Songwriting Ideas
Corey Stewart – “Shadows”
“Shadows” was written after the breakup of a pretty messy relationship, a relationship which was characterized by me having to walk on eggshells for most of it.
In the song I try to conceptualize the feelings of nervousness and anxiety I was going through at the time.
Having your words and actions questioned by your partner all the time was not a pleasant situation to be in however, in saying that I’ve learned a lot about myself in the process.
Here is the song for your listening pleasure…
Shadows
© C. Stewart 1999
It’s only one word
That’s all that I ask of you
I don’t ask for much
But it seems like that I’ve asked for the world
You say that it’s okay
And everythings forgiven now
But no matter what you say
It never fits with what’s in my mind
I’m walking away, walking in circles
Looking through windows
A prisoner of my own mind
Can’t you see the tears in my eyes?
I’m trapped in this lifetime, it’s never-ending
Due to my sorrow
Shadows and lifetimes
Can’t you see the tears in my eyes?
My smile has disappeared
It’s been replaced by all my fears
Fears I’d thought were gone
But now have come to haunt me again
I dare to say a word
Just in case you hear me wrong
It’s still the common thing
Even though we are apart
I’m walking away, walking in circles
Looking through windows
A prisoner of my own mind
Can’t you see the tears in my eyes?
I’m trapped in this lifetime, it’s never-ending
Due to my sorrow
Shadows and lifetimes
Can’t you see the tears in my eyes?
**************************************************
Of course, any comments or feedback is most welcomed.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Egg Timers & The Songwriting Process
Now that FAWM (February Album Writing Month – 14 songs in 28 days) has officially started it’s really important to find ways to make time to develop your songwriting ideas into completed songs. As you would already know, I’m a huge advocate of building a songwriting ideas archive and constantly fine tuning your songwriting process.
For quite a while now I’ve been adding to and maintaining quite a substantial songwriting ideas archive of my own and the challenge I’m faced with now is that I have so many songwriting ideas at my disposal, I don’t know which one to start with first.
I’m becoming paralysed by too much choice. Hmmm, maybe the answer lies in randomness and restriction. Confused? Ok, let me explain.
In my experience, I’ve found that giving yourself all the time in the world to complete something allows the beastie called procrastination and your inner critic to join forces and provide you with (what seem to be) very valid reasons for not doing what your supposed to be doing.
If you restrict yourself to a deadline then your focus becomes much stronger and your procrastination/inner critic dialogue becomes less obvious. That’s the restriction part of the equation now what about the randomness part?
The randomness comes from picking any songwriting idea at random to start with. An example would be that I take a page full of possible song titles (see picture above) and pick one at random. Then, I set a timer for 10 minutes and in that time I start building on the randomly chosen songwriting idea.
Once the 10 minutes is up I determine whether I have sufficiant momentum to keep going. If not I start the process again with another randomly chosen songwriting idea from my archive.
The timer I’ll use will either be one of a few online timers or this wonderful example (see picture below). Whichever way I go it will make for an interesting outcome.
Here are the steps again for you to consider:
1. Pick a songwriting idea from your archive at random
2. Set your timer for 10 minutes and start expanding the songwriting idea
3. After 10 minutes if you’re going with the flow then keep going. If not, repeat process with another randomly chosen songwriting idea
Give it a go and see what happens and if you’re not registered with FAWM yet then consider doing so because deadlines are sometimes good for you.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
PS: Feel free to download my FREE eReport “11 Ways To Eliminate (Song) Writers Block FOREVER” if you need a little help getting out of a rut.
Keywords: songwriting idea, songwriting process, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting zen, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Inspire Your Songwriting Using Quotations
Quotations are those little gems of wisdom that people come up with regarding any topic that you can think of.
I love them.
I’ve always thought of quotations as condensed forms of insight that songs could be created from. I’m sure there have been many songs that were inspired by a choice quote or phrase.
One song that immediately comes to mind is “Like A Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan. Of course the title is taken from the phrase “A rolling stone gathers no moss.”
As songwriters, our craft is in the dealing of both words and music so therefore it makes perfect sense to immerse ourselves in these things. Reading a book of quotes is a great way to get a songwriting idea.
Instead of condensing information from a story into a song (something big into something smaller) you’re taking something very condensed and creating a story which then becomes the song.
Heres how I would do it:
1. Find a quote that catches your eye
There will be a lot of quotes that you will just gloss over but every now and then you will read something that will make you sit up and take notice.
