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Bio
Words & Pictures: The Evocative Songwriting of DW Borro
If you want an indication of just how powerful songwriter DW Borro’s lyrics are, watch his video “Slow Suicide” with the sound off.
Most singer/songwriters would cringe at the idea. Not Borro. His well-constructed lyrics tell such a compelling story of shared experience that filmmaker Schelli Rothi (Taltos Video) is able to convey its message using beautifully sparse images.
In one striking scene, Borro’s character kneels in front of a fireplace, feeding photos into the flames. Pill bottles and a photo of a woman lie on the hearth, and he rests his chin in his hand. A tight shot follows: he is removing his wedding band. Even without hearing the music and lyrics, you empathize with the character in the story, and when the ring—thrown over the edge of a cliff—strikes a rock below, the circle is complete.
The reason the collaboration between Borro and Rothi works so well is because he is a songwriter and storyteller with sense for beginning, middle and end—and his word-images are so evocative that they translate easily to the screen. That’s reason enough to give “Slow Suicide” and the four other tracks on his new CD, Slow Suicide, a listen.
When you add Borro’s guitar work and strong, soulful voice, you get the full impact of what he brings to the table for listeners.
Borro moves with ease in his videos and looks completely comfortable holding his guitar and singing, which belies the fact that he’s quite introverted. “It took me quite awhile to let people hear my music,” he says. “I had no intention of anyone hearing anything I wrote; people I knew for 20 years had no idea I could play an instrument.” Borro says he had guitar case full of little slips of scrap paper; none with a song that had any structure or was finished.
For many singer/songwriters, the process of developing material is to observe, internalize, compose music, and write lyrics. Borro takes a writer’s approach, opting to write about a “collage of personal experience” before setting his story to music. The effect is striking: you feel his music because many of the topics he chooses to sing about are universal truths for many people.
“I wrote my songs for me; it’s good therapy,” he says, adding, “but my hope for my listeners is that they feel connected, that they walk away thinking ‘man, I know how that feels.’”
It’s not all dark and melancholy, however. Borro is able to take listeners to the opposite end of the emotional spectrum as well. As much as “Slow Suicide” speaks of loss, “Share My Name” celebrates love and commitment and that ethereal moment of pure, joy one feels after expressing commitment to another person:
The moonlight shines
Through the window pane
On the very first night
You shared my name
Borro uses simple, powerful poetry to convey a moment of clarity and pure emotion. Filmmaker Rothi drives home the point once again with evocative videography that brings the poignant moments of a wedding day into focus.
He’s realistic about what lies ahead, however. “The biggest challenge is getting airplay; it’s a pretty crowded market with a lot of musicians,” he says. Asked if an artist can achieve success and maintain integrity, Borro says it’s really about doing something well: “famous and good don’t necessarily coincide.”
Michael Quinn
Michael Quinn is a free-lance writer based in MD
You can buy DW Borro's CD at:
http://cdbaby.com/cd/dwborro |
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