Writing songs is not always easy. Some would argue that it’s never easy, but you get such a great feeling from completing one that it makes the task worth it, and you want to do it again. That makes sense, because when something gives you a challenge, and you finally succeed, you get what might […]
Some songs are still with us fifty or more years after they hit the top of the charts (Smokey Robinson’s “The Tears of a Clown“, for example), but other songs, even ones that were big hits when they came out, are rarely heard anymore, not because they aren’t good, but… well, it’s hard to say […]
It’s hard to write every day if you’re a songwriter, because you find yourself either running out of ideas for songs, or running out of inspiration. What can you do to keep creativity from drying up? Let’s deal with the inspiration part first. There are lots of sources for inspiration, but the kind of inspiration […]
Deciding what your next song could or should be about can stop your creative process in its tracks if you let it. You’ll be happy to know that great songs don’t need to be profound. True, some of the songs we acknowledge as being the greatest ones are about deep, philosophical/social issues: “Like a Rolling […]
Everyone has their own motivation for becoming a songwriter. For most, and likely for you, it’s a variation on the need for self-expression. With every song, you have a thought, a feeling or an opinion that you want to express. Who knows how many possible problems or errors that can be committed when writing a […]
If you ask songwriters to describe the most difficult part of starting any songwriting process, I’m sure many — perhaps most — would say, “Deciding what to write about.” A song is a kind of social interaction. There are vague similarities between singing a song you’ve written, and having a conversation with someone, but with the […]
