Top 10 (or 11) Writers’ Anthems of All Time
By Therese Walsh | March 30, 2010 |
I recently stumbled upon a funny list on CNN.com, entitled, “The top 10 geek anthems of all time.” On that list: “Weird Science,” by Oingo Boingo; and “Nerdcore Rising,” by M.C. Frontalot, among others. Which got me thinking that we really needed a top 10 writers’ anthems of all time. I was going to write one, but then I found this and decided to steal it instead.
I’m like that. Especially during Tax Season.
SONGS FOR WRITERS
1. Every Day I Write The Book – Elvis Costello
2. Paperback Writer – Paul McCartney
3. Lady Writer – Dire Straits
4. Writer’s Minor Holiday – Calexico
5. Shadow Stabbing – Cake
6. Dancing In The Dark – Bruce Springsteen
7. When I Write The Book – Nick Lowe
8. There She Goes, My Beautiful World – Nick Cave
9. Wrapped Up In Books – Belle and Sebastian
10. Screenwriters Blues – Soul Coughing
Afflicted with the Researcher’s Curse, I kept searching and found another worthy possibility:
11. Great American Novel – Michael McDermott
Actually, if I hadn’t been lazy and had created a list all on my own, I’d probably have chosen quite a few songs with inspiring/inspired lyrics (“The sky looks pissed” – Ingrid Michaelson).
Which songs root you back in the craft of writing? Why? Have anything to add to the list? And if you’re suffering from the tax time blues, as I am, do check out our post on Tax Help for Writers, HERE.
Write on, all.
Therese Walsh (she/her) co-founded Writer Unboxed in 2006 and is the site’s editorial director. She was the editor of WU’s only book, Author in Progress, and runs the Writer Unboxed UnConference.
Her second novel, The Moon Sisters, received starred reviews and was named one of the best books of the year by Library Journal and Book Riot.
Learn more about Therese on her website, and sign up for her newsletter to be among the first to hear about any new projects.
I like Natasha Bennington’s (I think that’s her name) song that goes: “Staring at the blank before you . . . release your inhibitions . . .”
I like Natasha Bennington’s (I think that’s her name) song that goes: “Staring at the blank page before you . . . release your inhibitions . . . “
I’ve got one to add:
“I Typed For Miles” by Jets to Brazil.
Although it’s more of the insecure, neurotic writer’s anthem…but we’re all that writer at some point, right?
Lyrics: https://www.lyricstime.com/jets-to-brazil-i-typed-for-miles-lyrics.html
.-= Leah Raeder´s last blog ..Female authors and poetic language. =-.
Anne-yes! Natasha Bedingfield’s (I had to look up her last name) “Unwritten” is a perfect writer’s song. “I am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined. I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my hand, ending unplanned.” There are too many good lines to include all of them here.
Come to think of it, we don’t have this song on our family iPod. I think I need to remedy that deficiency right now . . .
.-= Tracy Hahn-Burkett´s last blog ..Forget Politics. Some Americans Need to Go Back to School. =-.
I’m a silent-ist, I don’t like music when I write, nor does it inspire my writing (I like visuals better) but I’m a huge music stan. Cake is sick, love them SFM, so thanks for plugging them, Therese. Cake on WU, whooo!
We haven’t done our taxes yet. It’s the first time ever we’ve waited this long. It will bite us in the butt, fer sure.
Adjectives on the typewriter
He moves his words like a prize fighter
The frenzied pace of the mind inside to sell
There it is, Kath: Cake on WU.
“Unwritten” and “I Typed for Miles” are great adds, Anne and Leah. Thanks!
I can’t write with music on, even music without lyrics; the curse of a trained musician, I suppose, but the song “Unwritten” was the first one that popped into my mind too.
.-= Yat-Yee´s last blog ..In voice we trust =-.
I need some kind of background music when I type. What I find interesting is that I mostly listen to Country music in my everyday life, but when I’m writing, I tend to listen to Adult Alternative.
Of course, that being said, my country roots are probably why I don’t recognize more than a few songs on that list. I may have to expand my musical horizons. :)
.-= j. leigh bailey´s last blog ..A Great Day to Follow Blogs =-.
I love being inpsired by lyrics. My anthem is Natasha Bedingfield’s Unwritten.
I have always loved Simon and Garfunkel’s Homeward Bound. My favorite lyric from that song is -But all my words come back to me in shades of mediocrity
Like emptiness in harmony I need someone to comfort me.
I aspire to be the type of writer that writes words that make people think of things in a way they never would have thought of them.
Maribeth
.-= Maribetth´s last blog ..Linking It All Together =-.
