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&otHas anyone here read Napoleon Hill's Think and Grow Rich, and applied the concepts to songwriting? I've been reading it to get ideas to advance my music (and business) career, but I've found the practical application of the concepts to songwriting itself to be pretty awesome!I'll try and post more as they occur to me, but here's one......Napoleon talks about the method by which scientific inventors or "geniuses; complete inventions that have already achieved a modest start.1st - They stimulate their minds so that they vibrate on a higher-than-average plane (he describes 10 stimulants that can achieve this, which include: music, friendship, love, desire, even narcotics)2nd - They then concentrate upon the known factors (the finished part) of their invention, and create in their mind a perfect picture of unknown factors (the unfinished part), of their invention. They hold this picture in their mind until it has been taken over by the subconscious mind, then relax by clearing their mind of ALL thought, and wait for the answer to pop up or "flash" into their mind.Pretty cool!He talks a lot about how our greatest ideas don't come from our rational mind, but from our subconscious or a "superior intelligence," and talks about different ways of tapping into this...Here's another cool passage on this topic:One of America's most successful and best known financiers followed the habit of closing his eyes for two or three minutes before making a decision.When asked why he did this, he replied, "With my eyes closed, I am able to draw upon a source of superior intelligence."Next time I'm struggling to find that perfect line, I'm going to try closing my eyes for two or three minutes! Anyway, I'm posting this partly so I'll remember for myself, but hopefully someone else finds this helpful too.Peace!Elliott

Insightful. Thanks for sharing.

Very Kool!

I'm in too.

I'm gonna try this too. Thanks for sharing!

I posted this before I had tried to apply it. It just sounded like a cool idea. But now I've been using these ideas in my writing, and it's been schweeeet. Here's how I've been applying this (and it's really been helping):When I get to a point where I'm stuck, I take what I've written so far, and then I stop, put my guitar down, and I close my eyes and just kind of meditate on the words. Sing them to myself. I let a vision unfold in my head of all the lyrics I've written so far. I can see a picture based on the story I've written so far with my lyrics. Here's an example from this morning. (just a rough lyric, but an example of how I've used this).... And I'm no expert, but this helped me. Maybe it can help someone else too. Anyway, I had this chorus:(copyright Elliott Lemberger, 2007)I've come a long wayTo wind up here againThe best part of goodbyeIs saying hello againI've come a long wayxxxThe best part of goodbyeIs saying hello againThe xxx was the lyric that I couldn't come up with. So I just closed my eyes and visualized a scene in my head based on the lyrics I had so far. I saw the journey, the being here again, then I got this image of the proverbial "me" hoping she'd take me back in. So then based on that image, I came up with this for the second half:I've come a long wayTo hope you'd let me inThe best part of goodbyeIs saying hello againI've noticed with really powerful lyrics (Amos Lee's Colors comes to mind), they often paint strong pictures. There's almost a stage, and scenes that unfold as the lyric moves forward. But I've never known how to access this before, or "figure out" which scene comes next. Now I've realized that if you can bring the song to life in your head, and visualize it, and sit with that vision for a while instead of trying to force the missing part, the next part, scene, etc... may just come in a blinding flash of inspiration! HTH!Elliott

Hey, backpacker.gotta say this is VERY interesting and great timing. Been banging my head over a couple of different sets of lyrics, so this will be worth a try. Even if I don't come up with ideas, my headaches will stop. Ted

Quote:Been banging my head over a couple of different sets of lyrics, so this will be worth a try. Even if I don't come up with ideas, my headaches will stop. TedWell, and the money you save on aspirin should cover a few future TAXI submissions!

Very interesting thread! I'm not sure how many out there have read Bob Dylan's Chronicles, his autobiography, but in it he talks about how its easier to write lyrics when you're moving. At first I laughed out loud, but then I realized that I do write much more freely on a train, or even driving in the car!Needless to say this was a great and a horrible thing to realize, and led to many nights of driving around aimlessly when I felt lyrically constipated, until I would start scribbling ideas furiously while continuing to drive.So I don't recommend that part But I found the moving thing fascinating and applicable! Maybe it has something to do with the way that car rides put babies to sleep... who knows?

Another version of this practice is from a book I read as a teenager where the author discussed how the subconsciouses mind, which is much more powerful, can help to solve problems. He said that relaxing for 10 to 20 minutes, allowing yourself to "almost" fall asleep while thinking about the problem would let the super intelligence of the subconsciouses work on the problem. After reading your post I am convinced this is possible. The reason I think it can help us composers is I have had it accidentally help me "write" a melody. One day while sleeping, I had this dream,(if I remember correctly, dreams happen in the "light" phase of a sleeping period) where I was hearing this great song on the radio. As I started to wake up I realized the song was something I had never heard before and I had "composed" it in my dream. I immediately got up and grabbed my hand held recorder and started singing the song into it. All I had was a chorus but it was so catchy that I can still remember it at anytime now. I am now working on bringing that dream to life in my DAW. So when you get stuck on some music take a little relaxation time and let your mind think about what your doing but most importantly RELAX! Open that 98% of the mind that we do not use and see what happens. I will let you know when I have my dream song finished. P.S. This is now the second time I have heard music in my dreams and it is some of the best starting points I have had.