Recently some friends and fellow songwriters have asked me about my process when it comes to writing songs. Songwriting, songwriting. They’ve been amazed by how prolific I am. Honestly, I don’t write that many songs when you compare my output to that of a Nashville songwriter. I write at least two songs a week, often more, while many Nashville songwriters are able to write two songs a day. Granted, they don’t spend as much time producing the songs that they write.
Then, when I tell people my songwriting secret to opening up my creativity they often don’t believe me. So, I thought I’d explain it to you all. The key to writing more songs is to write songs about other people. I know it sounds crazy, but just bare with me.
Why do you write songs about other people?
So, I only have one life. The amount of experiences I have is pretty limited. For example, if I want to write a love song, I have a short list of women with whom I have had romantic involvement. I’m no Taylor Swift with a list of past lovers long enough to fill a phone book of a small town. My list is more similar in length to the grocery list of a college student who didn’t pay attention to the food that his parents used to buy. So, in order to write songs about all these different experiences of love, I have to listen to the stories of other people. The same goes for songs about overcoming struggle. I’ve lead a pretty fortunate and blessed life. So, I have to talk to other people in order to understand real struggle.
The rapper Logic is a good example of someone who experienced greater success as he reached outside of himself. His biggest song, “1-800-273-8255” is about a person facing suicidal thoughts. Logic has admitted to never having these thoughts. He just listened to stories from fans and wrote about their experiences. That is great songwriting. If he only wrote about his own experiences we’d just get lots of raps about being biracial, growing up in a bad situation and having anxiety. All those subjects are interesting, but they can get boring fast. His latest attempt to write personal lyrics may be why Logic’s latest album, “Confessions of A Dangerous Mind” has been widely panned as uninteresting.
How do you write songs about other people?
So, here’s how I break it down. First, I listen to people. People have interesting life experiences, but if we don’t listen to each other we don’t learn about their stories or what makes them interesting. This often involves asking questions to hear details. Second, I try to identify what about their story is universally relatable. This is normally the part of their story to which I relate. Finally, I write their story and find the melody that expresses the emotion.
What’s an example of this songwriting in your music?
Okay, so I don’t want to expose any of my friends or family members about whom I’ve written. So, I’m going to breakdown my song “Journeying Through The Great Unknown“, a song inspired by the book, “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac. The book focuses on Jack Kerouac’s adventures traveling across America. Throughout a majority of his journeys, Jack is accompanied by his friend Neal Cassady.
While writing this song, I tried to put myself in Jack’s shoes. His experiences of journeying across America reminded me of the road trips and adventures that I’ve had with my brother, Ryan, and my friend, Dariel. When I travel, I love the thrill of discovery. I love to see beautiful landscapes and meet interesting people.
Once I had the story and the feeling I matched that to melody and lyrics. I focused on replicating that feeling of exploring new land in the rhythms. I tried to convey the whimsy of adventure in the vocal melody. And, I tried to replicate the feel of driving across the country in the drums and guitar rhythm. Then voila, I had finished a catchy song to which people could relate.
For those experiencing writer’s block, try out my method. It will help you write more songs and relate to a larger audience.
Enjoy!
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