Sometimes I am floating. I float most often when the subtle hum of synth chords slowly starts to crescendo through my speakers. Lorde begins to sing about the divinity of her youth and I am left grappling with the existential dread of getting old, all while trying to decipher the layered harmonies, drum patterns, and production of the song. Ever since I began songwriting, I have listened to music with an entirely different mindset. Music is no longer something to listen to because a catchy tune got stuck in my head or because pop songs on the radio act as good background noise. Songs can be analyzed and understood as an artform; why did the artist choose that particular diatonic harmony and those particular lyrics? How does the rhythmic phrasing of the lyrics operate in connection to the musical rhythm? Does the song modulate to a different key or are there any large departures from the central melody? I realize now how many choices need to be made when creating a song and how the final product of all those choices can connect with listeners. As my love for the songwriting process grows, I have discovered my favorite place to listen to music isn’t by myself in my bedroom at home, but rather live in concert where the writer of the song sings for a crowd of people that relate to their music. Since this discovery, I have attended many concerts. When the lights go down and the artist begins to sing, I feel what they were feeling when they wrote the song. After every concert, I am more and more inspired to write my own music and to find even more possibilities hidden in the intricate songwriting process.