Using Life Experiences To Write

I was at a funeral for an old acquaintance yesterday and on the way home it occurred to me that there were a lot of lines and phrases spoken by others that I could easily use in a song lyric some time in the future.  Quite often you may have come across the idea of reading or watching TV or seeing a movie to find some inspiration, but the truth is that your very own life is probably a great source if you handle it just right.

Of course, many of you already write about your own life, and many songs you've heard over the years are a reflection of the writer's life, not just fiction.  But instead of writing about the typical things like love, loss, partying (😊) and every other clichéd topic, there are probably events or snippets of conversation happening around you all the time that might make for interesting lyrics.  So any of you out there complaining (and many of you do!) that you don't have anything to write about, maybe you only need to open your ears and eyes a little more.  Almost anything can inspire a song lyric if you know what to do with it.

For instance, one thing that was said yesterday by the brother of the person who passed away was that in losing his brother, he learned something about him,  and he also remembered something that he had forgotten.   The "new" learning came in the form of stories that people told him after his brother died.  The thing he had forgotten was how he had always thought of his brother as his hero.   I could see turning that into an idea for a song.  Another idea that came to me was when the pastor spoke about how we only know a part of a person, and when we get together during such an occasion, the memories others have, when we put them all together, paint a much more complete picture of that person.

Do you see what I mean?  Whatever lyric came out of that wouldn't even have to be about death, only about getting to know someone, or a kind of philosophy of life.

I'm not even afraid to share these ideas with you because I know that if you use them, you would probably write a completely different song than I would :-)  Years ago I used to lead a kind of online songwriting workshop on a songwriting message board I used to hang out on, where I would get everyone to submit a song title.  Then we'd vote on the title and have a week or two to write a song around that title.  Sometimes it wasn't a title, but just a lyric idea.  It was a great exercise, but what it taught me most was how completely different all of the songs were that came out of it.

So take something from my experience above, if you like, or pay more attention to your own experiences and don't be afraid to share them.  You never know where you'll find a new song!

IJ

Songs I Like - Wichita Lineman

I recently saw Glen Campbell perform on the Grammys and was struck by his courage to be out there performing even though he has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease.  One of the interesting things about the brain is that when you learn music, or a musical instrument, your whole brain is engaged, as opposed to just part of it devoted to something like speech or face recognition.  So Alzheimer's patients will often remember lyrics and melodies to songs (or remember how to play piano for instance), well after they have forgotten who their closest family members are.  It's an interesting aspect of music that I also see with my father who has Alzheimer's.  He still remembers me at this point, but much of his personality has been destroyed by the disease.  Still, he can remember old songs with little or no effort!

But that's not what this post is about :-).  This is about one of my favourite all time songs, Wichita Lineman.  It was written in 1968 by someone who many songwriters consider to be a songwriting guru, Jimmy Webb.  The song became a hit for Glen Campbell on the pop, adult contemporary and country charts that year and certified gold in 1969.

Part of the charm of that version was, of course, Glen Campbell's wonderful voice and guitar playing.  The story behind the song, according to Wikipedia, goes as follows: "Jimmy Webb's inspiration for the lyrics came while driving through Washita County in rural northern Oklahoma. At that time, many telephone companies were county-owned utilities and their linemen were, in fact, county employees. Heading westward on a straight road into the setting sun, Webb was driving through an endless litany of telephone poles, each looking exactly the same as the last. Then, in the distance, he noticed the silhouette of a solitary lineman atop a pole. He described it as "the picture of loneliness." Webb then "put himself atop that pole and put that phone in his hand" as he considered what the lineman was saying into the receiver. Glen Campbell added in a statement to the Dallas Observer that Webb wrote the song about his first love affair with a woman who married someone else."

As a songwriter, one of the interesting aspects for me is that the song has no chorus, although it does have a repeating phrase "the Wichita lineman is still on the line."  The music is dotted with minor 7th and major 7th chords, the latter of which give it that plaintive, bitter sweet feel.  Recently, when I went to see James Taylor live in my city, I was over the top when he started to perform his version of Wichita Lineman, and it has, indeed, been recorded by many artists over the years.  In fact, I'm think I might like to do a recording of it myself some day!  

Have a listen to the song in the video below, and here are the lyrics:

I am a lineman for the county 
And I drive the main road 
Searchin' in the sun for another overload 

I hear you singin' in the wire, 
I can hear you through the whine 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

I know I need a small vacation 
But it don't look like rain 
And if it snows that stretch down south won't ever stand the strain 

And I need you more than want you, 
And I want you for all time 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

And I need you more than want you, 
And I want you for all time 
And the Wichita Lineman is still on the line 

It just gets me every time :-)

~ IJ

Songs I Like - Edith And The Kingpin

Recently there was a popular hash tag on Twitter regarding your favourite lyrics. I don't normally participate in those (perhaps I should!), but this time I decided to post a couple of lines from a song that I've always loved because of the lyrics. It's a Joni Mitchell song called "Edith And The Kingpin" from her 1975 album, The Hissing of Summer Lawns:

Anyone who knows me, knows that Joni Mitchell is one of my favourite songwriters, and this lyric to me exemplifies her poetry-that-comes-alive-with-music talent.  There are many poets out there and many lyricists, and more often than not, they are not interchangeable.

A lot of poetry just doesn't work with music, but Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan were poets who were able to put music to their poetry seamlessly.  The poetry has to be approachable, and the music has to be perfectly married to the words.  This is a jazzy Joni Mitchell album, with Edith and the Kingpin being one of it's smoother pieces.  One of the passages that gets me is this one:

His eyes hold Edith
His left hand holds his right
What does that hand desire
That he grips it so tight

Joni has a way with visual lyrics...I can "see" his grip on his own hand, there's an intensity about the idea of his eyes holding Edith and the his obvious desire for her.  Even the fact that she uses the word "grip" instead of "hold" or any other choice, gives it that added intensity.

In the chord progression, it slips into a Bb6/9-5 to an Em7/A.  Now if that throws you, Joni actually plays in an open tuning of: D A E G C E so creating these jazz chords takes on a whole new dimension.  Don't worry, you don't have to know how to play guitar to read the rest of this, but when you listen to the song, moving into that passage has the effect of a bridge or a pre-chorus, although there is no chorus in this song.

In another "bridge", she sings:

Women he has taken
Grow old too soon
He tilts their tired faces
Gently to the spoon

That line "He tilts their tired faces gently to the spoon" is, again, so visual for me.   The fact that he's in charge of them, that they are obvious addicts and totally under his control comes together so well in four short lines.

If you've never heard the song, listen to it on the video below, and here are the lyrics for you to read along with.

The big man arrives
Disco dancers greet him
Plainclothes cops greet him
Small town, big man, fresh lipstick glistening
Sophomore jive
From victims of typewriters
The band sounds like typewriters
The big man he's not listening

His eyes hold Edith
His left hand holds his right
What does that hand desire
That he grips it so tight

Edith in the ring
The passed over girls are conferring
The man with the diamond ring is purring
All claws for now withdrawn
One by one they bring
His renegade stories to her
His crimes and his glories to her
In challenge they look on

Women he has taken grow old too soon
He tilts their tired faces
Gently to the spoon

Edith in his bed
A plane in the rain is humming
The wires in the walls are humming
Some song some mysterious song
Bars in her head
Beating frantic and snowblind
Romantic and snowblind
She says his crime belongs

Edith and the Kingpin
Each with charm to sway
Are staring eye to eye
They dare not look away
You know they dare not look away

Love it!

~ IJ