When writing a song, I can’t imagine any predetermined or ‘correct’ balance between using the conscious part of my mind and the subconscious part. I know I want to utilize as much of both as I possibly can, depending on what’s called for in the song I’m working on.

But lately I’ve been aware of how much I’ve come to depend on not-thinking.

There are times when I examine the song I’m working on very consciously – Is the main idea strong? What are the options for this rhyme? What are the different chords I can try under this melody phrase? Does the melody tell an interesting story? Does the lyric? Etc.

But other times, sometimes even with the questions just mentioned, I’m wandering… seeing what pops up. Letting my subconscious – the part of me that knows more than I think I know – do its work.

I especially rely on this once I have a sense of the main thrust of the song, the essential melodic, lyric, and musical ideas. After getting some kind of starting point – which for me comes from something subconscious (or unconscious… or pre-conscious), I begin exploring options with my conscious mind.

But as I get deeper into the song – as the structure feels sturdier – I can let myself go more by instinct and experience. Once the house’s floor is down and the walls are up, decorating the interior is more of a gut thing, although of course many of the choices are made from the options presented by my ‘thinking’.

Maybe I trust myself more now, which probably comes from having written a lot of songs… although with every new song I never know how – or even if – things will work out.

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