No, it’s not really the end of anything, other than this very delayed wrap-up post for Song-A-Day 2025. Many of the blog entries were written over the last several weeks. Clearly I lost the energy to keep talking about it while doing it and I’ll say more about that a little later.
How Did It Go?
It was a solid year. I didn’t reach any new plateaus, nor did I suffer any setbacks or meltdowns. That’s not to say that I wasn’t challenged every day. When I go through the folder for the month, there are several days where I had multiple starts that got abandoned. There are more than a few songs where what you hear as that day’s track is actually the third1Or fourth, or fifth… time I’d started from a blank slate.
Perhaps the biggest challenge I’d given myself was that I would also be writing an entry for the same date in 2024, since I didn’t write a single word at the time. It only took a day for me to decide that was a really bad idea. I’m probably going to be starting on those once I get 2025 posted. And then I’ll go back and maybe write something for those missing early years as well.
As for 2025, well… yeah. It happened. I successfully wrote, recorded, and posted every day. I got some great feedback from other participants and felt generally ok about everything. I attempted a couple of new styles2Eurotrance, Witch House, Tech House, Rap and got to play with some fun new tools and instruments. There were a few surprises both in what was produced and how it was received. As usual, the feedback I got was different than what I was expecting. Another tick in the “you never know what’s going to hit, so put it out there and let it go” column. Finally, Olive (the new dog) didn’t turn out to be too much of a distraction. She even ended up as the subject of a song.
Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics
I haven’t written anything about it yet (obviously), but I crossed the 200 track mark last year. According to a fellow participant’s comment when I crossed the 100 mark, 200 is where the work really starts. I’m not sure I found that to be the case in terms of pushing a rock up a hill, but maybe more in the “what am I going to talk about” sense. In any case, here are my stats at the end of the month:
| Year | Tracks | Total Time | Avg. Length | Med. Length | Shortest | Longest |
| 2016 | 22 | 1h 29m | 04:02 | 03:45 | 01:34 | 07:04 |
| 2017 | 26 | 1h 53m | 04:20 | 03:42 | 01:28 | 09:46 |
| 2018 | 28 | 1h 48m | 03:52 | 03:22 | 01:03 | 11:00 |
| 2019 | 28 | 1h 28m | 03:08 | 02:51 | 01:15 | 07:34 |
| 2020 | 2 | 0h 8m | 04:04 | 04:04 | 03:28 | 04:41 |
| 2021 | 29 | 1h 56m | 04:00 | 03:49 | 01:39 | 08:04 |
| 2022 | 28 | 2h 3m | 04:23 | 04:20 | 02:10 | 08:40 |
| 2023 | 28 | 2h 3m | 04:24 | 04:01 | 01:00 | 10:20 |
| 2024 | 29 | 2h 8m | 04:25 | 03:55 | 01:50 | 09:00 |
| 2025 | 28 | 1h 53m | 04:03 | 03:46 | 01:18 | 10:11 |
| TOTAL | 248 | 16h 49m | 04:04 | 03:48 | 01:00 | 11:00 |
I slipped back below the 2-hour mark in total time for the first time since 2021, but was pretty much right on point for the average and median lengths of each track. I flirted with both shortest and longest track records but didn’t quite get there on either.
The number that I think may be most important in that table is 248. Since starting this crazy journey ten years ago, I’ve written, recorded, and posted 248 pieces of music.
Ten Years!
It’s crazy and difficult for me to really grasp that this is the tenth time I’ve done this exercise. In that time, I’ve changed careers, moved across the country (twice), lost family… think about how much life happens in ten years.
Had I not been participating in Song-A-Day, most of those things still would have happened. I don’t know that I would have left my previous job as soon as I did,3Which may have had me end up divorced but the overall change was a positive one for me. Not financially, of course, and perhaps I still had another chapter in the corporate world,4Or maybe I still do have another chapter, but I don’t know in which book it is but in terms of happiness and living a meaningful life, it’s one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
My musical output prior to Song-A-Day was sporadic. I did write a lot but, for the most part, nobody ever heard it. Part of the reason for that is I was very hesitant to share any of it, but a larger part is because I didn’t even finish most of it. I’d sit and polish and finagle and tweak and hem and haw. I still have songs from 2015 and earlier that aren’t “finished” even though they absolutely are.
If I had to guess, I’d say that without Song-A-Day, those 248 musical works would be closer to… 15? 20, maybe? And I can guarantee a lot of them would never have seen the light of day because I wouldn’t have given even the idea of the song a chance to live: the insane inner voices of Piece by Piece, Other Ray, I Tried to Feed Her Kale… never mind that I probably would never have put out my first album, 42403, about half of which (including the title track) came from my 2016 Song-A-Day output.
Song-A-Day provides that ticking clock that seems to be so effective. That may be the most important thing it does, but right up there with deadlines are accountability, an audience, other songs to riff on, ideas to steal, challenges to meet, and more. It’s far and away the most positive online community I’ve ever been a part of.
Looking Forward
There’s part of me that wants to say, “Ok. I’ve done it. Point made. Time to move to the Song-A-Day equivalent of semi-retired and just post hereand there. I know I probably can’t do that, though. I’ll want to do it again next year by the time February rolls around.
I have, however, decided that maybe this “blog every song every day” thing has run its course. I’m writing out of obligation more than because I have something to say. So I think that the change for next year may be that I don’t make that a requirement. I’ll write a post when there’s something I want to document or a point I’d like to make about the track, or because the writing process was interesting. I don’t think many people (and by “many” I mean “any”) read it anyway.
That said, if you are reading this and there’s a specific future track you’d like me to discuss, just leave a comment on one of the posts. I’m always happy to talk about this stuff, share techniques, or just lament the creative process.
A Final Thought
The evening after I posted my final track for 2025, I mentioned to Mary that the artwork for my 2016 Song-A-Day was a picture of me smiling in the studio, while this year’s has me looking pretty dour.5If not somewhat mentally unhinged. And that’s the exact opposite of my path: I was mostly unhappy in 2016. I’m mostly happy in 2025.
The first song I did for Song-A-Day ten years ago was a product-of-the-times, angst-ridden, future-focused monologue about the alienation, disconnection, and culture-breaking results of our dystopian look-at-me social media world.6And this was all before TikTok! The last song I did this year is an optimistic, uplifting, reassuring celebration of life, love, and partnership that encourages you to be in the moment, look around, and see everything that’s wonderful.
I can’t think of a better set of bookends to mark a decade of personal progress.
Notes
- 1Or fourth, or fifth…
- 2Eurotrance, Witch House, Tech House, Rap
- 3Which may have had me end up divorced
- 4Or maybe I still do have another chapter, but I don’t know in which book it is
- 5If not somewhat mentally unhinged.
- 6And this was all before TikTok!