Michael Gómez Teaches Students To Title Songs

For his Litfest presentation, songwriter Michael Gómez taught students how to write create song titles.

It was Gómez’s second year presenting at Litfest and although the artist hasn’t done any other presentations like this, Gómez’s personality filled the entire orchestra hall. His audience of about 20 students participated in processes Gómez uses when creating titles for his songs. 

“I think he did a really good job of engaging everyone in the room,” sophomore Elise Waterson said.

Part of the process was having students go through their Spotify playlists and pick out songs with titles they liked.

“Everyone always says ‘don’t judge a book by it’s cover’ but we all do,” Gómez said. “It’s the same thing with songs; the title gives the first impression.”

Gómez, who became interested in music in high school when rap became popular, spent a lot of time making sure the students were the ones being creative in the workshop, and his love for what he does showed through how much he tried to instill creativity in the students.

“It was just obvious how much he loves what he does,” sophomore Libby Signor said. “You can always tell that by how happy someone is when they get to teach what they love to others.”

Gómez made a point though of making sure that students knew that wherever their brains led them, they should go, especially in an activity where they were writing down the first words that came to their mind.

“One plus one doesn’t always have to equal two,” Gómez said throughout the presentation.

By the end of the workshop, Gómez had students read out their titles for songs they had come up with and wrote them down. Some titles were “Litlitfest,” “Butterfly Bones” and “Sailing Alone Around A Room.” 

As the students left Gómez left them with one final thought as he shook everyone’s hands on the way out.

“Just remember, if you are ever stressed, or just need an inward reflection, music can do that for you,” Gómez said. “This is a good way to clear your head and just be a kid for a while.”