“ Waking Up Dreaming ” is a good title , isn ' t it ? I like the paradox in there . I did bring that in as a title and a concept because I wanted to write something that was literally how I think and I am . I ' d rather be dreaming when I ' m awake , so I can navigate my way through my imagination so that it just goes off into somewhere else . Wow , I think that song was written and demoed in like an hour .
I suppose “ Pretty Liar ” does a sort of similar thing , doesn ' t it ? In just two words , it ' s got something kind of pleasant and something a little bit negative sort of mixed up together . Yeah , that one has a bite . You know , it ' s a spicy little song , and it ' s kind of got a very typical Shania sense of humour to it where you know the bite is there , but it ' s all in good humour . I wrote that one quite early on . “ Pretty Liar ” that was early on in the whole writing process for this album , and the “ lie , lie , lie ” all of that that ' s another good one for the chorus . I placed myself in a , you know , pub environment . You know , I was really in that almost obvious place where you know , it ' s loud , and there ' s drinks , and like , you know , you just want to sing along and let your hair down and sweat and swear .
Swearing in a song is a kind of a risky gambit . It ' s the only way you say that , right ? That is the way you would say it . It ' s a very conversational way to say f @ ck , you know . It ' s like there ' s many ways to say it , but that one isn ' t forced , it ' s just the way you want to say it naturally .
Yeah , it ' s interesting because it almost takes that sort of liar , liar pants on fire kind of idea , but then it twists it into something much more kind of aggressive and more adult . Oh yeah , it was a good departure . I thought it was very refreshing . A little heavier , you know , a little darker , a little more speaking at you kind of thing . I love the bridge on that one . That ' s one of my favourite B-sections . I love the intervals and the harmonies there too . Yeah , that was a really fun bridge to write , and the chorus is more nursery rhyme-ish . You know , it ' s more stick your tongue out kind of thing which you know goes along with the pants on fire . And that was a very fun song to write , and I love it . It ' s one of the favourites with my friends . They like to sing along with it .
I suppose a lot of these techniques that you ' ve discussed must be so intuitive to you by now that you barely even think about them because , you were writing songs from the age of ten . Yeah , you know , I guess the more you do something , the better you get at it , or at least you hope that ' s the case . But I think most of what I know about songwriting other than experience is what I ' ve listened to . The things you choose to listen to , especially when you ' re growing up , is your education . So , I ' ve studied . You know , I have to say not to sound like a nerd .
We love nerds . You do ? I ' ve studied songwriting . I mean , without being in school , but I ' ve studied the way people say things , and I do tend to love obscure lyrics , how people can find new ways of saying the same thing . I just so admire that , and I ' m always looking for a lyric or even a chord progression or intervals that I never would have thought of myself . That always blows my mind . I ' m always looking to be envious of something someone else wrote that I didn ' t . That I didn ' t yet , and so it pushes me to challenge myself to be better . So , the process for me in writing a song is very much like a puzzle that hasn ' t been created yet . That is actually a really good way to put it .
I wonder if that ' s why your mega-hits like “ That Don ' t Impress Me Much ” and “ Man , I Feel Like a Woman ” songs like that , maybe that ' s why they go over so well because of those messages , they ’ re just so strong , all with a sense of humour . That ' s a good point because I do admit that my intentions are always to be relatable . I ' m recording this stuff to communicate and to share and to be on the same page with the listener . I want that ; that ' s what I ' m looking for . Otherwise , I would just not record it and I often think to myself , gee , there ' s a lot of stuff I write where I don ' t have that intention where that isn ' t the driving force , I ' m just simply indulging in my own whatever resonates most with me in that moment , and it may not be relatable at all , and I ' ve never actually tested that . I don ' t know if I will ever record stuff that I just do , you know , stuff that I just write for the sake of pure resonance pleasure . I ' ve never really allowed myself to do that , and I do record a lot of stuff like that .
That ' s so interesting , there being a distinction between those songs that have such meaning for people like , “ You ' re Still the One ” or “ From This Moment On ”, and songs that you might be crafting for your own purposes . Oh yeah , I do that a lot just for the sake of creative expression , which is why it may not really make a lot of sense to anyone else , even . And sometimes I look at poetry that way , and I think , gosh , this makes absolutely no sense . This poem is OK , or am I just not smart enough ? Am I not able to read between the lines ? So , I think that is how other people might relate to some of the music that I write . They wouldn ' t relate ; they ' d be like , why in the world would she write that ? Why would she say that ? What does that even mean ? And that ' s OK , you know because I just indulged and do it for myself . It ' s really , very fun . I still write exactly the same way as I ' ve always ever written from the age of 10 years old . My own approach to writing is exactly the same . I mean , Mutt related to me very well , so that worked out really great . But that was the only person , and that was for 14 years . So , it ' s like when that stopped when we divorced ; it was so important for me to get reunited again with my self , independent , isolated , the writer that I always was , and do an album like that just to almost find myself again and figure out where I would have landed after all this time .
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