So much more than just a song...

I red an article about Benny Andersson from ABBA. He seem to be a very insightful person who have said many clever things about creativity along the years.

http://www.dn.se/kultur-noje/musik/med-vemodet-som-standig-foljeslagare/

People have criticized ABBA and their songs for being kitschy and shallow, simple to write and easy to perform. But Benny, of cause, know that this isn´t the way it is. The problem is that people just can´t see the uncountable hours of practice, failures and new tries, that lies behind this.

Benny Andersson said (my interpretation)... Of cause it´s also about inate talent.. But despite this, you just don´t make a song in a minute. In 45 years I´ve made about 24 albums with approximately 16 hours of music. This gives 20 minutes of music a year. And behind this I´ve been working full time with my music, trying and trying to get it right.

And in swedish he said:

– Det hänger förstås också på medfödd talang. Men man svänger inte bara ihop en låt precis. På 45 år har jag skrivit runt 24 album, det vill säga ungefär 16 timmars musik. Det blir bara tjugo minuters musik – per år.

– Och då har jag ändå inte gjort så mycket annat under alla dessa år än att sitta vid pianot och försökt och försökt. Det kan ta mig en hel månad att få fram åtta takter som duger.

The same goes for art and probably writing too. The final artwork doesn´t tell anything about the uncountable attempts and hours of practicing that lies behind it. And yet the artist just has to fulfill her need to create, no matter what.