Documentary Review: "It All Begins with a Song" (2020)
Who doesn’t love “In the Ghetto”? That’s rhetorical.
I don’t know about you, but I can’t do a damn thing without music playing (I’m currently getting my daily dose of Elton John songs). Writing, driving, showering, working out, playing D&D, doing the dishes…you get the idea. My speaker gets a workout of its own. I’ve always understood that the people singing the songs often aren’t the ones who wrote the songs, but I never really gave deep thought to the professional songwriters who create the soundtrack to our lives.
Additionally, I knew that Nashville is known as “Music City” because of its country heritage and places like the Grand Ole Opry, but I’m not really a country guy. I don’t dislike country by any stretch, but it’s not what I find myself listening to most of the time (is that ironic for a guy from South Carolina?). In any case, my understanding of what Nashville means to music as a whole went about as deep as my understanding of what songwriters do- which is to say pretty shallow.
It All Begins with a Song: The Story of the Nashville Songwriter goes far into the scene and the stories behind what it takes to be a songwriter in the Mecca of Songwriting. You learn about all the struggles and successes of these crazily talented artists who create the songs we love, and you learn about the history (and some of the brutal truths) of one of America’s most special creative hubs for all genres of music.
It All Begins with a Song is a literal smorgasbord of heavyweight songwriters who’ve written songs for every generation and genre, from Elvis Presley to Rhianna. Their stories are honest, heartfelt, and frequently raw and emotional. It’s a deep dive into the process of various songwriters’ styles that shows the common thread of truth in the material and the heart behind it all. It’s frankly fascinating. The insight and advice throughout is applicable for more than just songwriters; it’s inspiring for ANY creator. I don’t have a musical bone in my body, but I am a writer and I wanted to run to the keyboard and get to work.
The nuts and bolts of the doc itself are smooth and fluid. A host of entertaining stories (that’s how they came up with “Dude Looks Like a Lady”?!) are punctuated by musical interludes and demonstrations on how it’s all done. The transitions are smooth, and each segment leads seamlessly into the next. There’s an absolute plethora of cool pictures and tidbits along with some famous faces and their Nashville story- it was an excellent choice to go heavy on Garth Brooks. Side note: I now really want to go to The Bluebird Cafe…what a cool scene that must be!
Fair warning, too: you’ll need a tissue or thirty for the story of the song “I Drive Your Truck”. I didn’t know any of that, though I’ve heard the song dozens of times. It’s a powerful story told well and from the heart. There wasn’t a dry eye in the house for that one.
It All Begins with a Song gives you an insider’s look at the place where our soundtracks begin. Equally fascinating, entertaining, and educational, you’ll see what it’s really like to be behind the scenes, both indispensable and invisible at the same time. You might even find your inner voice.
It All Begins with a Song comes to streaming platforms (Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, FlixFling, Vimeo on Demand, Vudu) on March 3rd, 2020 from TriCoast Entertainment.
