EXPERIMENT: Companion Piece

A quick and addictive way to use poetry as song inspiration

Midnight Voice Memos ‘EXPERIMENT’ posts are quick, playful, and slightly addictive ways to jump-start your music-making brain.

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Companion Piece will help you

• Find surprising or unlikely topics to write about

• Loosen your attachment to lyrical habits and ticks

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YOU WILL NEED

A notebook & pencil, a poem that calls to you

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TRY IT

Find a poem that calls to you (5 mins)

It can be anything, as long as you like it. Try ‘Wanting to Die’ by Anne Sexton, or ‘Ordinary Sex’ by Ellen Bass if nothing else calls urgently enough.

Take note of language you love (5 mins)

Scan your poem quickly a few times. Look for phrases or words that jump out at you. Look for strongly evocative visual and sensory words. Write them down.

Construct an entirely new poem (10 mins)

Using the language you have collected, assemble a fresh work. You can only use each word once, and you cannot add ANY new words.

Use your new poem to write a new song (~)

Read through the poem. What stories float to the surface as you read? What lines that would make a good lyric? What lines seem to have inherent melodies?