PG Music Home Forums General Discussion Songwriting Stuck on an Idea for a Song

There are A LOT of techniques out there for finding ideas. A simple method I use is using what inspired you to write in the first place to actually write. I'll give you an example, but this can be taken as far as you need it to. It's not complicated, but it is time consuming...but writing can be that way. BTW, this is part of how you can write on demand.

You picked Jimmy Buffet as a source of inspiration. So I grabbed one of his songs at random...Margaritaville. Then I picked just one random line from the song..."Searchin' for my lost shaker of salt."

The words that jump out to me are searchin', lost, shaker, and salt. Of course "my" can also be great, and if pronouns give meaning to a song.

So let's start with "salt" (again picked randomly. You don't have to pick them randomly, I'm just doing it to show it doesn't have to be in any specific order.)

Now for a bit of free association.

SALT-first things that come to mind mind for me are salt water, seasoning food, too much is awful, salty tears, salt burns your eyes, taste in my mouth, without it food is bland, around the rim of a margarita glass, salt shaker, reminds me of how often "shaker" is in country music, it's white, melts ice, the term "salty" is a current term used by kids.......you get the idea.

Now, you can start using some of those ideas if anything sticks out. I start to develop one; but there may be several you want to do from the list. Also, more can come from using other techniques.

So an example of a line that I came up with quick from above. I'm not committed to it, but it's an idea, so I write it down.

"Life would be bland
without a little salt now and than"

That's a start. I just replaced "food" being bland with "life." Super simple all the way around.

The next part would be to start thinking about what that line could mean.

Does it mean that the person is justifying drama in their life? If so what drama? A relationship? With a significant other? Or maybe a parent? Brother, sister? Friend?

Or is salt like a seasoning for life? "You take the good you take the bad" kind of thing?

Maybe it helps give you appreciation? Oooo...."appreciation" can be a great word/concept. It' doesn't have to be that EXACT word.
Some, not all, synonyms for "appreciation"

1. admiration

2. perceptiveness

3. discernment

4. taste

5. grasp

6. hold

7. gratitude

8. appreciating

9. appreciate

10. gratefulness

11. appreciated

12. respect

13. commendation

14. recognition

15. appreciative

16. sympathy

17. enjoyment

18. thank

19. understanding

20. interest

21. acknowledgment

22. praise

23. thanking

24. delight

25. congratulations

26. satisfaction

27. thanks

28. gratification

29. contentment

30. acceptance

31. commending

32. tribute

33. recognizing

34. realization

35. compliment

36. esteem

37. revaluation

38. acclaim

39. pleasure

40. value

41. enjoy

42. acknowledge


I like number 24, "delight" because it could mean a form of happiness, or a play on it could be "de light" is in an informal/Jamaican accent of saying "the light"...which could be a sunset, or sunrise, or just a great sunny day. Or, playing off of the good/bad concept could lead into a stormy day, verses a sunny say.

So many, many, ideas can come from that! You could, but would probably go insane, do this for just about every word in your inspiration song(s) AND every word you come it resulting from the ideas that came from it. Ideas...not a problem anymore

That's not even looking at rhymes yet!

1 syllable:
alt, ault, brault, dault, fault, galt, gault, halt, hault, kalt, malt, mault, nault, sault, smalt, spalt, spalte, vault, walt

2 syllables:
asphalt, assault, at fault, bank vault, barrault, basalt, cobalt, covault, default, desalt, envault, exalt, gestalt, groined vault, herault, inhalt, in alt, kuralt, no-fault, pennwalt, perrault, pinault, pole vault, renault, ribbed vault, rouault, stirewalt, thrust fault

3 syllables:
anawalt, barrel vault, ehrenhalt, faribault, galipault, greenawalt, hanawalt, in default, normal fault, pinsoneault, rachelvolt, somersault, thunderbolt, to a fault

4 syllables:
burial vault, creditanstalt, gravity fault, kreditanstalt, treuhandanstalt

5 syllables:
judgement by default, judgment by default, san andreas fault, sexual assault


I like the word "malt" from that. Sticking with the overall theme in many of the songs, including something about a malt beverage wouldn't be out of bounds by a long shot. Even if it's saying your need something stronger or sweeter than a malt beverage.

Even in writing this, I see my own phrases "out of bounds" which could work well, and "by a long shot"...which could also mean a type of beverage...or a game of some sort.

So this whole exercise is not even close to how far you could run with it...all from 1 term!! If you did this with just those first words I picked, you would have more than you would need more than likely.

I hope this helps. I just felt the need to let you know, IF you want to write a song in a style, you don't necessarily have to have a concrete concept before hand. You need an idea you can develop. It might be an instrument, or a song, or a situation...anything can be developed. That's the fun. It's also the work of the craft.

If I had to rely on inspiration and the "star to align" I would starve. I have to be able to write just about an style on demand. I use these techniques all the time, and can tell you first hand they work really well for me.

Best of luck! Can't wait to hear your music!