For some reason it has struck a chord in you.
When this happens write the quote down.
2. Start analysing the quote
Ask yourself these questions and write down the answers. Why did the quote stop you in your tracks?
What images flashed through your mind when you read that quote? Is there a story or event that comes to mind from reading the quote?
Start brainstorming some ideas.
3. Start putting all of the pieces together
By now you will have a longhand version of you thoughts, feelings and memories inspired by this quote.
Look at what you’ve written as a jigsaw puzzle waiting to be put together. If you find that there are missing pieces then make it up.
You’re a songwriter, use your imagination.
There are some great quotation directories on the web which I turn to from time to time just to see if I can be inspired by someone elses pearls of wisdom.
Here are the top five quotations website results from typing in “quotes” in Google.
Quotations Page
Quote Land
Brainy Quote
Quote World
Wisdom Quotes
With a little bit of web research under your belt you’ll find that most of the sites you come across will allow you to search quotes via keyword, such as songwriting or music.
Have a look and see what you can come up with. I wonder how many songs can be created.
I’m also giving this experimental songwriting technique a shot. I’ll let you know how I go.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting idea, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting resource, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Reading Poetry For Lyrical Inspiration
We live in a world of infinite songwriting idea possibilities. All we have to do is go out there and find them.
Here is another example of how the work of writers of other genres can be of immense help to songwriters.
In my blog post “Reading Books for Lyrical Inspiration” I wrote about the concept of reading books as a way of gathering lyrical ideas.
Since then I realized that you can apply this songwriting idea gathering concept to other forms of communication.
If the thought of reading a whole book is daunting, try reading some poetry instead.
Most poetry, has a short time-frame in which the reader is given the gist of the story or concept. To me, poetry is short bursts of written observation mixed with pure emotion.
Isn’t that what songs are about too?
A particular form of poetry that I have been getting into of late is haiku poetry.
Haiku is a Japanese writing art-form which is very, very constrained in its approach. You have three lines and seventeen syllables (broken into 5, 7 and 5) to get your story or concept across.
An example of this is a haiku titled “Tree, Wind, Cloud & Sky” by a wonderful songwriting friend of mine, Garth Dutton. It goes like this:
A lush green of trees
Contrasting with high wind clouds
That whiten, blue sky
Personally, I see haiku poetry as a possible type of ready made song synopsis.
In the past, I have found it a very easy exercise expanding seventeen syllables into a four minute song. Haiku poetry expands well if you apply the brainstorming concepts discussed in my “Mindmapping Your Songwriting Ideas” and “Brainstorming Possible Song Titles” blog post.
Give it a try and see what happens. Let me know how you go with it.
For people who would rather read something less abstract but don’t want to be tied to a book for long periods of time, a collection of short stories are a great way to gather lyrical ideas as well.
Make a date with yourself and go to your local library and pick up a few books of poetry (or short stories) and put the concept to the test. You’ll be glad you did.
Until next time, happy (reading and) writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting tip, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting news, songwriting idea, songwriting help, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Reading Books For Lyrical Inspiration
We have so much information around us these days, so why is it that we can’t we find anything to write about?
I sincerely believe that there are so many ways in which a songwriter can gain flashes of inspiration.
One of the ways is immersing yourself in the media that we are exposed to every day like newspapers, TV and magazines.
It’s not what media you use that inspires but how you use it. Today I’m talking about books.
Now, I’ll admit it. I don’t read enough. In fact, I think generally, we as a society don’t read enough. There are many reasons for this but for me personally, when I start reading a book I start to feel guilty.
It’s very strange I know, but when I start to read a book I start feeling that there should be something else that I can do besides taking time out for myself, sitting in a comfortable chair and do nothing but read.
This is a great example of my inner critic hard at work.
I was talking to a songwriting friend of mine about this recently and he made a suggestion that was remarkable.
He said to me “why don’t you use reading a book as part of what you do as a songwriter”.
I never thought of reading a book in that way but the more we discussed this concept the more excited I become. I knew that this was going to open some doors for my own songwriting process.
Simply put, use books as a reference library of words, phrases, quotes, statements and sentences that you can use for your songs.
Now, I’m not talking about plagarism here, just a shifting of your perspective by using other peoples words to form newly created perspectives in your own mind.
It’s from these new perspectives that you write your songs from.
I’m going to start experimenting with this technique. Here’s what I’ll be doing.