My particular favorite, “Oxford Comma” by Vampire Weekend. Lyrics start out, “Who gives a f… about an Oxford comma.” Makes me laugh every time. It actually takes broader strokes about social conventions, etc, but uses writing conventions as the jumping off point.
Densie
.-= Densie Webb´s last blog ..James Franco Fiction Fiasco =-.
Densie, too funny!
I have “Dream On” by Aerosmith on my iPod–a song that surprised me once I really started listening to the lyrics. There are a few lines in there that always make me think of writers, esp. this one: “Half my life is in books’ written pages…” :)
.-= Marilyn Brant´s last blog ..New Website! =-.
Jimmy Buffett’s “If I Could Just Get It On Paper”.
If I could tell half of the stories
The funny way most things begin
Figure ways to disguise all the half truths and lies
Find the heart of my song with the point of a pen
Simple words can be come clever phrases
And chapters could turn into books
Yes if I could just get it on paper
But it’s harder than it ever looks.
Or “Semi-true Story”, or “The Stories We Could Tell”…
Or anything Jimmy Buffett, actually…
Mr. Curiosity by Jason Mraz! He wrote it about that godawful thing called writer’s block. Some of the lyrics:
That I’m the same the way you left me
In a hurry to spell check me
And I’m underlined already in envy green
And pencil red
And I’ve forgotten what you’ve said
And Jewel often has writerly lyrics (at least I think so), including “Night with its shattered teeth, Attempts to speak, My pen is present but, Courage left via the sink” from Sometimes It Be That Way, or “Underneath a velvet sky, Only words can lie”
I’m sure I could go on…I love lyrics!
It’s all different for me. Every story/novel/chapter I write has its own soundtrack.
I couldn’t even begin to pick one song but a lot of music by Jimmy Eat World and Yellowcard.
Michelle Branch’s “Hotel Paper” as an album really inspires me as well as “Room for Squares” by John Mayer.
.-= Casey Tolfree´s last blog ..Book, Line and Sinker =-.
Love the list! I put up a different “Songs for Writers” the 30th of each month if you ever want to expand!
I become intensely inspired by songs — but only when I’m not writing. Like Kathleen I’m a silent-est when I’m struggling to pull the prose from my head. Nevertheless, when I’m not working, music can really kick-up the thought process like nothing else. I’m thoroughly addicted to the theme from To Kill a Mockingbird by Elmer Bernstein. It’s intoxicating!
http://www.barbaraforteabate.com
[…] tastes are all over the place.) So, because I was inspired by Writer Unboxed’s list of the top ten writers’ anthems of all time, I felt the need to share my writing playlist with you (if you care.) maybe you’ll discover […]
The soundtrack of Misery, maybe?
That’s the other side of “publish or perish” – write and live. :)
.-= Marian´s last blog ..Glorious review and giveaway =-.
[…] Top 10 (or 11) Writers’ Anthems of All Time: Stolen from Yahoo Music Everyone points to the music, but here are links to the lyrics. (I need lyrics to learn a song.) […]
My favorite from when I first started writing science fiction as a kid: “(Thinking Is) The Best Way to Travel” by the Moody Blues.
And you can fly
High as a kite if you want to,
Faster than light if you want to,
Speeding through the universe —
Thinking is the best way to travel.
It’s all a dream,
Light passing by on a screen,
And there’s you and I on a beam
Speeding through the universe —
Thinking is the best way to travel.
We ride the waves.
Distances gone, will we find out?
How life began, will we find out?
Speeding through the universe —
Thinking is the best way to travel.
And you can fly
High as a kite if you want to,
Faster than light if you want to,
Speeding through the universe —
Thinking is the best way to travel.
I prefer listening to purely instrumental music while I work on drafts. Some stories get their creative fuel from a single piece that I listen to repeatedly. For example, “Another Place” (Amazing, May 1988) takes its name from the title track of the album by the Japanese fusion jazz group Hiroshima. I wrote “Arachne” (originally in the Nov./Dec. 1988 Aboriginal Science Fiction, reprinted in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory, Scriblerus Press, 2008) while listening to “Shaker Loops” by John Adams.
.-= Elissa Malcohn´s last blog ..A News Sonnet A Day for April 2010: 3 =-.
Great contributions! Thanks, everyone.
Lyrics distract me so I use “Café de Flore” by Doctor Rockit or themes by John Williams, especially the Theme from “Far and Away.” “Ocean Air” by dZihan And Kamien is a nice ice breaker to start work. I also have neighbors. Living with classical musicians is an experience. I found it can make your brain want to respond. It’s very intense but it seems to help, like a hive pushing buttons in your brain when you don’t.
My favorite song is Say It All by Cake which just happens to be the lead in song to perhaps the greatest writer movie ever made, Orange County.