I love hearing my songwriting 'idols' talk about their process. Also, idols or not - people just into the art of songwriting. Also, what inspired particular songs.

As always - thanks in advance.

Song exploder
Sodajerker
Tuner (this one is analysis only )

Inspiration comes from a lot of places. The only limit is your imagination.

All it takes is someone to say something or for me to hear or see something that makes me think or brings a certain idea to mind....and I have the beginnings of a new song. Sometimes people send me ideas and partially written song verses and I can take some of them and finish them one way or another. And sometimes, the ideas seemed good but languish in my computer and mind for a long time. Ask David. He sent me the basics for Whiskey for Breakfast..... I don't think that was the name of it... and in a short time we had a finished song. A few days at most. Then there's the other idea he sent..... I think that one's still on the back burner after over a year..... maybe I'll get it done eventually.

A recent short story/example. In a facebook group I'm in, there's a planned 2nd reunion of the folks who were active in the business of music back in the 70's and 80's in a certain military town we all lived in. This group includes the store owners, the bar owners, the musicians, the tattoo shop artists, and even the police officers who were in the midst of it all. Musically, the town was extremely active with dozens of places hosting live bands. There were at least a dozen full time or part time bands in that town at any given point over that time frame. Everything from the disco bands to the rock and roll bands to the country bands. I was asking about a certain hole in the wall we played a lot when our band was getting started. It was a cowboy hangout. Some of the guys there were active rodeo participants with the buckles and scars to prove it. From that memory, I came up with the idea for The Road To Cheyenne. I have written several other cowboy rodeo songs in the past, but there's always room for another.

Their inspirations are likely no different from yours, Joe. Every song starts with an idea. Whether it's Todd Rundgren, Sting, Roger Waters... they all started with an idea. Make a habit of always having some way to commit your ideas to paper or phone recording. You may get a line that would make a good hook, an event of the past that pops into your head, someone who broke your heart, or taught you something, or as is often the case, both. I think a lot of us have one thing in common, and that would be napkins, envelopes, the back of receipts and such with a lyric phrase. I did a throwaway song about 3 years ago (meaning I wrote it, hated it, and jettisoned it) based on someone posting a meme on Facebook that said "Now would be the time". That grew into "if we're gonna fall in love, now would be the perfect time". That sat in a text file on my computer for over a year, and slowly I added lyrics to make verses, came up with a chorus with that hook, and then decided it was a pile of crap and just killed it completely.

BUT... that's how inspiration starts sometimes. With an offhand comment, some catch phrase that pops into your head.... There's really no magical moment that is any different for the big time songsmiths and the little time songsmiths. The big time songsmiths just have paths for their songs to find artists that we don't have. Those Nashville writer types in the jeans, boots and blue blazers who sit in cubes and churn out songs that sound the same all day (from 9 to 5, and every song exactly 3:34 in duration) just have their toes in elite water. We don't. We have the muddy "crick" out yonder....

There are no "cubes". Nobody sits 9 to 5 churning out cookie cutter songs. And it's not "who you know" either (the other sour grapes line of Nashville disrespect). Everybody writes when they want, where they want. Sometimes that is in the offices that some publishers provide - which are most often rooms in big, old, "Main Street style houses" - with sofas and coffee tables (and often a piano). Often, it's simply getting together at each other's house for a couple of hours. They earned their way there through hard work and an understanding of how the craft of songwriting works. They are very good at it.

No cubes? Man, that just can't be true.


Regards,


Bob

That was a metaphor for people who churn out songs like a worker in a sheet metal factory stamps out parts on a press.

At least give me the jeans and the boots.....

I listen to songcraft and also BBC 4 mastertapes (unfortunately a little inconsistent)

I'm just getting into BBC-4's +++ Mastertapes +++ program.

It's a great show to listen to Joanne! I hope you don't mind me sharing a link to it.

Thanks for the link, Jim. Some cool stuff on there.

Bob

Thanks for the insight, Floyd. Love to hear you talk about what it's really like in the pro songwriting "biz"...and from a man who's actually been there.

Bob

Thanks for the Mastertapes link

Joanne, it took me awhile but I finally narrowed it down to +++ SongCraft.com +++. Is that the first podcast you referenced?

Hi Jim
Yes! That is the one. Thank you for posting the links. You are a star!

There are some really great suggestions here that I can't wait to check out. Thanks for sharing, guys!