Storytelling: A Brief Reflection on Time

Maybe there is some irony that at this stage in life I teach writing in college, yet John is the lyricist in our songwriting duo. First off, John is a great writer who has long fascinated me with his ability to freeze time and see things that many of us miss as we ride this big, round sphere through the universe. Additionally, writing, recording, and producing our music takes tremendous amounts of time, so having a friend makes the work so much more fun.

For a while, I created music videos on YouTube, but that took huge amounts of additional time after the song was written. SoundCloud is a good fit for me.

Notice, time has come up a few times already, and I would like to discuss one element of time, which is a very complex subject. Stephen Hawking is an acknowledged genius and has written oodles on the subject.

So, while teaching a class last night, I was discussing the hundreds of possibilities available when we tell stories. Certainly past, present, and future are a good starting point.

Let’s say I met Sally two years ago and fell in love, she cheated on me, and the rest of my life look bleak and joyless. Well, I just told the event in chronological order: past, present, future.

I could also start by saying: Sally, I know you’re a cheating on me. When we met, you said you would be true, but you have doomed for the rest of my life. Ah, present, past, future.

Or we could say: We were gonna get married and raise goats in the country, but I sit here in pain. Whatever happened to the vow you made. Future, present, past.

Listen to how John handles time in this song about a famous picture of Winston Churchill.