A Songwriter's Guide to Lyrical Laziness

It is the curse of being fifty something — aka being a member of the baby-boomer bunch. On my fiftieth birthday I woke up with the flabs. I ran, or rather elephant-walked, to the nearest gym seeking help. My trainer forced my body onto torturous machines of all types. To avoid boredom, she encouraged me to use a variety of the wonder-muscle making machines. However, I wanted to base my selection on which machines I could wrap my flab around without looking like a circus elephant on a tiny stool. I wanted to do what I knew would be comfortable. Forget variety!

While working on a never-ending lyric, I was stuck in the comfort of my own lyrical laziness. My songwriting coach, Mark Cawley, suggested “talking it out.” That felt like mounting my overweight lyrics on a circus stool. Talking it out? Was he suggesting I try writing without a pen in hand? Finally I relented and decided to try his new idea. To put some variety into my lyrical laziness -- I tried talking it out. 

WOW, it worked! Variety had broken my boredom of lyrical laziness.

How about you?  How do you break your lyrical laziness? My boredom needs your added stimulation!

Photo Credit: andrewinraleigh