Songwriting Sessions: There's Always Something to Write About

One reason some songwriters get stuck when it comes to writing is that they feel they have nothing to write about. This is total and utter malarky. Baloney. Nonsense! There is always something to write about.

Need some proof? Coldplay had a hit with a song called "Yellow". The lyrics? See for yourself:

Look at the stars
Look how they shine for you
And all the things you do
Yeah you were all yellow
I came along
I wrote a song for you
And all the things you do
And it was called "Yellow"

When Coldplay didn't know what to write about, they wrote about - wait for it - writing about a song called "Yellow". They wrote about the song "Yellow" in the song "Yellow".

Now don't tell me there's nothing to write about. You can write about another colour if you like. Aerosmith wrote about the colour pink. Kermit the Frog sang about "bein' green". I'm sure there are plenty of songs about being blue (I'm pretty sure there's a whole genre dedicated to the subject).

I'm being somewhat silly here. You don't have to write about colours. You can write about anything:

Neil Young and the Beach Boys wrote about cars ("Long May You Run", "Fun, Fun, Fun", etc.)
Queen wrote a song about riding bicycles.

There have been songs about animals, cars, love, other songs, other people, war, peace, violence, drugs, food, bicycles, guitars, piano men, yellow brick roads, etc...

There is always something to write about. If you're serious about writing, just write about anything. If you don't like what you're writing about, ask yourself why and use that to write another song. Keep doing this over and over until you're really passionate about what you're writing.

And keep writing! Always keep writing.