Rick Rubin pointing out that one artist competing with another artist, rarely results in greatness. However, one artist being inspired by another artist, the results can magnificent for everyone.
Wanting to outperform another artist or make a work better than theirs rarely results in true greatness. Nor is it a mindset that has a healthy impact on the rest of our lives. As Theodore Roosevelt point out, comparison is the thief of joy. Besides, why would we want to create with the purpose of diminishing someone else?
When another great work inspires us to elevate our own, however, the energy is different. Seeing the bar raised in our field can encourage us to reach even higher. This energy of rising-to-meet is quite different from that of conquering.
When Brian Wilson’s first heard the Beatles’ Rubber Soul, his mind was blown. “If I ever do anything in my life, I’m going to make that good of an album,” he thought at the time. He went on to explain, “I was so happy to hear it that I went and started writing ‘God Only Knows.’”
Being made happy by someone else’s best work, and then letting it inspire you to rise to the occasion, is not competition. It’s collaboration.
When Paul McCartney heard the resulting Beach Boys album, Pet Sounds, he too was blown away and reduced to tears, proclaiming “God Only Knows” was to his ears the best song ever written. Buoyed by the experience, the Beatles played Pet Sounds over and over while creating another masterpiece, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. “Without Pet Sounds, Sgt. Pepper never would have happened, Beatles producer George Martin said. “Pepper was an attempt to equal Pet Sounds.”
This creative back-and-forth wasn’t based on commercial competition, it was based on mutual love. And we are all the beneficiaries of this upward spiral toward magnificence.
No system exists that can rank which work is most reflective of the maker. Great art is an invitation, calling to creators everywhere to strive for still higher and deeper levels.
Excerpt from his book, The Creative Act pages 238-239 (Amazon Books)
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