Music!!!

[mildlyaroused]

Music is awesome. Everyone agrees on that. If people want to respond, this thread has two parts to it.

First, what is your relationship to music while you're writing? Does it help you work? Does it inspire you?

For me, music and its stories inspire me to write, but I can't listen to it while I'm writing. It is the great Shakespearean tragedy of my existence!! I get too distracted by lyrics and tunes to focus, so I have to write in silence...

Second, what is your favourite song at the moment and why? I'd love to listen to some.

Mine is 'Our Mutual Friend' by The Divine Comedy.

It reminds me of love and heartbreak. It reminds me of the beauty in being young and stupid. More specifically, it reminds me of myself, and how easily I fall in love and grow attached to new people when I have a meaningful experience with them. It is romantic and tragic.

Check it out!

 

[onehitwanda]

I have had stories inspired by music, notably "Walking with Sam", which is one of my two highest ranked works. That said, I almost never listen to music any more. Sound becomes oppressive if it goes on too long, so these days I mostly aim for quiet.

At the moment, the one I have stuck in my head is "Oh what a circus" from Evita. Before that was "The sound of Silence." Before that was "Hold my Hand" from Top Gun Maverick. Before that was the Force theme from Star wars. Before that was the 5th movement Stravinsky's "Firebird Suite" which always makes me tear up and is part of the inspiration of the work I'm currently writing. Before that was Smetana's Moldau which lives rent-free in my head a large portion of the time. Before that was Tracy Chapman's "Fast Car". Before that... well, my short term memory only stretches back a couple of days, but it would have been more of the same.

I need brain muffs.

 

[HordHolm]

Interesting first question.

I find that researching music, if I am writing something historically based, can provide me with something cultural to include that further builds the world. Case in point - I wrote an Amorous Goods entry last year (https://literotica.com/s/amorous-goods-seen-in-sepia) and had the FMC and a friend working their way through what appeared to them to be a junk shop. The friend then found an old 78 rpm record, and I thought it might be interesting to give a real title/real record. I did a little research on best selling 78s in the 1910-20 decade and came up with this -

I also based a 1970s group sex story around the sounds of the late 1970s (Donna Summer, Spear of Destiny) to help give the zeitgeist.

But, like you, I can't listen to anything with lyrics when I write. Or when I correct others' work for publication. However, sometimes I can listen to music without lyrics. I 'came of age' in the late 80s, and it's easy for me to go back and listen to the less 'hardcore' rave stuff that was just coming out then - so the more trance stuff. But I can only do this occasionally. Usually I need silence.

 

[Omenainen]

For me, it boils down to a feeling, or a vibe. My stories are about a feeling, and if a song invokes the same feeling, they feed each other. Like you, I don’t listen while writing.

What I’m currently listening is Natalie Merchant’s “Break Your Heart.” I love the tone of it, the “so what if life is hard.” My next story will probably be this song.

Break Your Heart https://g.co/kgs/GCHPtNE

 

[ElectricBlue]

I used to write a lot with music playing. Now I don't bother, because the CD or LP is always finishing, and I realise I've not heard it. My writing time runs differently nowadays.

Not like when I was young, when we measured out life in twenty minute increments. Or twenty-five, when a band tried to cram in longer sides. The sound quality was always crap on those records though, coz the grooves weren't deep enough.

Right now - Lloyd Cole, Standards. I always liked his lyrics, "These were the best of times."

 

[XerXesXu]

I don't hear anything when I write so I don't play music. When I work I'll have a playlist on. YouTube isn't good at playlists, it'll only shuffle 50 or so numbers, so I have to move around in my main playlist from time to time to achieve, approximately, something completely different every 4 minutes. I mix the soundtrack of my life with jazz, military music, poetry, short classical pieces etc. I regularly add something from the 'What are you listening to Now' thread. At the moment I'm exploring JPop and adding in another lumpy portion featuring XG and Wednesday Campanella amongst others.

 

[Michael682]

I listen to music when I'm playing video games or sometimes at work. If it's at work - it depends on what I'm working on as to whether or not music helps or hurts. Sometimes I'll put something on, with headphones, just to block out random coworker conversations as a way of focusing. I don't really know if I could point to one favorite song at the moment. Looking at Amazon Music I've been playing a lot of Soul Asylum, Gin Blossoms, Matchbox 20 at work lately.

 

[vagrantx]

First, what is your relationship to music while you're writing? Does it help you work? Does it inspire you?

There's always something playing in my home. After covid lockdown, Spotify told me I'd been averaging something like 9 hours a day for the whole year.

It doesn't really inspire me when I write, but it helps me relax which in turn helps me write.

Second, what is your favourite song at the moment and why? I'd love to listen to some.

