Happy Person vs. Happy Songwriter

It’s a near-universal truth that personal drama can spark a world of inspiration for a songwriter.  So what happens when your life is drama free? 

Can a happy person be a happy songwriter?

First of all . . . if you’re one of those lucky devils dealing with this drama-free conundrum, congratulations! 

For someone who usually writes from an autobiographical standpoint, this lovely period of stability may feel like it’s really hampering your ability to write the emotional and honest (and possibly heart-wrenching) songs you really want to write.

We’ve been there too.

But we truly believe that writing regularly is key to being a successful* songwriter.

Therefore, we’ve found ways to look outside of our own personal lives for inspiration and not depend on conflict and distress to fuel our creativity.

These tools and tricks that we’ve collected enable us to use our writing as a release & form of expression when life is tough, and still be happy and creative when life is peachy!

So to help you through this stiflingly happy time . . . 

Here are 5 drama-free places to find songwriting inspiration: 

1. Podcasts: It’s a medium that allows for some incredible story-telling and emotional depth. Listen to them on your commute and you’ll find yourself collecting tons of ideas for songs during otherwise unproductive time.

Some of our favorites are: The Moth, Invisibilia, Radiolab, Where Should We Begin with Esther Perel, Love + Radio, TED Radio Hour, This American Life & The Longest Shortest Time. 

2. Friends & Family: No, we’re not suggesting that you pry into your loved ones’ lives for your own personal gain. And we’re not talking about sharing intimate details that don’t belong to you.

But we are suggesting to keep your ears and hearts open to the people you love. Listen to them, empathize with them and put yourself in their shoes. When you know someone else intimately but are on the outside of their situation, you may be able to put their emotions into words even better than they could.

And, if you feel comfortable sharing with the people who inspired you, it may end up really helping them through a tough time!

3. Other Songs: No plagiarizing, of course! But there are always ways to take elements from other songs and use them as a launching pad for something new. It can be a lyric or phrase within that song that becomes your title, or you can write your spin on the same idea.

For instance: redo Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ and write a third person story song about someone’s rise to the top (or fall to the bottom!)

4. Google Images: We love this and have used it as an exercise in some of our workshops. Here’s the idea: just pick a subject, emotion, phrase, sentence, etc., and do a Google Image search to find something that evokes an emotion or story in your mind.

It’s a great idea to free write a bit with the picture up on your screen to help you get started. 

5. Study History: There are so many amazing stories to pull from the anals of history. Pick a topic or historical figure that interests you and do some research. Then write about it, either from their point of view, or more generally about the event itself.

If you can’t think of a historical event or person that interests you, check out https://www.history.com/news for inspiration. (P.S. A great example of how this can work is Sufjan Stevens’ album Come on Feel the Illinoise.)

And there you have it!

We hope that this little list gives you some new tools to get inspired when your life is happily drama free.  We would love to hear if any of these work for you! Comment below to let us know!

xo
Allie & Bess 

*success = enjoying the creative process, growing, and feeling inspired

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