Originally Posted by DC Ron
Andrew, here's a second response based on what I observe my lyricist doing...

The inspiration can be literally anything. He wrote a song about a calendar I had hanging on our shared bedroom wall in 1975. He wrote another song about a girl I dated exactly once in high school, who he never met. Wrote another about a trip I made to Manhattan without knowing anything about the trip other than it lasted five days. The launch point can be whatever he hears that grabs his imagination.

And imagination, is, I believe, the key. He's an accomplished "method actor" with regard to inhabiting the story he wishes to tell. For example, we had a stupidly idyllic childhood, but he can write a breathtaking lyric about abusive parents. And he's been married for over 40 years, but has been writing songs about breaking up for...over 50 years.

So "write what you know" is good advice indeed. But learning how to write beyond what you know and about WHAT INSPIRES YOU is perhaps next level stuff. Jimmy Webb was not a lineman, but wrote one of the most beloved (and recorded) songs of all time about the longing of a lineman.

But for sure, it's a journey, not a destination...
Hi Ron! Please respond as often as you like - you've always got an interesting insight - and because we both come from different starting points, you'll see and experience something that I might not. Those points above are really good angles to approach from. I'm going to summarise key points from posters' responses and blu-tak it to my desk - just to give me a mental nudge every so often.

I think I was getting anxious when I posted this thread because (IMHO) I have a potentially good song, was bereft of ideas at the time, and didn't want the words to stuff it up, despite being a person that tends to under-value the lyrics-side of songwriting. I've amazed myself a few (emphasis - FEW) times over my songwriting years with good lyrics, and like all things, I think one gets better with more practice and intentional skill-stretching.

Andrew

Regards,
Andrew D
Adelaide, Sth Aust
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