1. I start off with my book, a writing pad plus a highlighter pen (only use the highlighter it if the book is yours).
2. I read one chapter at a time rather than as many pages as I can in one sitting.
3. As I’m reading, any phrase, words or sentence that either jumps out at me or I feel some affinity with, I write it down or highlight with my pen. I then re-read the sentence so I don’t lose track of the story.
4. If there’s a passage that moves me I stop and write down what I’m feeling at the time. Some questions I’d be asking of myself could be:
How do I relate to this?
Is there a story for a song in this?
5. At the end of the chapter I write a synopsis of it in my journal.
6. If one of my captured lyrical ideas has a melody attached to it, I then get my guitar out and start formulating something with it.
At the moment this experiment is purely theoretical. It is not perfect by any means but if I can read my favourite book and gain songwriting ideas at the same time that’s got to be a good thing.
I’ll let you know how I go with this.
As with any songwriting process, one songwriters way of doing things will be different to another. All I can do is try it out and see what happens.
However, if you have any suggestions on how to improve this fledgling songwriting technique let me know.
I’m excited…
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting tip, songwriting, song writing, singer songwriter, songwriting news, songwriting idea, songwriting help, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Using The Newspaper To Find Songwriting Ideas
If writing lyrics is all about words, then to be a good lyricist you would need a healthy respect for the english language and how it can be made to tell a story, describe things or put across a point of view.
You would also need to become very interested in what you read, speak, see and hear around you.
First of all, to become interested in words you need to actively seek words out. This would seem like an easy task as words are all around us yet we don’t really see them. We just take them for granted.
We especially take for granted what comes out of our mouths. The promises and commitments that we make and the way that we relate to people.
Words are very, very powerful things.
Actively seeking out words doesn’t mean getting out the dictionary and reading it from cover to cover but it does mean increasing the amount of reading you currently do.
First of all lets start with the humble newspaper. It’s something that’s easy to read and it can be delivered to you every day at minimal cost so getting hold of one requires very little effort on your part.
If you’re like me you’d be saying to yourself right now that you have no time to read. My answer to that is ‘who says you don’t have time?’
As songwriters, we can’t afford not to have the time to read and generally slow our lives down a bit so we can pick up on what is happening around us.
At the start of every day, get your newspaper and a cup of your favourite beverage and start reading and really take note of what you read and the pictures that you see.
What you’re doing is looking for something that jumps out at you.
A headline may make a great title for a song, a quote may make a good line for a chorus, an articles theme may make a great song story.
A word of warning here. Newspapers are notoriously full of bad news. Be careful not to get sucked in by the negativity. You’re looking for songwriting ideas not an excuse to feel sad.
Pay close attention to the letters to the editor. I find this section most entertaining and it also shows everyday people writing about everyday things in everyday language. I find this an absolute goldmine for songwriting ideas.
I know of a songwriter who only writes songs when she’s angry about something. If this is like you then reading a newspaper will be the equivilent to finding a vein of gold.
For the rest of us its a good opportunity to just take some quiet time out, grab a notepad and pen and allow the ideas to enter us from the ether.
Until next time, happy writing (and reading),
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, writing songs, songwriting tip, songwriting help, songwriting technique, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Maintaining The Flow Of Songwriting Ideas
Your goal as a songwriter is to keep your songwriting ideas alive at all times and to develop ways of capturing those ideas at any given opportunity.
If you want to keep your ideas alive then my advice to you is to never trust your memory.
If you do, you’ll lose more ideas than you gain and the songwriting process is all about the flow of ideas.
Our brains are amazing things. They can soak up information and store things away however, as we get older, we start to forget things. Our internal filing system starts to break down. It seems we need to let some of the old stuff out so we can let the new stuff in.
Julia Cameron in her book The Artist’s Way calls this concept the filling of the well.
I liken this concept to the syphoning of liquid. Once you get the initial flow established it then becomes constant.
By emptying your mind onto paper or playing your ideas onto tape you’re making space for other ideas to come into being. It’s like you’re creating a vacuum for the new ideas to appear out of the ether.
Your ability to create a constant flow is determined by how much you’re able to accept any songwriting idea that appears before you.
Songwriters like Keith Richards of The Rolling Stones say that they were merely the channel for a song to come into existance.
It’s like he was the transmitter and through them the song was able to be received by the listener.
Remember, if at anytime you think of something that could even be minutely used in a song, write it down, record it onto tape or even ring your home phone number and leave the idea on your answering machine (I’ve done that a few times to great effect).
Do anything to keep your songwriting ideas alive. Your future songs depend on it.
