Do you listen to music while you write? Not everyone can. It’s only been recently that I started playing music while I write. Now I can’t start my work day without it. I have very specific music I listen to, which I will share later and the reasons for my choices.
I want to start by sharing a few quotes from the movie Eddie and the Cruisers. If you aren’t familiar with the movie—Eddie Wilson wants to be remembered for great music and songs that mean something. The band meets a college guy majoring in English and Literature—he becomes the lyricist for the band. Eddie calls him Wordman.
What I want is songs that echo. The stuff we’re doing now is like somebody’s bedsheets; spread ‘em out, soil ‘em, ship ‘em out to laundry, you know? But our songs…I want us to be able to fold ourselves up in them forever…understand? That’s the most you’ll ever get out of me Wordman. Ever.
Wordman, we need each other.
Words and music, man- they need each other.
Words and music.
As writers, we want our words to mean something and be remembered. Music can inspire this. My husband is a musician who is deeply passionate about music. He can play thousands of great songs, but he can’t recite any of the lyrics unless they were written by certain people—one of which is on the list I’ll share later. He’s more moved by the complexity of the music itself. I, on the other hand, am more moved by the lyrics—of course, I’m a writer. In fact, I’m just learning how to hear the music and ignore the vocals; it’s not an easy task.
One of my favorite pieces of writing is one I wrote about Bruce Springsteen. It’s not a great work of art or anything, but I was “in the moment” and it’s very close to my heart. I wanted to quote some of it here, but discovered I’d probably end up quoting the whole thing. If you want to read it in its entirety, you can find it at Growing Up With Bruce Springsteen: Baby We Were Born to Run.
I used phrases such as:
- “Bruce reaches down into the depths of your soul and leaves you with your emotions pounding in your chest and your heart on your sleeve. Bruce Springsteen touches the darkest recesses of the listener’s soul, the side they never let anyone get a glimpse of. Yet Bruce has a way to reach past that empty space they feel within.”
- “Bruce Springsteen is one of those few artists that touch on real life with vivid surrealism. No matter what you’re going through in your own inner hell, Bruce is there to serenade you through it, assuring you that others feel just as deeply as you do.”
- “Music has been the chosen outlet for Bruce but had he chosen to showcase his work in the literary field, he would be one of the great writers. He is a word master who has the knack to bring those words to life through his music.”
One of Kevin’s favorite lyricists is Ronnie James Dio. If you listen to anything he’s written, you know he’s a storyteller as well. Another musician in that category is Steve Harris of Iron Maiden, who writes a lot of medieval type tales.
If I need to write vivid scenes I enjoy listening to the words and music these guys have put together. Poetic stories told with captivating music are not only inspiring but magical in many ways.
It’s not always easy to transition yourself to work with music playing in the background—but it’s definitely worth giving it a try a few times. Who knows, you may just write the next literary masterpiece.
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