#5 Where Did That Idea Come From?
Entry posted by Kel
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I thought I'd talk about song ideas, where they come from for me, and how you might generate your own.
Let me start by saying I don't get writer's block. I don't allow myself that sense of pity. I have times of reduced creativity, and I subsequently have times of heightened creativity... I'm in one of those at the moment. In the past week I've written lyrics for around six or seven songs, recorded sketches for around four of them, had a session with lyrics I'm collaborating on, recorded a rough demo (4 times!)(and I only record rough or very rough!) and went to work every day I should have. I probably could have got some more sleep... that comes on the other side of the creativity curve. And you know, the busier I am, the more creative I remain.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying all these songs are worthy of paying for the production of a demo, let alone marketing for a radio hit! No, but every one is a step along the way towards the elusive hit we are all looking for.
So ideas? Where do they come from? - Everywhere!
Here is a short list of where some ideas for my songs (not just this week!) have come from:
Meeting somebody new
re-aquainting with an old friend
hanging out the washing (laundry)
in the shower - no naughty thoughts...
getting dumped
dumping someone
hearing the "as friends" line
something somebody said
a challenge
something I saw
signs
watching people
listening to other people talking - okay, eavesdropping!
getting a phone call from somebody while I was thinking about them
reading
jamming
What I hope you'll glean from this list, is that it just happens. We just need to recognise it, and write it down or record it somehow. I'll elaborate on a couple:
I was talking to a lady I'd never met before one day, and we were swapping "ourselves" stories. She said she'd always been the good girl, didn't run with a bad crowd, looked after the house, the man in her life, kept a stable job etc, but that she was continually being let down by her man - unstable, drinking, cheating different things for different men. She felt like it was her turn to do the wrong thing. KAPOW! That one throw-away line hit my brain like a spark to tinder... I don't think I've presented it to Songstuff, but that resulted in "The Wrong Thing" a project I've been working on...
One fine sunny day I was doing my laundry. As it was fine and sunny, I was hanging it out on the line to dry. I noticed over in the corner all the dog poop. My mate was by my side as usual, and I looked down at him and said, "I'm sure glad you're such a creature of habit and I don't need to watch every step I take..."
KAPOW! "Creature of Habit" was born. (not on Songstuff)
I met a lady I'd been talking to on-line for a while last weekend. She may have been "the one" but it wasn't to be. "Two Way Street" was the result of both of us agreeing to remain in the friend zone. (Don't take the song too literally!) - In the song evaluation forum.
My other blog on Songstuff, will be the stories behind the songs, so maybe as I explore each song a little further there may be more elaboration... don't know... lets find out together?
http://forums.songstuff.com/blog/183-the-song-the-story/
Don't forget to vote in the poll, it lets you drive what I talk about!
Cheers,
Kel
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