How Do You Get Inspired?

[amiyafoster]

Hello Josh,

 

Mostly people inspired by their emotion and feeling, means people write their emotions and feeling in song through.

[Beatles4ever]

Hi J

 

      I dont approach songwriting as forcing myself to write for the sake of writing. Its something that happens when it happens. Things that can spark a moment of creativity as you've read differ from person to person.

   For me, I've always looked forward to new releases by artists that I enjoy.

     Another angle Ive stumbled upon through the years is something simple as playing a different guitar even if its still another electric. Playing or learning other instruments can give a fresh approach to writing or creating songs too.

     Moods and surroundings are other things that can influence a creative spark as mentioned in earlier posts... a break up in a relationship can set off a mood or strong feelings that can be used later in writing songs. Or meeting someone special may open that door to writing a love song.

      Some years ago when I visited London, I wrote this song "Angel" while walking through Hyde Park. Had some of the words down and a melody in my head and was walking about singing it to myself. I was in a Beatle mood that week as can be expected and it just came to me. Recorded it as soon as I got home.

       As humans, we observe alot of things like sponges. I like to think of everything we digest as scraps of information that we file away for future reference. Something you looked at one way might look different in the future or how its perceived.

    Same goes for songs, as an example you can listen to the Beatles two versions of "Revolution" and in one you feel as if a riot is about to happen and the other version you feel like a peaceful protest was going on. Again, lyrics were pretty much the same, but how it was arranged in each case made it different in feel.

      Anyways....as I said before, I dont approach songwriting as something "I need to do", it is something that happens when it happens. Sometimes I dont even pick up my guitar for weeks, in essence I live life and when inspiration hits, I make time to explore what it is rattling around in my head. If there is anything that is disappointing is listening to stuff that was forced or uninspired.... and that goes for writing as well. 

 

just my two cents worth

Beatle Jim 

Edited February 22, 2014 by Beatles4ever

[James Austin]

The main focus of my lyrics is 'true underdogs' - people a psychiatrist would call 'damaged' and a social commentator 'under-privileged.' So I draw inspiration from my circle of friends and their troubles.

[LooknGlass]

As a lyricist only, I would say many things factor into the inspiration aspect. I would say 50% of my inspiration comes from a phrase or combination of words I heard someone say, or that I read in an article or something I saw on TV. Although I do use my own experiences in life, to draw from during a write, I find myself mostly drawing it from those around me as watch them in their daily lives. Another 30% of inspiration comes from my lyric title that I may have thought sounded "cool" or good, and I just write around it and fill it in. Most of the time I have no idea where I'm going with a lyric until I get to the second verse or the chorus. I have read in many places, that one should have a clear picture from the beginning of what you want to write about, but I don't work that way most of the time. I would say that 20% of my inspiration for a complete lyric comes from the chorus (which of course was inspired by something else). I suddenly have a cool or killer chorus (in my opinion of course) and I make up the rest of the lyric to fit the chorus. I think inspiration has layers;.... this inspires that, that inspires something else, and so on. Inspiration is in the eye of the beholder I guess.

[LooknGlass]

Why is it in discussions like this I see from time to time on various forums, no one seems to mention the one thing that's probably been a factor in "inspiring" more musical artists since the 60's than any other one single thing?  Hint: It's now legal under state law in Colorado and Washington.

And in some parts of Michigan for medicinal purposes.........I am told......

[Mahesh]

Why is it in discussions like this I see from time to time on various forums, no one seems to mention the one thing that's probably been a factor in "inspiring" more musical artists since the 60's than any other one single thing?  Hint: It's now legal under state law in Colorado and Washington.

Ahem But seriously, I've been told the term visualization ( with respect to music) has a whole different meaning in that case.

[ClaireCreekProject]

I just walk out the front door, take a deep breath, and marvel at how awesome life is.........

[tomcollins]

life ,weed and the pursuit of happiness !!! I say it how it is , pushing 50  don't need to beat around the bush . but really life inspires all of us. as do other songs !! our human emotions are to strong to not let it happen , and in every phase of life we are all inspired in one way or another , it's a ride ya'll enjoy it !!!!

rock on !!

[GoldenWalrus]

surprisingly, just about every set of lyrics I've written so far was inspired by looking at a wall.

ofcourse it wasnt just the wall itself, but the cracks and the imperfections of the wall, things that remind me of other things.

so much can be seen in the ordinary, if you just look. Unfortunately I dont really have much skill in lyric writing yet, and my wall's about run out of inspiration to give me, so I'll have to find other things, or take a hammer to it and find inspiration in the newly made holes.

 

Scott

[LayneGreene]

That must be quite the wall

[wilmot]

To me, inspiration is never a problem. As said by others in this thread, anything and everything can inspire. It's what happens in the process between the inspiration and the perspiration that usually trips me up. I can usually squeeze that initial idea (thought, feeling, etc) into an embryo of sorts: Music and/or lyrics - But then building that into something tangible enough to gain the momentum it needs for me to start just doing the work is more often than not a real problem. I can't do that before the thing has some life of its own, or the original spark risks getting lost and the result becomes unintersting (to me at least). 

[MikeRobinson]

I'm inspired by the same thing that inspired one of the characters in A Chorus Line:  "I can do that!"

 

Or ...   ... what'd they just do?  How did they do that?

 

One of the most amazing, the most daunting, and yet the most exciting and challenging aspects of "music-making" is that there are no limits concerning "what can be done."  Therefore, there are also no limits to the surprises that another artist can bring:  technically, emotionally, you name it.

[Johnathon B Goode]

I like nature lol, I love the balance and cycle of it all. it's truly brutal but also beautiful, it helps me deal with mortality. 

Someone told me (I don't like it) that the human brain doesn't really come up with new ideas, it just pieces together what you already know.

But I was thinking, if we misunderstand how something works and then try to build off that, then that's like a new idea.  So I guess when you see something new that you don't understand, just try to figure out how it works on your own first and see what you can come up with.

[KlasWikstrom]

http://youtu.be/SwBVHAtH3Q4

[DarrenH]

I am inspired by people around me. I started writing lyrics because of the dark times I was going through and it really helped me when I put them on paper and read them back to myself because in a way I was telling myself how things were and how they could be better. Now if I have a family member/friend that is going through a bad time I will write to cater for them and give it to them. People who do not have the ability to write are left in awe of songs that are written for them.

[Kel]

People.

 

What people do.

What people say.

How people interact with things, animate and inanimate.

[macmanmatty]

I agree with you kel so many of my songs have been written by

 

what drunks do

 

what drunks say

 

how drunks interact with things both real and imaginary

[MikeRobinson]

It don't always take too much inspiration.  Surf around to find that video about "how all country songs written in 2013 are exactly the same."

 

One will hope that the rest of us can do better.