I know it’s an odd way to start off my blog, and actually the header is a song quote from Tori Amos’ “Hey Jupiter” off her Boys for Pele cd. I plan on using song quotes for all my headers (at least for a while). Why you ask? For me I think music is one of the first things that I connected to the writing world when I was growing up. I always listened to music, and had the radio playing all the time. Music lyrics were the first form of poetry that I encountered. The stories that unfolded fascinated me, and sent my mind into spinning oceans and underground caverns. I saw worlds that didn’t exist in my suburban life. While neighbors were walking dogs and my parents were fighting I got caught up in the singer/songwriters of the late seventies and the dystopian steam-punkish worlds of the new wave artists of the early eighties.
This actually leads into one of the biggest debates with many writers – to have music playing while writing or not. Some people need complete silence and others need constant noise. I am of the smallest lot, not only do I need music playing, but I need music with lyrics. I get transported into some strange temporal vortex, and worlds start to form at the edge of my mind. It’s as if I’m in a zombie trance from a black and white horror flick. (Think along the lines of the 1943 flick I Walked With a Zombie). Words just start to flow, and time disappears, and eventually I snap out of it and stare at the screen. A poem or story sits staring back.
As of late, I’ve been in a creative funk, and haven’t had much come out. Then again I haven’t listened to much music lately. Hopefully I will get myself back on track and have submissions ready to go out soon.
How many of you out there listen to music with lyrics? Or is no one picking up the phone again?
