Many people ask me how I begin writing a song; whether I come up with a melody first and then think up words to go with it, or if I write the words first and then the melody, or if it all comes together at the same time. For me, it is all of the above. Sometimes a phrase or a thought will “shout out” to me in a way that I feel moved upon to do something with it. Other times I will have a melody in mind that simply won’t go away unless/until I do something with it. Often, the melodies are accompanied by at least a few words that help spark the melody. I love the more rare moments when it all comes at once. Those are the easiest songs to write.
When I think of a melody and can’t get it out of my mind I refer to it as a “haunting”, for lack of a better term. Song hauntings can be very distracting and when they occur I will often have a very difficult time focusing on anything else going on in my life until I sit down and actually do something with that tune. One of the most unusual examples of this is when I dreamed about a song and woke up singing it, complete with the words and melody. That song haunted me for an entire week, day and night and during my sleep, until I finally stopped and did something with it. By the time I finally put it down on paper I was nearly sick of the song. Nearly! I had to take a break from it for a few months before I could pick it up and make the final edits on it. That was an interesting experience.
I hate it when I forget a good song that briefly goes through my mind and I think it might have potential. If I’m in the middle of something important or just too busy when a song hits me and I don’t stop and jot down at least a few notes and/or words right then, I often find myself forgetting the song. I wonder how many missed opportunities I have had because I didn’t act on a song when I should have. For this reason, I try to keep a pen and paper handy all the time, just in case an opportunity arises.
One thing’s for certain, not one of my songs is ever completed without a good dose of prayer. Prayer is definitely my “secret ingredient”. I find that praying frequently brings about inspiration, and if I am in the middle of working on a song, making sure I understand the inspiration I am receiving is crucial. So there is a lot of prayer taking place before, during, and after writing a song. Prayer definitely results in wonderful opportunities for inspiration. In fact, I’m certain I couldn’t compose a thing without it. As a result, I struggle with taking credit for any of the songs I’ve written, or receiving recognition for them, and it is why I like to submit music to the LDS church. It’s not really my inspiration that is writing them, after all. I’m just the instrument putting them onto paper. The inspiration for the music belongs to God. When I pray for inspiration I am enlightened. I firmly believe that any of the songs I’ve written could have been given to someone else. Maybe I happened to be the one praying for inspiration at just the right moment. If I hadn’t prayed, perhaps someone else would have done so and as a result would have received that particular song instead of me. I definitely believe prayer is the key. So if you want to write a song, the best advice I can give you is to pray!
Preparing myself to be able to write a song and receive inspiration is also important. If I am getting pieces of a song running through my mind I will often go into a “zone”, where I tune out things that are distracting to me. Basically, it means keeping the radio and television turned off and possibly going into a quiet room in the house, or even staying up late when everyone else is asleep and the phones aren’t ringing, etc., or getting up in the early morning hours. I will also pull out scriptures or inspirational books or talks to read, especially if I know the topic of the song. I like to study the topic in detail so I can be prepared to complete the lyrics with a full knowledge and understanding of that subject. When I am well-versed on a topic, the lyrics come much easier and are more meaningful and the melodies flow much more readily and smoother. I think combining all of these elements, mixed with lots of prayer, helps me in preparation for writing a song, especially as it pertains to being able to receive inspiration for a song.
A song will not write itself, meaning I have to actualy sit down and put it on paper, or in my case, onto a computer (so it can be printed on paper). Either way, it takes time and effort and I have to allow for that time and even make the time to do it. A simple one-page song can take hours, even days, of work. Therefore, when I have a song in mind that needs to be put on paper I find that I really have to organize my time more efficiently to allow time to write it. I often wish I had a USB port in my brain so I could just plug in a flash drive, upload the song I am thinking of, and ta-dah! Instant song! Wouldn't that be wonderful? Well, until someone invents that for me I will continue to spend hours in front of the computer inputting notes and rests, etc. and making sure everything looks good on paper. This can be tedious at times, but in the end I often look back at a finished product and have joy in the realization that I was successful in accomplishing the task.
Lastly, I wouldn't be writing songs if I didn't enjoy doing so. This has been a fun adventure for me so far. Each time I sit down to write a song I marvel at how many different ways a song could potentially be written, or how many different tunes can be sung using the same sentence. There are endless possibilities, which means there are still billions of songs yet to be written. I love it!
So there it is, in a nutshell. That’s pretty much how I write a song.
Marlene D. Bartlett