Who's my favorite child, you ask? Right now there's a lot of Iron Maiden, Ramones, Tegan and Sara, and Dire Straits.

People often have this misconception that heavy metal is full throttle all the time, but, no.

Iron Maiden - Strange World

Shades of green grasses twine
Girls drinking plasma wine
A look at love, a dream unfolds
Living here, you'll never grow old

 

[Cagivagurl]

Music is awesome. Everyone agrees on that. If people want to respond, this thread has two parts to it.

First, what is your relationship to music while you're writing? Does it help you work? Does it inspire you?

For me, music and its stories inspire me to write, but I can't listen to it while I'm writing. It is the great Shakespearean tragedy of my existence!! I get too distracted by lyrics and tunes to focus, so I have to write in silence...

Second, what is your favourite song at the moment and why? I'd love to listen to some.

Mine is 'Our Mutual Friend' by The Divine Comedy.

It reminds me of love and heartbreak. It reminds me of the beauty in being young and stupid. More specifically, it reminds me of myself, and how easily I fall in love and grow attached to new people when I have a meaningful experience with them. It is romantic and tragic.

Check it out!

Music is both the curse and the cure.
It is the most powerful of all the arts.
You can hear it.
Feel it both physically and mentally.
It can evoke memories.
Make you happy.
Make you sad...
It will bring joy one moment, and catastrophic sorrow the next.
We associate all the major moments of our lives with the song playing in the background.
You can hear it 200 years later, and that memory will resurface, and the hairs on the back of your neck will stand too attention.
It will bring tears...
And when you hear that one song, your feet automatically start to tap. You don't want it to. You didn't ask it to. It just happens.
Then, there's the curse, that infernal song you hate so much, but can't stop sining along to.
The curse of the ear worm
Fuck you music for being so fucking powerful.

Cagivagurl

 

[Michael682]

Who's my favorite child, you ask? Right now there's a lot of Iron Maiden, Ramones, Tegan and Sara, and Dire Straits.

Oh Tegan and Sara - nice. Haven't thought of them in a while.
*queues up YouTube clip where they performed with Taylor Swift*

 

[SimonDoom]

I love music but I prefer to work and write without it in the background. I'm not one of those people who need music to be playing in the background all the time. Sometimes, I like silence. Right now I'm listening to the music of rain falling outside my window--one of my favorite tunes.

The chime just went off to announce my coffee pot is ready, and that's sweet music to me as well.

Music is inspiring to me in a general way. It's amazing that people can compose sounds that cause such joy, and it's nice to know that by writing I can, in my own small way, give others pleasure (or disgust, I suppose--that's a reaction as well, even if not the one I'm seeking).

 

[MrPixel]

It depends on what you call "music". As a serious musician (see signature) I avoid having serious music going regardless of genre while I'm writing. My mind either plays along or wants to disassemble it. I definitely won't have anything on with lyrics or a strong rhythm, which eliminates most pop and rock.

That said, I have music going in the background most of the time - very soft piano relaxation tracks I can find on any of several Pandora channels. They have no lyrics, do not invoke any lyrics as instrumental versions of something familiar, usually aren't improvisations on classical works I might know, have no perceptible repetitive rhythm, and no percussion of any kind. For most of the individual selections, even with pieces played frequently there is barely any recognizable "tune" my head wants to latch onto. All at low volume levels.

So, basically, ambience music to relax everybody in the house, including the dog. Works for me!

 

[ronde]

It depends upon what I'm writing. I have several stories I wrote while some soft jazz or blues was playing in the background. Most of those are set in little bars or quiet clubs. Jazz and blues give me the "feel" of such a place.

For the most part, though, I don't listen to anything when I'm writing. Either it seems distracting or I forget to listen.

Sometimes a favorite song gives me an idea for a story. "Follow the Wind" by Tricia Yearwood is one of them. "Arlington" by Trace Adkins is another.

 

[AchtungNight]

Music inspires me in many ways. I’ve featured songs I like in many stories.

Current favorites- Intercourse With You by Seth McFarlane & Nothing Else Matters by Metallica.

 

[yowser]

I find it almost impossible to write when the music in the background has lyrics. Anything that makes you want to dance or tap your foot/fingers (Django Reinhardt) is also trouble. Otherwise Bach organ works are great, or instrumental works such as done by Leo Kottke, John Fahey. Ragas can be evocative.

 

[12oclocktales]

Used to be able to listen to music and do anything – read, write, anything. Now to do something that requires concentration, I have to turn the music off. It’s either one or the other. Lester Young, especially with Lady Day, never ceases to please and always gets my full attention.

 

[SimonDoom]

For whatever reason, I'm in a Soundgarden mood today. I've always liked their sound but don't know their songs as well as I'd like, so here we go.