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting idea, songwriting, writing, songwriting tip, songwriting technique, songwriting help, songwriting blog corey stewart
Building A Songwriting Ideas Archive
As a songwriter, there are going to be times in your life where you’ll be inspired to write a complete song but, for most of the time there will be times where all you’ll be doing is fishing for songwriting ideas.
It’s important for a songwriter to have an ideas archive at their disposal.
You don’t necessarily need to have a fully set up home recording studio to capture songwriting ideas (although it would be lovely to have one ready to go) however, some sort of recording device like a tape recorder is essential.
Most songwriters I know write with an acoustic guitar but, now matter how you write songs, I am amazed at how many don’t record their ideas on tape, but rely on their memory.
For something as important as songwriting ideas, never, ever trust your memory
I personally set aside some time each day to pick up my guitar and noodle. I play whatever comes to mind but I always have a tape player handy.
This is because, when I get a hint of an idea to develop I simply press record and commit the idea to tape for future reference.
Once the idea is down I start fishing for the next idea.
The beauty about this process is that I am not under any pressure to remember any ideas that I may have conjured up in that time, I’ve already recorded them.
If I forget them it doesn’t matter.
As well as noodling on my guitar I am also noodling with my voice, singing whatever comes into my head. It’s taken me a long time to just be able to babble rubbish into a tape player and not feel bad about it.
When I am lyrically noodling I am only interested in the melodies and the rhythms I come up with. The actual lyrics can come later.
At this stage I am not even looking to finish a song, just gathering ideas, phrases, riffs and melodies and getting them down on tape.
After a while you start to develop a collection of songwriting ideas, riffs and phrases on tape, an aural journal if you will.
Be warned though, your inner voice is going to have a wonderful time telling you how bad it the ideas sounds and how awful the lyrics. You have to ignore it and look at your ideas as works in progress that aren’t finished yet.
Once you have say, two or three 60 or 90 minute tapes full of stuff, it’s then time to listen back and hear what you’ve done. You’ll be amazed at how many ideas you would’ve forgotton.
At this point of time it would be like hearing your songwriting ideas for the first time and it’s from this perspective that songs get completed.
Just think, with your ever growing list of possible song titles at your disposal and your musical and lyrical noodlings on tape, imagine how many more songs you are going to write.
Exciting isn’t it?
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
Keywords: songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting idea, songwriting help, songwriting technique, songwriting blog, corey stewart
Mindmapping Your Songwriting Ideas
From one idea, many ideas form.
I love mind maps. I’m a visual person, and developing a songwriting idea by using a mind map really helps me write my song lyrics more effectively.
Right now you’re probably asking “what is this mind map?” Well, according to Wikipedia a Mind Map is:
“…a diagram used to represent words, ideas, tasks or other items linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea. It is used to generate, visualize, structure and classify ideas, and as an aid in study, organization, problem solving, decision making, and writing”.
A mind mapping exercise is a simple, but a very effective way of fleshing out the body of a song from a single idea, phrase or a word.
It’s very similar to brainstorming but in a very visual way.
If you follow the steps outlined below, you will have a whole song laid out in front of you. All you have to do is follow the paths that you have created.
Heres how you do it.
1. Take your idea, phrase or word and write it in the middle of a piece of paper and draw a circle around it.
2. From that circle branch out five lines in different directions. At the end of those lines write a word that is associated with the central word. These words could be the basis for your verses and choruses.
3. From each of those five words start writing five other words that relate and so on.
By the time you have had enough (or you run out of paper), you’ll see the whole song mapped out in front of you and it all started from one songwriting idea, phrase or a single word.
Start from the central theme and work outwards, following the word paths you’ve created. Can you see what phrases you can come up with from doing that.
Be careful not to have too many initial branches springing out from your central theme. This will turn your mind map into a complicated mess of too many ideas pulling against each other. Up to five is plenty.
Remember, you dont have to use all (or any) of the words you have written down, this is another way of opening your mind to new ways of generating songwriting ideas.
Most of us are visual people. As mentioned before, I personally access information the best this way. I can tell you having a whole song mapped out in front of me makes the job of formulating a song so much easier.
Give it a go and see what happens, you’ll be amazed at some of the paths and tangents you create.
Let me know how it works for you
Until next time, happy writing,
Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician
PS: For more information on Mind Maps, click here.
Keywords: mind map, songwriting idea, songwriting, writing songs, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting help, corey stewart
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