What sort of Music helps you think about your poetry?

[madkill]

With me it's either sometimes Mike Oldfield or Metallica.
Heck, even Eiffel 65 helps depending on what track and how I'm feeling.

sometimes when I'm in the kitchen I make my own song to sing...never write it down though, but its weird how the words just come to you in certain places.

EDIT: Sorry, but this in the wrong area. Can it be moved to General Discussion? :badger:

[Yog]

I like the sweet music of silence.

[*sarah*]

Mike Oldfield
The Who
Feist
Iz
Oliver Shanti
Joanna Newsom

Or whatever is on the radio...but I find with the above bands the creative juices flow more freely....

[smorzando]

I've moved your thread for you. =)

For the record, I love music, but I can't listen to music when I'm writing. I've found that the music distracts me too much. So, for me, it's silence too.

smorz.

[waywardgirl]

Bob Dylan and Kimya Dawson.

[madkill]

I've moved your thread for you. =)

For the record, I love music, but I can't listen to music when I'm writing. I've found that the music distracts me too much. So, for me, it's silence too.

smorz.

It can distract me sometimes as well..but for the thoughts to first enter my mind, music tends to help.
Eiffel 65 - my Clown I think is such a good track that allows me to think for some reason.
Perhaps usually music where the lyrics can relate to how you've felt, I don't know but anyway. :paperbag:

[Zweihander]

I like the sweet music of silence.

exactly. it's harder to stay focused the better the music, whenever i write with music on, i always find myself almost unconscionably drawn away from my writing.

[Mr. Bergstrom]

I rarely write with no music on. The only time I write with no music playing is when something just comes into my head and I have to get it down. But when I come back to that new idea I always have my ipod on when I'm developing it.

Music (the right songs) just relaxes me so that I can write and get distracted.

I used to write whilst having a film on in the background. An example is 'Seven', I used to just sit there writing while it was on, very inspiring for some reason.

I find that these bands and artists playing the most when I'm writing:

The Carpenters (Karen Carpenter's voice just blows me away!)
REM
Van Morrison
The American Beauty soundtrack by Thomas Newman
Nirvana
Bright Eyes

Good idea for a thread!

[Yog]

Typically for me, I write at work during the down-time. It keeps me sane while bored to tears at work. On break I come and peruse the boards and lavish everyone with terse witticisms I've stored up in the past 24 hours. Once every week or so Curtius shows up. I know he's about to post because the hairs on the back of my neck raise up. Then it's on.

[Musical-Mind]

for me it depends, i use either: Paramore, Fall Out Boy, Hawthorne Heights, Linkin Park, Switchfoot, Blue October, Yellowcard or My Chemical Romance.

other times though i like to use silence or rain to inspire me.

[madkill]

In some ways, but rarely, some tracks that mean something to someone else help me write, not that I enjoy the track as 'It's what I favourite most out of all bands/tracks in the world' hell no, I sing along to those tracks and sure as hell I can't sing and write something different at the same time, that would require to minds.

Just the simple mellow tracks that dull my mind enough to think, but the ones that I also enjoy listening to.
Mike Oldfield - Pram's Theme;
Which inspired me to write- 'Out to Play (http://www.thepoetryforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1925)'
weird how it just shoots at you, as though it just links to what you were feeling or 'thinking/thought' what you were feeling at the time.

[Sanscesse]

When writing I like orchestral music, but any sort of music inspires me
and gives me ideas from Beatles to Beetoven.

[sedated]

For me any music can be inspiring. I listen to all genres of music from drum & bass and techno, reggae and rap, pop and rock, right through to classical and symphonic. Music drives emotions, which can lead to immense creativity.

Some favourites:

Pink Floyd - Echoes
Horace Andy - Angelic Dub
William Orbit - Adagio for Strings
The Verve - Bitter Sweet Symphony
Delirium - Silence
The Orb - Little Fluffy Clouds

[303vegas]

Neo-folk and extreme metal are good for inspiration as is walking around without an i-pod* or any other musical distractions. Half heard snatches of conversation or misread newspaper headlines, adverts, etc. are also good material.
If i'm writing it doesn't really matter what's playing as long as it's not
a distraction.

*other mp3 players are available.

[rainman68]

I can feel my old aquaintance Yog ( been away a long while mate, but now is the season for me to return !!!), in that the best time for me to scribble is during slow periods at work.
music wise. it has to be The Smiths ( morrisey is a trully awesome wordsmith) and the late, great legend that was Ian Curtis and Joy Division.
Under the iron bridge we kissed, and allthough i ended up with sore lips, it just wasnt like the old days anymore, no it wasnt like those days, am i still ill? R.I.P Ian.x

[LostErikson]

For me I have to say it is the stuff that can be meaningful, right on the border of upbeat and sad. So saying, the bands in specific would be The Bravery, The Cribs, Interpol, and She Wants Revenge (depending on if I am moody or whatnot).

[KeepUpTheFlow]

nice quiet music like David Gray is always good for me.

[Ladyday]

As mentioned by a lot of people, i tend to work in silence. But Bjork is the ultimate inspiration for me. She's not a singer, she's an artist. Some of her lyrics are just beautiful.

[amberzak]

Classical or film soundtracks normally. Though soft middle of the road stuff helps too

[BenJohnson]

I can work with any music on as I can tune it out, but I can't work with the radio on, as soon as people start talking my concentration goes out of the window. What annoys me is that subconsciously the music seeps in. I will write a line in a poem that I think is really good, then a few days later listen to the same album I had on at the time to find the line was in there all along and I hadn't noticed :(

So generally no music for me if I can avoid it.

I agree about Bjork amazing use of words and voice to go with it. She is incredible in the film Dancer in the Dark as well.

[John Ashleigh]

The music that inspires me:

Bob Dylan
Joe Purdy
John Martyn
Nirvana
White stripes.

There is more, but these are my current favourites.

[ECPublishing]

I can't really listen to anything with words in it. Actually in saying that, even a tune puts me off. The closest I could get is Kraftwerk or something.

Usually I'm writing at random times, I rarely "sit down" and write, I'm usually up in the middle of the night or frantically writing on the train. Such is life!

[Don_Joe]

Same as EC, if it's got words in it and has a fast rythm it puts me off. Although "Pruit Igoe & Prophecies" gets me deep thinking it usually only makes me write about the futility of life or poems around that spectrum.

Personally, silence is the best way.

[desertlizard]

Mostly what you might call rock and roll, but i ve to admit Classic helps too

[Altocumulus]

usually for me it'll be the Moody Blues ....

[xerinx]

For me its anything that i can relate to. Im curently listening to tracy chapman... But im loving the bruno mars album at the minute.

It all depends what mood im in (sometimes when i dont even realise it)

[Shanalorm]

Enya-Within Temptation-Delain-Mike Oldfield-Kajem-Gregorian Masters of Chant-Andrea Bocelli-Sarah Brightman

[m_b]

Like a lot of people here, i like things as quiet as possible when writing. I can tolerate some music though, as long as its instrumental and not too intrusive; Boards of Canada maybe, GYBE, that sort of thing :)

[NikkiR]

For me its a two way thing. I like piece and quiet when writing poetry, though sometimes I can hammer out some rough words with the TV on. But they do tend to be rough!!!

As for what music helps me think about the poetry. Generally its anything with a decent lyric to it. Hearing other words helps me get my own words flowing. Recently I've had Rascal Flatts' 'Unstoppable' in my head. I think these are good lyrics and they've helped me get some stanzas down on paper.

[Poets Muse]

Classical mostly but sometimes something like Slipknot etc can get me thinking. Music helps me paint as well.