A Song Is a Boat

 

I think I heard Quincy Jones say one time when he sat in an interview with Kendrick Lamar, that a good song is a good song, and a bad song is a bad song. That simple truth cuts through all the noise in the music industry. In theory, anyone can sing a good song and it will still be good. Even if the delivery changes, the quality and structure will still shine. But the reverse is just as true—no matter how talented the singer, a bad song will stay a bad song. You can put a Formula 1 driver in a broken-down car, but they still won’t win the race. The song is the vehicle.

Think about a boat. A boat is a vehicle designed to float and take you from one place to another across the surface of the water. If a boat has passengers, it has a destination. But that boat must be built for the trip. The skill and attention to detail it takes to make a seaworthy vessel is high-level and meticulous—because people’s lives literally depend on it. A boatmaker must understand the journey before they even start building. And I’m no professional boatmaker, but I imagine a small riverboat and an Atlantic-crossing ship are two very different builds.

Songwriting works the same way. As songwriters, we have to think like boatmakers. We’re not just creating something that looks pretty on the outside—we’re crafting something that can hold weight, endure the trip, and deliver its passengers safely. When people like Michael Jackson say, “Let the song write itself,” they mean the song’s structure and sound should guide you. If it objectively sounds good—if it resonates and feels pleasing to the ear—you’ve successfully built your boat.

Now let’s take it a step further. Say I need a boat for a night out with the homies—we’re hitting the bowling alley, grabbing drinks, maybe ending up at Topgolf. As a songwriter, I need to have that journey in mind while I’m crafting the song. The tempo, the mood, the energy—everything should match the trip. But here’s the beautiful thing about songs: the ocean is huge, and the same boat can take different passengers to different destinations.

That upbeat track I built for my night out might take someone else to the gym, fueling their workout. It might take another person on a solo drive, helping them clear their head. Every listener brings their own baggage, their own destination, their own meaning to the song. But as long as the boat is built solid, it can carry them there.

As music makers, our job is not to control where the listener ends up—it’s to ensure the vessel we give them is strong, seaworthy, and capable of carrying them somewhere meaningful. A solidly built boat can survive the waves. A solidly written song can survive trends. And when we focus on the craft—on structure, melody, emotion, and detail—we make something that can carry people for years, maybe even a lifetime.

So whether your next song is a tiny canoe for a quiet river or a massive ship for an epic ocean voyage, build it with care. Because once you release it, that boat will carry people to places you may never see—but it will still bear your signature as the one who made it float.

References:

Facebook. (n.d.). [Reel #773188264935959] [Video]. Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/reel/773188264935959

Hypetrak. (2015, September). Kendrick Lamar talks music with Quincy Jones [Image]. Vibe. https://www.vibe.com/music/music-news/kendrick-lamar-quincy-jones-video-375315/

Michael Jackson. (2024, November 5). Michael Jackson discusses songwriting. MichaelJackson.com. https://www.michaeljackson.com/news/michael-jackson-discusses-songwriting/

Wilton-Steer, C. (2017–2024). Boat builders of Zanzibar [Photograph]. Wilton Photography. https://www.wilton-photography.com/news-stories/boat-builders-of-zanzibar