Inspiration through song?

[EmeraldKitten]

I don't know if everyone is like this, but songs stick in my memory.
No, I don't mean the lyrics and all that. Anyone can remember song lyrics.
For example, a song will come on, and I can pretty much say what grade I was in when it was popular,
or what I was doing when I heard that song for the first time. Am I weird? lol.
Anyway, songs can seduce you- I swear!
When I write I try and block disctractions, but I always have to have music going.
And it has to be fun and flirty, or slow and serious. Either way, it has to be sexy.
My favorite for writing?
'Rock Me Baby' ~ Otis Redding. (Second is 'These Arms of Mine.)

My boyfriend and I did some pretty innapropriate things in the car one night when we first started dating.
The radio was on the whole time, but I had blocked it out I guess, lol. But for some reason one song stands out.
Needless to say, when 'November Rain' ~ Guns N' Roses comes on.. well, I'm a sure thing.

What about you guys?
Any favorite 'writing' tunes?
Any songs that will forever turn you on?

Please discuss.

 

[Boota]

I've tried to write with music on, but I can't do it. I think maybe that is because having been a musician and a producer for so long I hear music and just listen. I quit writing. I try again every once in a while and it just doesn't work for me.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

Well that sucks, lol. What a buzz kill.

I guess I'm the only one... *sigh*

 

[litfan10]

I have to have music playing when I write - the harder and upbeat the better. We're talking Dream Theater or Avenged Sevenfold for instance.

I was a gigging musician in the eighties during college so I have all sorts of very fond memories of songs from the good ole Rock God days. I was a spazz and loved dancing in the audience while playing when not singing. So much fun. <happy sigh>

I just picked up a bass to relive some of my youth with my guitarist son and I'm having a blast!

 

[_Lynn_]

Even when there is music on, I don't hear it when I'm writing. I tune everything out and focus on the words in my head.

However, if I'm thinking of ideas, or working on notes like for NaNo coming up, then I listen. I find a great deal of inspiration from lyrics by the images they put into my head.

 

[cloudy]

I use music a lot for inspiration. This story's been up awhile (and it's under my other posting name), but it was inspired pretty directly by this song.

 

[MatthewJudeBrown]

I'm not sure if I'm the only one here crazy enough to do this (though probably not) but various characters of mine have different preferences in music, and they're quite expressive about it.

 

[rengadeirishman]

i wrote my story for one of the halloween contests a while back based entirely upon Raspberry Beret.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

Yay! I'm not the only one, lol.

Very interesting people.
Hmm.. taking a song and writing a story about it intrigues me.
Maybe that can be a project soon.

Ironically enough, (once I started thinking about it) 'Rock Me Baby' came back into my head after reading a story here. I have no idea who wrote it, or what it was called, or what it was about anymore. If I remember correctly, the woman danced to it... hmm. It was a long time ago.

I'd also like to add... 'Pimp Juice' by Nelly makes me happy. Slow groove.. very easy to roll your hips to.

 

[Handley_Page]

Sorry Kitten, but I agree with Boota.
The only noise I want to hear is the happy sounds made by my keyboard and the cooling fans.

 

[ArchLady03]

It's 50-50 if there is music in the background while I write, but if it is playing, it absolutely has to match the mood I'm trying to convey. Recently I had Dylan's "Beyond Here Lies Nothin" playing on a loop in my head as I tried to finish this really raw, lusty piece.

 

[harding]

You are so right

Anyway, songs can seduce you- I swear

I agree completely.

But I think it might be the other way round ass well sometimes - you seduce the song.

If you are going through something at the time, those feelings and emotions get tied it with a particular song, and it will always take you back to that moment and those feelings again.

For instance, Going Back by Dusty Springfield gets me every single time. As do other songs around that time, but that's because I was going through a whole load of changes around then anyway.

 

[_Lynn_]

I've used lyrics themselves as inspiration many times, beginning with "El Paso" by Marty Robbins in June 2007 to "Eileen" by Keb' Mo' posted last month. Many times a single line will stick with me and turn up as a story.

 

[kimbalee]

I've used lyrics themselves as inspiration many times, beginning with "El Paso" by Marty Robbins in June 2007 to "Eileen" by Keb' Mo' posted last month. Many times a single line will stick with me and turn up as a story.[/QUOTE]

have to agree with that. same with me. it's surprising sometimes that such a small amount of words can trigger thousands more.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

I can't blast the music my any means.. I wouldn't accomplish anything, lol.
Depending on the story, where I am in it, and if we're being sexy or serious or
fun, etc, makes a difference in my playlist.

