People often ask me where I get inspiration from. Well, there are many sources of inspiration. I have tried to share some of my thoughts on this subject in my blog. One source of inspiration I have not touched on yet is music. I would not say that I have been avoiding it but this most important of inspirers is difficult to pin down. I can honestly say that I am a true music lover and that includes all the music I can think of. I can (and do) listen to 1960s Tamla music and follow it up with Abba and Pink Floyd. After that, if my fancy takes me, I will go on to a Mahler symphony and follow this with a bit of Thomas Tallis and finish up with a song by Harry Styles or Pink. In other words, I will flit from one genre to another and this, perhaps, reflects what is going on in my head - that is, flitting from thought to thought and everything unstructured and unconnected.
Having said that, there is no question that sometimes, at the end of all this musical and mental wandering, I often come up with creative solutions to a problem that was bothering me in a book. On top of that, some music invites you to empathise with a singer or composer. This empathy can spill over into your fictional characters and help answer the question, "What would this person do in this situation?"
Similarly, good lyrics (and a good tune) reinforce the view that less is more by focusing in on a feeling/emotion and serving it up in simple words for the listener to feel. My Way by songwriter Paul Anka is a good example of this and so is If I Never Sing another Song by the Austrian singer/songwriter Udo Juergens. The simplicity of the lyrics have great power. Please note that there are no adjectives and few adverbs in sight! There is a pic of Udo below. Have a look at his lyrics and if you like them, listen to the song (sung by Matt Munro) by clicking the link.
In my heyday
Young men wrote to me
Everybody seemed to have time to devote to me
Everyone I saw all swore they knew me
Once upon a song
Main attraction, couldn't buy
a seat
The celebrity, celebrities were dying to meet
I've had every accolade bestowed on
me
And so you see
If I never sing another song
It wouldn't bother me
I had
my share of fame
You know my name
We can also associate music with events: I believe you read (or at least I sent you) the 'bagpipe' stories in the article I wrote for my Ottershaw Old Boys' magazine. Another is the time we sat with mother on the terrace at your former home in SS-land (SS=sausage + sauerkraut) listening to Thomas Tallis' "Spem in Alium" - three quintessentially English individuals listening to a quintessentially English piece - stirring, joyous, exultant at the time, magical, mysterious and moving in retrospect, especially if captured on screen or in print.
Posted by: Christopher Goddard | 12/14/2017 at 01:02 PM
I have been looking to continue this musical theme. Perhaps you have given me an idea
Posted by: robert John Goddard | 12/14/2017 at 03:14 PM