Songs about/mentioning how the artist goes about writing songs

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

And you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
I hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you're in the world

I sat on the roof and kicked off the moss
Well a few of the verses well they've got me quite cross
But the sun's been quite kind while I wrote this song
It's for people like you that keep it turned on

Just want to be myself
But it all sounds like someone else
Everytime i play
Here comes that musical cliche
And it gets from bad to worse
Round the time of the second verse
Heres a great song i wrote
So good it doesn't rhyme

Want be like Robert Forster and rock and roll from heaven
But the songs i write in the middle of the night make me sound like Grant
McLennan
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Paul Mcartney Ringo Starr
George Harrison and John Lennon
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Don't wanna be

And the song has slowed down a pace
Got this pained expression on my face
Easy come easy go
Cos i want you to know
That i didn't know someone could be so lonesome
Didn't know a person could give off so much emotion

Want to be like Robert Forster and rock and roll from heaven
But the songs i write in the middle of the night make me sound like Grant
McLennan
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Paul Mcartney Ringo Starr
George Harrison and John Lennon
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Don't wanna be Grant McLennan
Don't wanna be

I sit back with this pack of Zig-Zags and this bag
Of this weed it gives me the shit needed to be
The most meanest MC on this Earth and since birth
I've cursed with this curse to just curse and just blurt
This bizarre shit that works and it sells and it helps in itself
To relieve all this tension dispensin' these sentences
Gettin' this stress that's be eatin me recently
Off of this chest and I rest again peacefully...

So you want to write a fugue.
You got the urge to write a fugue.
You got the nerve to write a fugue.
So go ahead, so go ahead and write a fugue.
Go ahead and write a fugue that we can sing.

Pay no heed, Pay no mind.
Pay no heed to what we tell you,
Pay no mind to what we tell you.
Cast away all that you were told
And the theory that you read.
As we said come and write one,
Oh do come and write one,
Write a fugue that we can sing.

Now the only way to write one
Is to plunge right in and write one.
Just forget the rules and write one,
Just ignore the rules and try.

And the fun of it will get you.
And the joy of it will fetch you.
Its a pleasure that is bound to satisfy.
When you decide that John Sebastian must have been a very personable guy.

Never be clever
for the sake of being clever,
for the sake of showing off.

For a canon in inversion is a dangerous diversion,
And a bit of augmentation is a serious temptation,
While a stretto diminution is an obvious allusion.

For to try to write a fugue that we can sing.

And when you finish writing it
I think you will find a great joy in it.

or so...
Nothing ventured, nothing gained they say
But still it is rather hard to start.

Well let us try right now.
Now we are going to write a fugue.
We are going to write a good one.
We are going to write a fugue ... right now.

Harry Nilsson, How to Write a Song

... it's bloody awful tho

eight full hours and no mention of natasha bedingfield? tsk!

Thinkin of a master plan
Cuz ain't nuthin but sweat inside my hand
So I dig into my pocket, all my money is spent
So I dig deeper but still comin up with lint
So I start my mission- leave my residence
Thinkin how could I get some dead presidents

I need money, I used to be a stick-up kid
So I think of all the devious things I did
I used to roll up, this is a hold up, ain't nuthin funny
Stop smiling, be still, don't nuthin move but the money
But now I learned to earn cos I'm righteous
I feel great! so maybe I might just
Search for a 9 to 5, if I strive
Then maybe I'll stay alive
So I walk up the street whistlin this
Feelin out of place cos, man, do I miss
A pen and a paper, a stereo, a tape of
Me and Eric B, and a nice big plate of
Fish, which is my favorite dish
But without no money it's still a wish
Cos I don't like to dream about gettin paid
So I dig into the books of the rhymes that I made
To now test to see if I got pull
Hit the studio, cos I'm paid in full

Gonna write a classic
gonna write it in an attic
baybee I'm an addict
for your love
ah bollix.

OLDE ENGLISH FILLED MY MIND
AND I CAME UP WITH A FUNKY RHYME

Ted Leo, "Hearts of Oak":

I was walking along some downtown avenue.
I was whistling a new song to myself.
and it went, it went something like this one,
but I just couldn't make it end.
but I was talking about this song to a friend of mine,
and she sang me a new song of her own.
she said, she said the cards are still stacked against her,
but she said she could still do it alone.

...

I was walking along some downtown avenue.
I was sharing the sidewalk with my friend.
we were singing this song together and it sounded so good,
we said, we said "let's sing it again!" (and it had
no end)...

like that natasha bedingfield song? that was shit.

filled or fueled? xpost

I love you from the bottom of my pencil case
I love you in the songs I write and sing
Love you because you put me in my rightful place
And I love the PRS cheques that you bring

Cheap, never cheap
I'll sing you songs till you're asleep
When you've gone, upstairs I'll creep
And write it all down

Oh Shirley, oh Deborah, oh Julie, oh Jane
I wrote so many songs about you
I forget your name (I forget your name)
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel too
I forget your name
Jennifer, Alison, Phillipa, Sue, Deborah, Annabel too
I forget your name

I love your from the bottom of my pencil case
I love the way you never ask me why
I love to write about each wrinkle on your face
And I love you till my fountain pen runs dry

Deep so deep the number one I hope to reap
Depends upon the tears you weep
so cry, lover cry...

