by Jame Love
(Avondale, Az. )
There is an event which happens more often than one would think in the life of every dedicated songwriter. It happens to me at least one or two times a year and likewise this has been confirmed by other songwriters I know.
A song comes to you in your dream that is really good. It's usually original, has some exceptional strengths, lyrically musically or both.
What usually happens is we wake up and realize what a great song came to us or was written by us in the dream state. The downside is that usually we think we can remember it or we go back to sleep and when we wake up later we may remember that we dreamed a great song but exactly how it went escapes us.
The good news is that we can, with a little preparation employ a way of having a sort of songwriter's dream catcher, that is a method of getting that song from our dream into our real world as a songwriter and not losing it.
The first thing to do is to keep the appropriate tools near our bed. That may include a notepad, a small voice recorder, a guitar or keyboard. I have all of the above. Just paying attention to where they are kept and focusing on your intent to use them to catch your song can actually help you to dream more songs and be ready to catch them.
It is good to write down whatever lyrics or record whatever melody or both came to you in the dream, the moment you wake up and realize this. Don't assume you can simply remember it, because you'll find it's not as easy as you thought.
The second thing is to also write down the details of the dream in which you heard or wrote the song. Focus on not only the who what where, etc. but also any sensory elements of the dream. This really helps you to lock in the basic core mood and musical/lyrical strengths of what you dreamed.
You'll find that the more you do this practice, the more you'll start to dream really original and interesting songs. Also they will usually appear a bit more catch, viral, interesting, inspired that what you may have been coming up with recently. This is because our unconscious minds have a way of working behind the scenes in an inspired way.
Before you go to bed at night remind take an inventory of your dream song catching tools at your bedside and make a mental resolve not to let the songs of your dreams slip away when they come. AND they WILL come. The more you do this, the more you'll find that you will have this experience happen to you.
Moreover, just the nightly focusing and strengthening of your intention will not only bring you these songs but strengthen your overall confidence and determination as a songwriter and you'll find yourself often getting ideas and running to your bedside to write some ideas down during the day.
I've recommended this to many of my songwriting friends and in every case they have told me that it has worked for them. It's very interesting to hear those songs. They often say that working on these songs in the immediate days after they initially found them in their dreams and made notes of them gave them added insights into their own process as a songwriter in general, making them better at the process.
Try it you'll like it.
James Love