Let me backtrack for a minute. In the pressroom before the show, I overheard a fellow reporter say to someone, "Well, after all, this isn't exactly the Rock-and-Roll Hall of Fame." And, let's face it, in the world of media hype and fan bases, it isn't. It's the artists who are the stars in our society. I mean, how many times do you hear someone say, "Oh you know, that song "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston." As if she wrote it. (Dolly Parton did.) But hey, that's the way it is. What was gratifying during this particular show was to listen to such luminaries as Paul McCartney and James Taylor, both of whom are songwriters as well as artists, speak about how important songwriting is to them - perhaps more so, even, than performing. Because the heart beat of a song can go on forever.
The profound respect some of these artists and songwriters have for each other was also moving. Carol King spoke of how James Taylor had inspired her first attempt at writing solo. Paul McCartney described how Brian Wilson's songs would bring him to tears. When Ben E. King sang his Leiber and Stoller hit "Stand By Me", all the inductees, presenters, and performers joined him on stage for a rousing, and fitting, climax of camaraderie.
It was a night that made me proud to be a songwriter. There are many times, of course, when it can be much more discouraging. There are times when I stop writing, capitulating to the feeling that I'm not getting anywhere, that there isn't any place in the world for what I truly want to write. But then I write again, because there doesn't seem to be any place in the world for me not to write.
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