Brian Eno

Brian Eno On Oblique Strategies

Here is a very interesting video of Brian Eno being interviewed by Jools Holland in 2001.

In it, Eno talks about the concept of the Oblique Strategies cards and how they can be of immense help to songwriters, performers, studio musicians and even brain surgeons.

Speaking about brain surgeons check out what happens at around the two minute mark. It’s very, very funny and a great example of Oblique Strategies at work.

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Keywords: brian eno, oblique strategies, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting tool, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart

Tags: brian eno, Corey Stewart, Creativity, lyrics, music, oblique strategies, song, Songwriter, Songwriting, songwriting blog, songwriting tip, Songwriting Zen, writing, zen

Monday, June 16th, 2008 Songwriting Tools No Comments

Songwriting Tool – Oblique Strategies

Oblique Strategies (with the subtitle “over one hundred worthwhile dilemmas”) is a set of published cards first created in 1975 by Brian Eno and Peter Schmidt.

It was designed to break creative deadlock by generating thought, discussion and inspiration from randomly chosen phrases or a cryptic remarks written on seperate cards. Oblique Strategies is now in its fifth edition.

I’ve mentioned Brian Eno before in my blog post “Favourite Songs – “By This River” By Brian Eno”.

In the post I mentioned that the song “… shows that Eno is a songwriter of extreme confidence”. Why wouldn’t he be confident with a songwriting tool like Oblique Strategies at his disposal.

A number of songwriters have used the concept of randomness as a songwriting idea generator.

Most notable of these writers is David Bowie who used the technique of cutting up words, throwing them up in the air and creating lyrics from the end result.

If my general knowledge is correct the songs that were written in this way are featured in his albums “Low” (1977), “Lodger” (1979) and “Scary Monsters” (1980).

I have been facinated by the Oblique Strategies concept for a long time and even though I’ve never used it as yet, I can see how they would be very helpful in my own songwriting process.

Like everyone else, I have songwriting ideas in my archive that I can’t seem to progress any further because I’ve set the idea in concrete. Every time I revisit the idea I find myself playing the same things over and over again.

It’s in these types of situations that I’d find the Oblique Strategies concept useful.

If you have taken my advice in my blog post “Brainstorming Possible Song Titles” and “Expanding On Your Possible Song Titles” you’d have a very large collection of lines, phrases and semi completed songs at your disposal.

Look at this list as your own personal set of Oblique Strategies.

Even if one line from your list sparks an idea that finishes a song that you’ve been agonising over for ages, it would’ve been well worth the effort.

Personally, I have a huge list that I add to every week. Pages and pages of random lines and phrases that I get from all sorts of places. I wonder if there’s a way I can share them with you.

Maybe we can create our own collective list of strategies and work on them together. What do you think?

In the meantime, here are some other Oblique Strategies links for you to look at:

Oblique Strategies – Wiki

The Oblique Strategies

Oblique Strategies Widget For MAC

Oblique Strategies – Web Version 1

Oblique Strategies – Web Version 2

Oblique Strategies – Web Version 3

Oblique Strategies – Web Version 4

Until next time, happy writing,

Corey Stewart
Singer/Songwriter/Musician

Keywords: david bowie, brian eno, oblique strategies, songwriting, songwriter, songwriting tip, songwriting tool, songwriting help, songwriting idea, songwriting blog, corey stewart

Tags: brian eno, Corey Stewart, Creativity, david bowie, journal, lyric, music, oblique strategies, song, Songwriter, Songwriting, songwriting blog, songwriting tip, Songwriting Zen, writing

Saturday, June 14th, 2008 Songwriting Tools 2 Comments

I Wish I Wrote That #1 – “By This River” By Brian Eno

I have a lot of favourite songs and favourite songwriters however, if I was going to put my finger on what my favourite song of all time is, it would be “By This River” by Brian Eno.

I have been a huge fan of Eno ever since I started learning and playing music but when I managed to get his “Before And After Science” album I was transfixed by this song.

I was initially grabbed by it’s childlike piano motif which repeats itself throughout the whole song. The melody is almost like that of a nursery rhyme and because of this it had a very high level of immediacy with me.

Even though the format of the song is AAA, it doesn’t need anything else to deepen the impact of the song. “By This River” is a great example of the less is more principle of songwriting. Adding a bridge would take away from the simplicity of the piece.

This song to me shows that Eno is a songwriter of extreme confidence.

Lyrically it portrays a passage of time between two people by a river. I admit there’s not much information to go on however, from the tone of both the music and the lyrics, the song is one of sadness and loneliness.

It certainly makes me feel a tinge of sadness everytime I hear it.

When I discovered this video on YouTube it’s images tied up the loose ends I had about the lyrics of “By This River”.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I do. Let me know what you think.