Joni Mitchell: “[Bob] Dylan said to me at one point that he, you know, he couldn’t write anymore, and I said, “Oh, what about this and what about that?” And he said, “Oh, the box wrote it.” I said, “What do you mean ‘the box’?” He said, “I write down things from movies and things I’ve heard people say and I throw them in the box.” I said, “I don’t care where you got your bits and pieces; you still put them all together.”
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:20 (six years ago) link
i don't think there's a right way to do any of this. music before lyrics is fine, lyrics before music is fine. this is just advice intended to reset your brain and approach from a different perspective.
― na (NA), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:20 (six years ago) link
i definitely have written several songs that are just describing the plots or ideas of movies or books that i have enjoyed recently
― na (NA), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:21 (six years ago) link
writing a bunch of bad and embarrassing songs is part of the process
― na (NA), Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:22 (six years ago) link
yeah good stories can come from anywhere
xp
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:22 (six years ago) link
I wrote a couple songs where I liked the music and just sang words that fit into those bars nicely. The words themselves had no real relationship to one another. It was more of a free association thing, but when I had finished, I could definitely see how a stranger could construct some sort of meaning out of it.
I'm sure there are examples of musicians who did this, I just can't think of any at the moment.
― the sound of space, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:34 (six years ago) link
Eno
― Οὖτις, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:34 (six years ago) link
Good call!
In terms of ideas for a cohesive narrative, I usually rely on books and movies to inspire me to write something.
― the sound of space, Wednesday, 11 October 2017 17:36 (six years ago) link
I think Doug Martsch claimed that that was his approach to lyric writing.
― how's life, Saturday, 14 October 2017 09:39 (six years ago) link
Karl Hyde said somewhere he uses pieces of overheard conversation. Lyrics as collage is what I was sort of talking about up thread
― El Tomboto, Saturday, 14 October 2017 13:20 (six years ago) link
Ah yes, the Iron Maiden method
― change display name (Jordan), Saturday, 14 October 2017 14:31 (six years ago) link
Man Alive's first post is basically where i'm at. i have a million couplets and notes. a million little hooks with melodies recorded. i just cannot put it all together. my only luck has been when i set out to write in a particular song form, typically country, where there are rules and cliches to play with. it's when i get into this vague territory where anything can go that i freeze. i don't really want to write country songs, though.
otoh, after 7 (!!) years of being a tired dad, i feel the juice again. i finally have a space to be loud in, so thankful to be back at it.
― Heez, Monday, 11 December 2023 15:34 (five months ago) link