who you are today, recount your difficulties you talked about on previous tracks, but as long as you focus on the journey, your fans will keep on rocking.