Songs as Inspiration?

[Karenas]

I was thinking of doing some stories based on songs I like. The songs are pretty obscure, though. Anyone have any suggestions or guidance on the following?
TIA!

1. Using the song title as the story title?
2. Quoting the song lyrics, in part or whole?
3. Putting the lyrics all together at the beginning? the end? or spaced throughout the story?

 

[PennLady]

There actually are copyright issues and such on using song lyrics in stories, unless of course you get permission. I doubt that would really come into play on this site, though.

How you want to use the song is up to you. I've written several stories inspired by songs (Silver, Blue & Gold; Facing the Past; Who Cares What I Wear?; Horses in the City). For a couple I used the song title as the story title. That fit best and titles aren't copyrighted. SB&G and Horses are song titles; FtP is just what I decided to call the story; Who Cares... was a partial lyric from the song "New Year's Eve."

I have never used the lyrics as lyrics in the story, although I have worked phrases into my stories with the lyrics, or parts of the lyrics. Usually I put a note at the end, saying "this story was inspired by [this song] by [this group]." I'm not actually concerned with whether readers are familiar with the songs; if they want, they can go look it up.

Now, plenty of other writers (DGHear, JakeRivers, MugsyB) have written stories that use the lyrics and rely on the songs in other ways -- to set the mood, to reflect the characters' feelings, etc. Nothing wrong with that, either.

 

[Karenas]

"Usually I put a note at the end, saying "this story was inspired by [this song] by [this group]." I'm not actually concerned with whether readers are familiar with the songs; if they want, they can go look it up. "

Thank you, PennLady. I think I might like this way of doing it.

 

[HankDolworth]

"Usually I put a note at the end, saying "this story was inspired by [this song] by [this group]." I'm not actually concerned with whether readers are familiar with the songs; if they want, they can go look it up. "

Thank you, PennLady. I think I might like this way of doing it.

There is also the concept of Fair Use (Wikipedia probably has a decent write up on that)

You can't use the whole song lyrics, but you can take a verse, and riff off it.

 

[PennLady]

Here's a page I found on fair use, but you should verify anything that you question or that you think applies to you.

http://www.writing-world.com/rights/fair.shtml

 

[Boxlicker101]

There are chain stories here using song lyrics as you suggest. The name of the chain is "Lustful Lyrics," and there are several examples there.

ETA: Here is a link, if anybody is interested. Lustful Lyrics - last chapter posted 9/30/11

 

[DeeZire]

A woman who has orgasms triggered by low frequency sound waves - specifically, Barry White songs. She doesn't realize it till she goes to a Barry White concert on a first date...

 

[Carnevil9]

I've been known to use song titles as story titles, but rarely do the stories have much to do with the song, except maybe thematically. For instance, my series called "Midnight Confessions" is about a cheating wife confessing her affairs to her husband, rather than a man confessing his love for someone else's wife that he knows he'll never have.

 

[nicecthulhu]

I felt free to have the heroine quote some lines from The Trees (Rush) and Fifty-Mission Cap (The Tragically Hip) in The Goblin Queen. The story started out as an examination of the main theme of the Rush album Hemispheres and then it merged with the fairy tale Beauty and the Beast, and then I don't know what happened!
I don't think anyone's going to get too upset about four lines of their song being sung by a protagonist in a free erotic story. If they ever read it!
I may have to remove those lines if I sell the story...
I like the music both bands have produced. If I was told not to use their lyrics I would remove the words from my story.
Quoting all the lyrics from a song seems a little...unimaginative.

 

[RunningJib]

Always helpful to hear

Always puts me in a good mood

Gnossienne No.1 as played by Jacques Loussier

 

[PayDay]

I was thinking of doing some stories based on songs I like. The songs are pretty obscure, though. Anyone have any suggestions or guidance on the following?
TIA!

1. Using the song title as the story title?
2. Quoting the song lyrics, in part or whole?
3. Putting the lyrics all together at the beginning? the end? or spaced throughout the story?

1. I have seen songs at story titles, one of the first 'First Time' Monthly Contest winners is a song from The Band.

2. I did this once with an Arlo Song, it fit very well. I've always thought that certain lyrics are great one liners, and fit many situations, and add that extra bit for the informed reader. Since that tine, with no fall-out, I have since reference many band names, and albums.

Music helps to locate a reader emotionally to a situation, just know that everyone hears it differently.

Plus, maybe you can learn the reader, maybe they'll listen to something you mentioned.

3. A quote is a quote is a quote as long as it's quoted.

 

[desertslave]

My story Feeling of Fallin' is loosely based on the Bonnie Raitt song by the same name. I'm a fan of hers, and that song has told me the story many times. I finally gave in and wrote it down. I state that I was inspired by the song right at the beginning.

 

[YDB95]

I've been known to borrow song titles for my stories (two of them so far), though neither story has much of anything to do with the respective songs; the titles just fit. My latest series, "Decades," does feature music as a fairly important subplot, but again the songs are just a catalyst to certain plot twists rather than a direct inspiration. I have quoted songs at the beginning of some of my stories without getting in any trouble; but of course I would delete the quotes if the stories were ever actually published. And yes, there are a few songs on which I've been meaning to write stories based directly on the songs, but that hasn't happened yet.

1. I have seen songs at story titles, one of the first 'First Time' Monthly Contest winners is a song from The Band.

Did Lonesome Suzie finally get lucky?

 

[Hotcappucino]

I always thought it would be neat to write a story based on a song. Not to use the lyrics of the song in the story, but to model the plot along the "storyline" presented in the song. One song that seems perfect to me for a fleshed-out story is Duncan by Paul Simon.

 

[LaRascasse]

For me personally, it's not so much a song as a soothing instrumental piece which sets the mood for writing. Yanni and Vangelis are the best.

Can anyone relate?

 

[YDB95]

It depends on how immersed I am in writing. If I'm struggling, then listening to lyrics is going to be distracting and I'll put on some jazz or classical. If I'm in the groove, anything goes.

 

[PennLady]

I always thought it would be neat to write a story based on a song. Not to use the lyrics of the song in the story, but to model the plot along the "storyline" presented in the song. One song that seems perfect to me for a fleshed-out story is Duncan by Paul Simon.

That's what happens to me -- I hear a song and picture a story from the lyrics. It may not be the same story someone else would picture, but it works. I think I did this most specifically with two stories, Horses in the City and Who Cares What I Wear? The latter is inspired by a song called "New Year's Eve."

In case anyone would like to compare:

Horses In the City
Lyrics
Story

Who Cares...
Lyrics
Story

For me personally, it's not so much a song as a soothing instrumental piece which sets the mood for writing. Yanni and Vangelis are the best.

Can anyone relate?

I can, but it's a different thing to me. There are songs that inspire stories for me as above, but writing while listening to music is a different thing. I have various instrumental stuff that tends to be good background music for writing.

 

[Karenas]

Thanks for all the help, suggestions, and links! Now I've got a lot of reading to do!