My story, Pain, was about a high school friend, mostly a true story, and the
song 'Bother' by Stone Sour was definate inspiration for that one.
He had been in a car accident- the driver walked without a scratch, the boy in
the backseat was killed, and this friend that the story is about was paralyzed from
the breastbone down. 'Bother' was his anthem, and he was bound and
determined to kill himself. One night I drove to his house in the middle of the night,
and he was so drunk, he could barely wheel himself around. He had a knife...
he kept in against the skin of his wrists and I just wanted to knock him out and
take it from him. Eventually, he laid his head down on his desk and cried, and
passed out. I took his knife and put it on a shelf way too high for him to reach.
He never thanked me for that.
Guess what song I had on repeat when I wrote that story?

EVen if I've zoned out and can't hear the music anymore, I know its there.
I'm multi-talented like that.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

Just remembered another one...
'The Jack' ~ AC DC

 

[meathead96]

I vote yes and no

I like music, and all types. Hip Hop, Classic Rock, Bluegrass, and sometimes country. I have heard lines in a song that gave me an idea for a story, or for a line in a story. But if I have music or tv on, I get distracted, and I have a hard time concentrating, and it seems as though it takes me twice as long to bang out a story (pardon the pun). It could be because I like to relax to music, and when I'm writing, I'm "in the moment" with my story.

 

[Remec]

What about you guys?
Any favorite 'writing' tunes?
Any songs that will forever turn you on?

Please discuss.

When I'm 'writing', it's usually whatever is playing on the television behind me since the computer is in the main family room. The exception is late at night on the weekends or if I manage to get some writing done while the kids are at school and then I usually have silence around me.

Such has not always been the case.

Back when I was single and the computer was situated in my room, I might have the radio playing--typically an FM station that was a good mix of classic and alternative styles of rock--or I might put on some of my albums (yes, I had an actual record player back then. Still have all the vinyl stored, hopefully, in a safe and proper manner. Great, now I have record paranoia.) But music tends to only really inspire my poetry in a direct fashion.

I know what you mean about moments being defined by songs. I would say that most of the songs I hear I couldn't place my first listen of, but if they have any really meaning to me I cannot help but be transported back to whatever feelings they prompted or bore witness to.

 

[CharleyH]

I don't know if everyone is like this, but songs stick in my memory.
No, I don't mean the lyrics and all that. Anyone can remember song lyrics.
For example, a song will come on, and I can pretty much say what grade I was in when it was popular,
or what I was doing when I heard that song for the first time. Am I weird? lol.
Anyway, songs can seduce you- I swear!
When I write I try and block disctractions, but I always have to have music going.
And it has to be fun and flirty, or slow and serious. Either way, it has to be sexy.
My favorite for writing?
'Rock Me Baby' ~ Otis Redding. (Second is 'These Arms of Mine.)

My boyfriend and I did some pretty innapropriate things in the car one night when we first started dating.
The radio was on the whole time, but I had blocked it out I guess, lol. But for some reason one song stands out.
Needless to say, when 'November Rain' ~ Guns N' Roses comes on.. well, I'm a sure thing.

What about you guys?
Any favorite 'writing' tunes?
Any songs that will forever turn you on?

Please discuss.

No, not odd at all! HUMAN! Most people remember songs, even if not in their era. 'Sweet child 'o Mine' reminds me of driving down the Ventura highway to West Hollywood and fucking some really forgettable lovers. Sinead O'Conner on the other hand? Wow, reminds me of the best lover I ever had. Never wanted him as a BF, just a really hot, River Phoenix look-alike fuck. Sad. He wanted me as a girlfriend, I just wasn't ready to be owned and owned you still were in 1989 ... as a chick. Best song? It's easy to remember the songs in 2003 when I met Lauren, but the songs that play now certify our evolving love and we'll remember those for decades to come.

 

[Handley_Page]

I don't know if everyone is like this, but songs stick in my memory.

What about you guys?
Any favorite 'writing' tunes?
Please discuss.

I prefer to write in silence, but some quiet classical music can help.

 

[EmeraldKitten]

Ooh, thanks guys, some new stuff.
I don't have long right now, I'm being way too lazy and not getting ready for work in a timely manner.

It's funny how songs can stick in your head. Usually when I'm writing, a song will pop into my head that fits the mood of the story, or feelings of the characters. Of course then, I have to search it out and listen to it.
I just made a couple new cds.. and I'm so excited to write to them! lol.

Okay, I gotta go for serious. I still don't have my face on.

Have a lovely day!

 

[Selena_Kitt]

I listen to a lot of Jason Mraz when I'm writing. He's flirty, sexy, fun, has a kickin' horn section and a drum beat, esp in his live stuff, that makes me want to take my clothes off.

My latest fav is Sean Hayes.