I wrote a song, back in 2018, which expresses in a nutshell much of what I have to say. Ever since, I've been having the shadow of it, so to speak, hang over me - and, despite all my efforts since (and there have been a relatively large number of them), I still don't think I've written anything quite like it, at least in my own opinion of things.
How does one write another "classic" (so to speak!)? I don't want to think of myself as a "one hit wonder", haha - and I honestly don't know why it is that I feel so blocked and in the shadow of that song. Is it just a question of "keep writing and hope you strike lucky again", or ... ? Thanks for any comments!
My late older brother was a successful Nashville session musician and fairly successful Producer and also a touring band player. He was quite a few years older than me and only took me as a serious writer after we were both later on in our years. He worked tirelessly once he 'accepted' me as a musician by producing an LP album of my original songs and pitched them around Nashville back in the 1970's. He had me vacation with him for a week in the late 1980's trying to encourage and re-spark my writing as I'd virtually stopped and was doing other things. His whole emphasis to me was; "You only have to get it right once! It gets easier after that. They will come looking for you rather than you searching out for the powers that be."
He's right...
You don't have to wait on inspiration for a song idea, let other's ideas inspire you. High quality, high value inspiration surrounds you everywhere you go. Learn to recognize it. Look to where John Lennon got the idea to develop "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite". A hundred year old Circus Poster he saw and purchased from a thrift shop. "Lucy in the Sky" came from a drawing by his son. "A day In The Life" from a newspaper article.
John Lennon's success as a songwriter convinced me he was on to something and I began to develop the habit of looking everywhere for song ideas. They are literally all around us. Think about it, some of the world's most successful writers and idea generators are folks like Hear To Learn that write for a living. TV Commercials, radio jingles, Billboards, newspapers, brochures, and funny quips from friends and family...
I've written lyrics from:
.NPR TV guide.
.Church bulletin sermon outline
.Facebook comments about a real country boy's pickup truck picture
My favorite so far has been lyrics derived from a BIAB Forum's members Web Page's Song Title List of his original songs.
'Looking from where I'm at' added to 'I'm walking on thin ice' back to 'Looking from where I'm at' added to 'Wrong is what I do right'
became:
Looking from where I'm at
I'm walking on thin ice
Looking from Where I'm at
Wrong is what I do right
The Chorus of the song. I used his song titles to write the verse lyrics as well. It turned out good enough that the forum member, took the song lyrics derived from his song titles and most of my instrumentation and recorded it.
The song practically wrote itself.
Hope this helps you get started back a bit.
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