Extend your songwriting brain

Discover Magazine has an interesting article on how Google is making us smarter. You can read the full article if you like (as it is an interesting read), but the gist of the article is that our environment is actually a part of our brain. In summarizing the research of philosophers Andy Clark and David Chalmers, he says:

... the mind is not simply the product of the neurons in our brains, locked away behind a wall of bone. Rather, they argued that the mind is something more: a system made up of the brain plus parts of its environment.

In other words, an iPhone is more than just an iPhone, it actually becomes an extension of the brain, because the brain assigns certain tasks, such as remembering, for example, the address of a museum or a music venue, to the device.

So I got to thinking, if that's how the brain works, what "outside" tools are there available for songwriters? Certainly a rhyming dictionary should be a part of that. A thesaurus? Certainly an iPhone or Blackberry, or some other portable device could be a big help to songwriters. If Stephen Sondheim, one of the greatest lyric writers all time, has confessed to regularly using a rhyming dictionary, then where is the problem?

I think there's a perception that if you look something up in a book or online, that the results won't be "coming from the heart." And perhaps there's a certain amount of truth to that. A song can't just be a string of rhymes pulled out of a book and slapped together on the page with no forethought whatsoever, can it? (although I know of at least one very successful song that does just that!). But there's certainly no shame in opening up a rhyming dictionary or thesaurus to find the right word, or search on google to find a pop culture reference, etc., to help out. It is, after all,  just another part of your brain.

Comments

[Bruce]

I'd recommend using http://onlinelyricist.com if you need lyrics for your music...

[Morry]

I think most of the songwriters that are regular visitors here want to write their own lyrics, but this is certainly an option for musicians who don't want to write their own. Do you know this lyricist personally? Have you worked together?

And by the way, thanks for contributing to the conversation!

Best.

M

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