By Greg Rank

I receive several music newsletters by email these days: BMI, Tunecore, Airplaydirect and Taxi. They all talk about how a songwriter can make money, create great demo’s, and promote themselves to the music-buying world.

What would happen if a songwriter studied the craft of songwriting and the goal wasn’t money, fame, American Idol, or iTunes? What if they did it to make just one person happy? What would that songwriter’s life look like?

I would be lying if I said money wasn’t a goal when I started songwriting. It definitely was. But as time went on I took note of a certain magic occurring around me on a daily basis, and I attribute some of that magic to songwriting and music.

One of my first original songs was a tongue and cheek country comedy named “Boots and Whips.” I performed this song during a workshop at McCabes guitar shop in Santa Monica, California. It made one person laugh. Later, I married that person and we had children together. Both children grew up to become musical/acting celebrities in our small town community theater scene.

“Boots and Whips”, “Polished Shoes”, and “‘till the Doggies Howl”(as well as other original songs penned by me) are available for free from my Creative Commons Library at bigsong.us. If those songs make you happy, drop me a line and let me know. Each has it's own story.

The late great Jimmy Durante said it best: “Make someone happy, make just one someone happy, and you will be happy, too.”