Many of the great songwriters
Richards, Dylan, McCartney etc talk about songs appearing out of nowhere, as if from another world. The songs, they say, do not belong to them but are simply channeled through their minds. Don't ask them where the songs come from because they do not know.
I believe this. It is the closest I get to believing in God.
The question is though, where, if anywhere, do the songs come from? Thoughts?
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Well the is this little process where you brain suddenly links things together into a logical pattern
known as the eurika moment where it strings together patterns and knowledge to allow the person to create something new based on existing ideas.
so the songs do not belong to the writer
but instead belong to a sort of collective consiousness of shared knowledge and ideas. Therefore, McCartneys yesterday for example, which came to him in a dream, could be said to be not his expression, but instead, an expression belonging to us all, simply being channeled thorough him?
Well in a way, yes
but it's from his personal experiences, knowledge and his brain connected the dot's in it's own unique way to make something new.
So, yes, yes it's his own expression as it's a song constructed entirely from his history and life experience.
If this is so then I want my royalty cheque.
Not sure how that works, what with the millions upon millions of pounds in their bank accounts...
http://www.ted.com/talks/elizabeth_gilbert_on_genius.html
This is such a good talk on the nature of creativity, talks a lot about the idea of a genius being a mouthpiece for inspiration rather than the sole source of it.
On Neil Young's archive live rec from Canterbury House / Sugar Mountain
He opens Mr Soul, by saying something similar, that all songwriting is being a radio tuning into the station and the song just comes through fully formed.
he was just confused
that was an actual radio, playing satisfaction
Strong
Bollocks
Funny thing
When I was brushing my teeth before bed at 2am on Friday/sat I channelled a song
it came from nowhere but arrived entirely in my head - groove, riff, lyrics
the difference between me & Macca though (or one of them) is that I wasn't sat in Abbey Rd at the time with George Martin hovering over the console ready to to capture my genius on 2" tape
I had to make do with typing the lyrics into my phone while attempting to keep my eyes open and hoping that I'd remember the groove & riff when I woke up
I want to hear it when it's done.
it's VERY nearly done
https://soundcloud.com/body-in-the-thames/disconnected
For real this is great!
cheers
yeah, I'm pretty pleased with it for a toothbrushing session
just need to sort out that end section really
strange that all those lyrics just came from nowhere, some of the best lyrics I've written I think
The last 90 seconds is my favorite part.
:)
still could be improved though
I think I've fixed it now
and I changed the link and title
https://soundcloud.com/body-in-the-thames/disconnectyourself
yeah
pretty pleased with this
actually
fuck that - I brought the wrong version back from the studio
arsehole that I am
really like that!
ta
Woah
Seriously cool. Sounds like Krarftvark/Bowie style LCD Soundsystem - minimal, sleek machine music. Except when it's not minimal and all wooshy.
Exxxcellent.
cheers man
thank for the Sc comment too
I really like that! :)
thanks
finally fixed it now and uploaded proper version
https://soundcloud.com/body-in-the-thames/disconnectyourself
proper synths
proper analogue delays
I thought I experienced it
when I had a love at first sight moment and went home picked up the guitar and a song poured out of me. Then someone informed me it was Morning Glory by Tim Buckley.
hate it when that happens
at any one point in time...
...we are the sum of our life experiences and hence the roots of all output thereon can ultimately be tracked back through our past. so what 'yesiamaduck' said, but for robots.
When they say that I just think 'you lucky bastard'
Somewhere proper.
I once wrote a song as a result of a dream where I was having a rap battle with Anwar from the first series of Skins
That was a pretty odd moment, looking back. Do really like the beat I wrote for it though, and maintain it would be decent if it wasn't me attempting to rap over it.
On a less successful note, I've got a recording somewhere of me trying to hum a violin quartet - I heard this amazing string part while I was drifting off to sleep, managed to wake myself up, grab my tape recorder and ... yeah, it sounds godawful :(
yawn
I gotta yawn to keep from laughing
I`m sure I`ve had melodies/tunes come from dreams. I start subconsciously humming stuff or whatever, but then it just vanishes never to be remembered. It`s all so hazy and over before you know it. Weird. I also remember being in a chippy in dreamland and hearing this mindblowing futuristic Electronic music. Need to find that chippy again.
Drugs
The biggest influence on popular music in the past 60-odd years. Using Richards, Dylan, and McCartney as examples illustrates the point
I used to get frustrated when I got a musical idea on the bus,
or some other situation where I had no immediate means of capturing it. Now I just let it slide. Personally I don't find that the ideas that come to me spontaneously are any better than the ones that come to me when I'm working on instruments.