do you write from intellect, or emotion?

[myredshoes]

I mean, do you usually sit down and say, "I'm going to write a song about (whatever)"

and think about that for a while?

The reason I ask, I believe I usually begin writing from feeling rather than thought. This may be influenced by usually writing when I first awake, but it's just very unusual for me to decide to write a song about a particular subject, study or meditate on the subject, then begin writing. I can't remember ever actually doing that.

Frequently I just hear simple music in my head and write words to go with it.

[3red]

unless they scrawl on the wall with crayons or dictate to a medium, everybody writes from intellect

[Heckxx]

For me, its really a combination of both. My songs usually start out as emotive/feeling, as I just hear a few key phrases or ideas in my head that seem to be powerful. But then I can sort of reason out how I can meld that phrase into something interesting. And often, I use intellect for things like...structure, rhyming sequences, or vocabulary.

[myredshoes]

Well, maybe I asked the wrong question.

 

example:

 

a lyric like chicken heads 'n' feet is the result of thinking about something someone else said, and writing a song because I thought the phrase was too good to let pass. So I had to make up a story around the phrase, decide what the story would be about, all that. Mostly written in the evening. Lots of crossing out, arrows pointing in various directions, rewriting, etc. Put some thought into it but not much else.

 

a lyric like incubass is just an emotional unloading, a release and expression of frustration. Not a lot of thought about how I should go about that, just did it. First thing in the morning. Gave it everything I had at the time. Changed maybe two/three words and a phrase later.

 

I like both of these but prefer the latter.

 

I was wondering if others had similar experiences of spontaneous vs. crafted output or tended to lean strongly in one direction or the other.

[myredshoes]

 

For me, its really a combination of both. My songs usually start out as emotive/feeling, as I just hear a few key phrases or ideas in my head that seem to be powerful. But then I can sort of reason out how I can meld that phrase into something interesting. And often, I use intellect for things like...structure, rhyming sequences, or vocabulary.

 

 

Thanks. That's kind of what I'm talking about.

[rsadasiv]

Mostly intellectual, although I try to put my intellect in the service of conveying emotion.

[blue2blue]

I'd say that when I'm really writing, it's a process dominated by the intuitive/emotional side. But when the intuition runs out, the intellect is called on to fill in the gaps and refine and edit.

 

I can sort of write by intellect but it's typically a somewhat empty process and the resulting songs often lack the emotional spark for me to connect with them. With regard to others, that seems to vary... sometimes folks find a song in your words and music that you didn't really feel, yourself... I guess.

[myredshoes]

 

I'd say that when I'm really writing, it's a process dominated by the intuitive/emotional side. But when the intuition runs out, the intellect is called on to fill in the gaps and refine and edit. I can sort of write by intellect but it's typically a somewhat empty process and the resulting songs often lack the emotional spark for me to connect with them. With regard to others, that seems to vary... sometimes folks find a song in your words and music that you didn't really feel, yourself... I guess.

 

 

When I started the thread I was thinking about being back in school; we had large painting classes with 12-18 students and we would critique each other's work as a group. We were BFA program students and not particularly intellectual.

Often people would see things in paintings that the artist did not intend to reveal about their self. Sometimes observers described things that only they could see. Occasionally they refused to see or feel anything.

[slight-return]

I kind of see the two processes as intimately linked

 

that's the weird part about being married to a neuroscientist (and the weirdest doodler on the planet) -- she's really hipped me to how much the brain is actually doing, even though we don't reaize it. I don't think we, as individuals, are particularly good judges of how we think

 

interestingly, there is some evidence that the corpus callosum is somewhat larger in a musician than in gen pop

[rsadasiv]

 

Often people would see things in paintings that the artist did not intend to reveal about their self. Sometimes observers described things that only they could see. Occasionally they refused to see or feel anything.

 

 

s/paintings/songs == Songwriting_Forum;

[myredshoes]

I kind of see the two processes as intimately linked that's the weird part about being married to a neuroscientist (and the weirdest doodler on the planet) -- she's really hipped me to how much the brain is actually doing, even though we don't reaize it. I don't think we, as individuals, are particularly good judges of how we think interestingly, there is some evidence that the corpus callosum is somewhat larger in a musician than in gen pop

 

Intimately linked, yes, or we are just drooling, if that, and not writing at all.

I think of some writing as an emotional experience, some an intellectual exercise. Both certainly the product of brain process but experienced very differently.

Maybe your wife knows how this works?

 

Probably lots of wierd parts to being married to a neuroscientist. I'm imagining the top of the coffee table...

[myredshoes]

s/paintings/songs == Songwriting_Forum;

 

I think so.

[Stackabones]

 

I mean, do you usually sit down and say, "I'm going to write a song about (whatever)"

 

 

Whatever

[myredshoes]

Whatever

 

That's not exactly one or the other...

[rsadasiv]

 

I mean, do you usually sit down and say, "I'm going to write a song about (whatever)"

 

 

Songwriting Challenge 6 - This Song Is About

[myredshoes]

Exzctly. Write the damn song; figure out later what it's about.

 

If you can't figure it out, post it the internets.

Let other people figure it out for you.

 

What I thought.

 

 

[rsadasiv]

Exzctly. Write the damn song; figure out later what it's about. If you can't figure it out, post it the internets. Let other people figure it out for you. What I thought.

 

Actually, what I was trying to get at was that often what the artist thinks the song is about is not what the audience thinks the song is about, but the execution of the experiment was flawed.

[myredshoes]

Shoot. Thought I was on to something.

[rsadasiv]

Sometimes what you are trying to say isn't what people hear....

[MDR]

 

Sometimes what you are trying to say isn't what people hear....

 

 

Yes, I've found myself in that position. When it happens, I know that it's rewrite time.

[myredshoes]

 

Sometimes what you are trying to say isn't what people hear....

 

 

yes

[myredshoes]

Cool experiment, though.

 

Thanks for the link; I hadn't seen it before.

[blue2blue]

Actually, what I was trying to get at was that often what the artist thinks the song is about is not what the audience thinks the song is about, but the execution of the experiment was flawed.

 

Art: is its proper role communication or stimulation of (some/any) response -- or both or neither or some mashup thereof?

[rsadasiv]

Honestly, I think stimulation is overrated. I remember going to a show of paintings by On Kawara. His paintings consist of a date in black lettering on a white background, maybe 6" high by 18" wide. The concept is kind of cool (the meaning of each piece is different for every viewer, the construction of meaning around the piece brings in interesting ideas about time, place, and change, it works with the "high concept" art opening crowd), and it clearly scores high on the stimulation rating.

 

But ultimately, I don't respect On Kawara as an artist. His constructions don't add anything to the debate - any juice that exists has to be brought by the viewer - and that seems a little one sided to me. I mean I might as well sit at home, drinking cheap jug wine, staring at tv static and thinking about the past - there's less jostling, no hassles with traffic or parking - what's not to like?

[myredshoes]

Attempt at communication which creates stimulation instead.