Alcohol and Songwriting

  • Thread starter Thread starter ChickenStomp
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I have found that just pure emotion is the best drug to help me write a song.. You don't have to have something to chemically stimulate you. Euphoria is euphoria whether it's over a new love, a new child, marijuanna, or alcohol. I was an avid pot smoker and yes it made my stuff sound extra cool and I came up with new things. But nothing was as powerful as writing and creating about when my first child was born. It blew all other feelings out of the water.
 
Last week a report came out stating the very opposite and encouraging having a couple of glasses of wine each day.
The moral of the story ?
 
there was a day i couldnt write a song unless i had a J hanging from my mouth
but now i am off it and i have the odd drink now when im writeing and i think it works
i would only write i wouldnt attept to record the song while drinking but i think its great i think you explore your mind abit more with joints and drink on you,
so my answer is yes
but if im playing a gig its a diffrent story, i would have a couple of Jack Daniels before i go on get abit sauced up haha

good post by the way
 
I've found drinking + writing can lead me to either of the two extremes. When I sober up and read what I wrote it usually either SUCKS badly or it really is some of my best work.

Unfortunately I can't figure out why sometimes its good and sometimes it sucks yet lol.
 
Some people can't create at all, it's just the way they are. Some can, and whether they do it best when they are stoned, sober, just having had a son, drunk. just met a beautiful girl, or whatever, is not so important. The quality of what you produce is all that matters, and that quality is best assessed when you are in as dispassionate and rational state of mind as possible. So you have to be able (if necessary) to dissociate your creative self from your sensible, rational self, let your creative self come up with all the amazing, original, emotional stuff, and then let your rational self take over and give you a reasonable assessment of the value of what you have done. Does this make sense? It seems reasonable to me, but then I am just a rather drunk person sitting at his computer in Clapham Common, South London, England. I probably should go to bed now. Yeah I will do that, .....Good night.
 
The danger lies in becoming too dependent on substances to enhance your creativity. I often enjoy a bottle of wine with the artist I'm currently working with as she's still a bit nervous to sing in front of me. But I don't often drink or smoke up when I'm working by myself, I actually very rarely drink alone outside a beer or two every once and a while.
 
I agree, all the great songs of the 60's where written while high.
 
PizzImperfect said:
With me it's a strange one.. Smoking weed and writing always seems like a great idea.. However i tend to write the first verse... get bored and start recording... spend 2 hours messing with EQ and plugins... and end up with a great first verse that i can't be arsed finishing...
It's definitely not a productive additive for me!
Click to expand...

Hahahah

+1
 
I think that open minds lead to great songs. People can achieve the creative mode by many paths: meditation, exercise, moderate consumption of certain drugs, etc.

However, I do think that some people will go ...

from: "Alcohol/weed gets my creative juices flowing."

to: "I need alcohol/weed to get my creative juices flowing."

to: "I need more alcohol/weed/other stuff to get my creative juices flowing."

It's easy to follow that slippery slope with songwriting, because when the ideas stop coming, songwriters will do whatever it takes to get the creativity back. And once you consume above a certain level (which is fairly low, actually), alcohol/drugs actually reduce your creativity, not mention your motivation and organizational skills. And if it's habitual, it just plain bad for brain cells.

I say this all as someone who partakes occasionally (once/twice a week), even while songwriting. I'm not anti-anything, but I think in general it's not the most effective way to write great songs.
 
I find that alcohol allows me to initially be less judgmental about my writing, therefore allowing me to create a rough composition that I can then mess around with further while sober. Usually, if I'm writing sober, I tend to get frustrated easily and just scrap the whole idea. While I don't "need" alcohol to get my creativity going, it just makes what's already there easier to access. If that makes any sense.
 
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