Oh Cathy, Oh Alison, Oh Phillipa, Oh Sue
You made me so much money
I wrote this song for you

CSNY: "Lookin' Forward"

Writing a song won't take very long
Trying not to use the word "old"

(Funny, I always thought it was "trying not to use the word 'oh'")

"If you're ever feeling blue, just write a song about your dream of horses. Write a song about your dream of horses; call it 'Judy and the dream of horses.'" (Belle and Sebastian, "Judy and the dream of horses.")

Also:

"No one can sing like me. No one can play guitar like me. No one says the things I say, and no one else ever feels this way. I can't explain myself; it would sound much better from someone else. You chose me, but you were wrong, and that's why I write such good songs." (Kleenex Girl Wonder, "Why I Write Such Good Songs.")

The Free Design, "2002 A Hit Song"

Hello, teenie bopper,
Hello, deejay.
We’re goin’ to sing a whopper
and you’re goin to make it pay for us.
Hello! Hit, hit, hit.
Sure to be a hit, hit, hit.
Gonna make a hit.

Uniqueness is rule number one,
No weakness to hinder the fun.
Now sing it with reckless abandon
and go to the bank with your mon, mon, money
It’s a hit, hit, hit.
Sure to be a hit, hit, hit.
Gonna make a hit.

You take a little drums
Add a little bass
And let the guitar play
at a teenie bopper’s pace
It’s gotta be a hit.

Hello, teenie bopper,
Hello, deejay.
We’re goin’ to sing a whopper
and you’re goin to make it pay for us.
Hello! Hit, hit, hit.
Sure to be a hit, hit, hit.
Gonna make a hit.

Promotion will cause a big commotion
So, deejay, teenie bopper answer me this:
How can this hit miss?
We’ve done it all right and sealed it with a kiss.
There’s just one fact that we can’t quite shirk:
We did all this last time, and it did not work!

But! This time we’re sure to have a hit, hit, hit.
Sure to be a hit.

Hi everybody. I'm Archie Drell and the Drells from Houston, Texas. We don't only sing but we dance just as good as we walk. In Houston we just started a new dance called the Tighten Up. This is the music we tighten up to.

First tighten up on the drums. Come on now drummer. I want you to tighten it up for me now. oh yeah. Tighten up on that bass now. Tighten it up. ha ha Yeah Now let that guitar fall in. Oh yeah
Tighten up on that organ now.

Ya, do the tighten up. Yeah now.
I said if you can do it now,
It sure would be tough.

Now look here. Come on now. Make it mellow.

Let's tighten up now. Do the tighten up.
Everybody can do it now. So let's do it.
We're gonna tighten up. Let's do the tighten up.
You can do it now. So baby get to it.

Let's do your left now. Let's do your right.
You can do it. But don'tcha just do it light.
Come on and tighten up. Tighten it up now.

Come on now drum. Tighten it up.
Tighten up that bass. Oh yeah
Now look here. I want that guitar to fall in on that.
Tighten it up now. Oh yeah
Now tighten it up organ.
There everybody, tighten it up.

Now look here. We gonna make it mellow for ya now.
We gonna make it mellow now.
Tighten up. You can tighten up.

All we need is a drummer for people who only need a beat
I'm gonna add a little guitar and make it easy to move your feet
I'm gonna add some bottom so that the dancers just won't hide
You might like to hear my organ playing "Ride Sally Ride"
You might like to hear the horns blowin', Cynthia on the throne, yeah!
Cynthia & Jerry got a message they're sayin: All the squares, go home!

ance to the Music
Dance to the Music

"And we can't even think of a word that rhymes"
—Alice Cooper, "School's Out"

f you want to write a song about the moon
Walk along the craters of the afternoon
When the shadows are deep
And the light is alien
And gravity leaps like a knife off the pavement
And you want to write a song about the moon
You want to write a spiritual tune
Then nah nah nah
Presto
Song about about the moon

Hayden, "Don't Get Down"

Don't get down
Don't waste time on things that you can't ever change
I know we all do

Write a song
All your new ones are the best you've ever sung
Write another one

And all you need to do
Is get away from everything
Quit this sad old scene
Come back when you feel the need
We'll all be here for you

Don't get let down
Don't spend time with people you don't even like
I know we all do

Write a song
All your old ones don't mean a thing if you don't sing
Any new ones

And all you need to do
Is get away from everything
Quit this sad old scene
Come back when you feel the need
We'll all be here for you

And find something that will make you feel
Like everyday's too short
we're only here for a little while
You'd better make your mark

Who's seeing eyes
through the crack
in the floor
There it is baby,
don't you worry no more
Who should be sleepin',
but is writing this song
Wishin' and a-hopin'
he weren't so damned wrong.

Who's saying baby,
that don't mean a thing,
'Cause nowadays Clancy
can't even sing.
—Buffalo Springfield, "Nowadays Clancy Can't Even Sing," which is the greatest meta song ever, since Neil Young wrote it but gave it to Richie Furay to sing, hence it's a song about writing a song that you're too screwed-up to sing yourself. I think of it in a song cycle with "A Child's Claim to Fame" (by Richie Furay) and "I Am a Child" (Neil Young).

Actually, Neil owns this thread:

I'm singin' this borrowed tune
I took from the Rolling Stones,
Alone in this empty room
Too wasted to write my own.
—Neil Young, "Borrowed Tune" on Tonight's the Night (melody lifted from "Lady Jane")