Soft Is Strong — Pain Makes Songs

My Songwriting Process: Why Most Songs Take Years to Finalize (And Why They Keep Evolving)

Hey, and welcome to my first blog post.

If you’re here, you’re probably curious about how I actually make music — or maybe you’re a fellow songwriter wondering why some tracks seem to take forever to come together.

Either way, you’re in the right place.

I’m not someone who releases songs quickly. My music doesn’t arrive in one perfect flash of inspiration and then get pushed out into the world. Instead, I sit with my songs. I work them. I let them breathe. And sometimes, I wrestle with them for years before they feel ready.

But here’s the interesting part: even the songs that come together faster — especially when I revisit old lyrics and use AI to reframe them before reshaping everything myself — are still built on a much longer creative journey.

This is my songwriting process. Raw, honest, and always evolving.

Songs Start With Real Life

Every song begins with something real.

A moment that hits hard. Sometimes it’s beautiful. Sometimes it’s brutal.

It could be a breakup, a loss, a flash of joy, or that heavy feeling of being completely stuck. Whatever it is, I sit down and write lyrics. Then I find a melody — or at least the start of one.

That’s how I process life.

Music becomes my therapy. My sounding board. My way of making sense of everything going on inside my head.

Back in high school (around 1989), those emotions looked very different. It was teenage angst, rebellion, and growing up in apartheid South Africa — dealing with identity, pressure, and feeling like I didn’t belong. I didn’t have the language for it back then, so I wrote songs.

Because I had to.

No Song Is Ever Truly Finished

Once a song is born, I don’t just record it and move on.

I live with it.

Sometimes for months. Sometimes for years.

I’ll rewrite lyrics. Adjust melodies. Try new arrangements. Strip it back. Build it up again. Over and over until it feels right.

And even then… it’s not final.

There have been songs I’ve released, only to take them down later. Not because they were bad — but because they no longer felt like me.

Maybe:

• The emotion was too raw

• The story felt too exposed

• Or I’d simply grown past that version of myself

So I pull the track, rework it, and let it evolve.

That’s part of the process.

From Acoustic Roots to Dance Floors

Lately, my sound has shifted a lot.

I’ve moved from a more traditional singer-songwriter style into dance music — which is a big change. But I don’t abandon old songs when my style changes.

I keep the core:

• The melody

• The emotion

• The story

Then I let the new energy reshape it.

When a song starts to move — when it becomes something you can feel in your body, something people can sing along to in a club — everything changes. The same lyrics take on a completely different meaning.

It’s like giving an old story a new life.

And sometimes, I go even further. I rewrite everything — new lyrics, new melody — until it becomes something entirely different.

A Song That Took 30 Years to Become Itself

Here’s a real example.

I started a song in high school (around the early ’90s). Back then, it sounded like this:

“Take me out of here, take me home… Baby somewhere I don’t know Take me out of here, There’s so much more waiting out there…”

It was about escape. About wanting out.

Fast forward to 2024, when I re-recorded it. The same song had transformed into something much more hopeful:

“Can’t we love each other like our lives? Father help me find a way Love’s our highest power…”

Same roots. Completely different perspective.

Then I rewrote it again.

This time, it became a gentle folk song:

“Love like our lives depend on a touch… Hey now, hey now, we’re closer than you know Pass your light on — let it show”

That version still gives me goosebumps.

And I already know — it’s not done yet. One day, it’ll probably become a dance track too.

Why I Rewrite: Because We Change

The real reason I keep rewriting songs is simple:

I change.

The period between 2020 and 2024 was intense for me. Coming out of a toxic relationship, losing friends in different ways — distance, death, and disconnection — it was a lot to carry.

And the music reflected that.

Some of it was angry. Bitter. Heavy.

And that’s okay.

Those songs were honest at the time. They did their job.

But as I healed and grew, those emotions stopped representing who I am now.

And that’s the thing — who feels exactly the same in 2026 as they did in 2024?

We evolve.

So the music has to evolve too.

When AI Speeds Things Up

Not every song takes years.

Sometimes I’ll dig up old lyrics I wrote a long time ago and run them through AI — just to see them from a different angle. It helps me unlock new ideas, new phrasing, new emotional directions.

But I don’t just take what AI gives me.

I rewrite it. Reshape it. Produce it myself.

So even when a song comes together quickly, it’s still built on years of experience and earlier versions.

The original foundation is always there.

The First Version Is Just the Beginning

At the end of the day, the first version of a song is never the final one.

It’s just the starting point.

As I grow, as my perspective shifts, as life happens — the music changes with me. Sometimes it even becomes the complete opposite of what it started as.

And i like that. Seeing streams and likes and shares on som,ething that made me cry for the longest time in its original form, but now people are finding value. 

Music isn’t fixed.

It’s alive.

Let’s Talk

What about you?

Do your creative projects evolve over time? Or do you release them exactly as they first come to you?

Drop your thoughts in the comments — I read every single one.

And if you want to hear some of these evolving tracks (especially the ones that went from folk to dance), head over to my streaming pages. I’d love to know which version connects with you most.

Thanks for being here.

More stories from the studio coming soon.

— Jozua Pretoria, South Africa

P.S. If you’re a songwriter too, I’d genuinely love to hear about your process. Let’s talk music.

P.S. If you’re a songwriter too, I’d genuinely love to hear about your creative process and the unique journey you take when crafting your songs. Each songwriter has a distinctive approach, whether it involves drawing inspiration from personal experiences, emotions, or the world around them. I am particularly interested in how you develop your ideas from initial concepts to fully formed lyrics and melodies. Do you have specific rituals or routines that help you get into the right mindset for writing? Perhaps you find that certain environments or times of day enhance your creativity? Let’s explore the various techniques you use to overcome writer's block or to infuse your work with authenticity. Additionally, I’m curious about the instruments you prefer and how they influence the sound and feel of your songs. Do you collaborate with other musicians, or do you find that working alone allows for a more personal expression of your artistry? Every songwriter has a story to tell, and I would love to exchange insights and experiences. Let’s talk music, share our inspirations, and delve into the nuances of songwriting together. Your thoughts and experiences could provide invaluable perspectives that enrich our understanding of this beautiful craft.