“I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time” is the title of the first song off of Andre 3000’s meditative new ambient album. Some people might find this kind of song title obtuse, but, even if one has qualms with the length, it’s undeniably admirable. Perhaps even inspirational. Not for the words’ meaning necessarily, but for the song naming approach.

Let’s be honest— there’s a lot more artists and musicians can do in terms of song titles. Why do we hold back there? Are we not “cReaTIveS?” A song title like Andre’s, whether you like it or not, it’s not a product. It screams art.

Welcome to “do” a newsletter about music, art, and actually doing it. My name is Will DiNola and I’m a musician and writer based in Ridgewood, NY. If you didn’t know, I recently left my job working for Markiplier, a notable YouTuber/Creative, to pursue film composing full-time. In 2020, I composed my first film score. This month I’m starting to score my second.

This newsletter I see primarily as a creative act in holding accountability for building my art practice. What’s even more powerful than telling yourself you’re going to do something is telling other people.

Of course, the newsletter will not just be little updates about my career. As you have already found from this post, I’ll be diving into a variety of topics about music and art in general. Op-ed savage mode style, exclusive artist interviews a la Joe Rogan (kidding, more like Talkhouse), production/composing tips, movie & music recommendations, and more!

“do” is also the title of an album of improvisational piano songs I released in September of 2023. In the spirit of that release comes this newsletter, and what I wrote about the title of that album applies here:

“do” represents the do-ing of sitting down at the piano and just playing. It is also the macro do-ing of 'the thing,' the common pursuit that is music and, in a greater sense, art as a career.

For all who have subscribed, a big thank you! Let’s do this. And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. 🤪

As I was beginning to think about what this newsletter would be, I came to think about the merging of music and language, since ostensibly this is a writing project about music. In addition, I was also thinking about starts. How this newsletter starts, how music begins, how a song begins. In reality, the start of a song isn’t usually auditory. These days, with music streaming, it’s usually in the form of the song title, which primes you in some way for what’s yet to come.

For most artists, it seems like song titles are more of an afterthought. For example, following a trend of genre and using your main lyrical hook usually breed the most uninspired titles. But even encapsulating the main song theme or going with a cut lyric can be a bore. All great songs here that I’ve linked, but could they have better titles? Definitely!

For most, it seems like the mentality is, okay we’ve made the song, now let’s just throw a name onto it. Or worse, let’s do something hyper-memorable that I can see as a hashtag… for marketing purposes. And sure, I can understand keeping it simple just so someone remembers it and can look it up later if they hear it on the radio. But those days are kind of over. Shazam!

At the end of the day it’s a song, so it is the music that matters ultimately. All I’m saying is there’s an opportunity here for added character, world-building, and uniqueness, that often feels overlooked.

So what’s the solution? Let’s go back to Andre 3000.

When you read a title like “I swear, I Really Wanted To Make A ‘Rap’ Album But This Is Literally The Way The Wind Blew Me This Time,” even if you think it’s annoying, you still can’t deny that it feels authentic. It’s totally him.

And I think that’s the key. That’s the key in all art, isn’t it? If something feels forced, it’s not authentic. If it’s a put-on, it’s cringe. But if something is genuine, true, and real, not limited by genre or convention, not contrived to go viral, then maybe it can surpass all of it and not just serve the song, but enhance it.

I’ve been trying to do this with my titles lately. For all other musicians subscribed, I challenge you to do the same. Inject a little of yourself into them, don’t be limited by convention: try something you and maybe it’ll strike a chord, pun intended.

P.S. - This is just a bonus and of course requires the context of who Andre 3000 is. But maybe, just maybe, the song title helps…

will dinola (he/him) is a film composer, musician, and writer currently working in new york city

he is interested in people’s passions and pushing the art of film scoring to new horizons

he writes about his experience in a newsletter called “do”

We As Artists Can Make Better Song Titles!!!!!

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