The lead singer, Chris Cornell, who sadly passed away in 2017, had a fantastic rock voice. So much power, range, and soul. He sang like he was attacking the song's words. I have no idea how one could go through an entire concert singing like that.

 

[Bamagan]

I don't ordinarily physically write (well, type) while listening to music, but I generally have earbuds in when I'm out and about, thinking about stories (and they help discourage conversation, after all). So I'm often composing scenes in my head while the music is playing, and sometimes that probably affects the way I later write them. But if there's a lot of noise around me that I can't avoid, I'll put something on the speakers to try and drown it out, since the music is less distracting than screaming children or neighbors verbally abusing one another over their bumper stickers.
I'm lately a big fan of string quartets doing pop covers. VSQ doing Cheap Thrills is a current favorite.

 

[CatGirl69]

Music has always been important to my life. Sometimes it's on as background sound while I'm writing, but there's not necessarily a strong connection to what I'm listening to and what I'm writing. I'm more likely to hear a song randomly in a certain way and think, "ah, I can incorporate that into a story." A lyric, a theme, a mood...

 

[KeithD]

When I was editing books for mainstream publishers, I did so to instrumental music (I'm a singer; I can't listen to song music without engaging with it. When I was editing, I wanted muted background music only). When I switched to mostly writing, I found that even if I started a music CD when I started writing, I didn't renew the music when it stopped. I no longer bother putting music on.

Favorite song: "Raisins and Almonds"

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Music is awesome. Everyone agrees on that. If people want to respond, this thread has two parts to it.

First, what is your relationship to music while you're writing? Does it help you work? Does it inspire you?

For me, music and its stories inspire me to write, but I can't listen to it while I'm writing. It is the great Shakespearean tragedy of my existence!! I get too distracted by lyrics and tunes to focus, so I have to write in silence...

I'm very much into music. I'm a songwriter. I know all of my music theory. I use a sequencer and I hear stuff in my head and I know exactly how to draw the notes on the screen to make it sound like my head with very few errors (and the errors are a snap to fix).

I absolutely cannot listen to music when I'm doing something, except maybe doing the dishes. When I listen to music I cannot listen to it passively. I just do not have that ability. Whenever music is on my brain will follow it, no matter how good or bad it is. I always listen actively. I can't stop this. When I write (prose) I write in silence. I can't write with music on, it is far too big of a distraction. I absolutely hate having music on at work - even if it's music that I love. It is too distracting to my concentration, makes my day pass so slowly and often frustrates me - and bad music particularly grates my nerves to no end. EVERYONE ELSE at work wants needs and demands music on during the shift so that their day moves quickly, and they are usually very righteous and sometimes even rude about it. For me, music on during my shift makes my day frustrating and slow. I want silence so that I can be productive and have the day go by fast.

As for my faves there are way too many to list. I'm not really listening to anything these days because I'm writing so much prose and music myself. I started with my Mom's Beatles and Bee Gees records. I love Jamiroquai and was probably my fave in my youth (Jay Kay was my one big celebrity crush ) and then got into Pizzicato 5. My tatses range extremely wide from garage rock to EDM and all kinds in between I and couldn't possibly make a list that represented them all with any accuracy. A couple of years ago I discovered a Japanese math-jazz band called Tricot that impresses me very much and at the same time Jessy Lanza (her original songs not her cover mixes) has some lovely captivating stuff.

 

[vagrantx]

I love Jamiroquai and was probably my fave in my youth (Jay Kay was my one big celebrity crush )

Jay Kay is one of very few men I'd straighten out for The pipes on him. Be still my heart.

 

[pink_silk_glove]

Jay Kay is one of very few men I'd straighten out for The pipes on him. Be still my heart.

He's a very underrated singer. If you search youtube you can find him doing a live duet with Diana Ross of her classic 80s hit Upside Down. He sings circles around her.

(swoon!)

 

[M_K_Babalon]

Other than the three stories I've written usimg song lyrics, I'm not inspired by music. I can't do shit in silence, music helps me concentrate and keeps the racing thoughts and other things from consuming my mind. I keep a radio on 24/7 other than the rare occassion I might turn it off to watch a movie or play a game, depending on how unruly the old thing is getting, since the volume control is sketchy.

 

[Bramblethorn]

For whatever reason, I'm in a Soundgarden mood today. I've always liked their sound but don't know their songs as well as I'd like, so here we go.

The lead singer, Chris Cornell, who sadly passed away in 2017, had a fantastic rock voice. So much power, range, and soul. He sang like he was attacking the song's words. I have no idea how one could go through an entire concert singing like that.

Sorely missed. If you haven't already come across his non-Soundgarden work (Audioslave, Temple of the Dog, solo), worth checking those out too. TPR's "Only Love Can Save Me Now" was written after he died, but it feels like it was written for his voice all the same.