For me, the easy way is if I get a bit of the lyrics first - a line, a phrase, or just an idea. Then I've got an idea what the song's about, and the music tends to fall into place more easily. The tougher way, but what happens more often, is that a bit of music comes up on its own - usually a melody while I'm at work or cooking or something, or perhaps a chord progression or a riff while I'm playing. The tough part is then tuning into what the song's about, what the words are - it's like I have to put a polite request to my mind to come up with the theme or the lyrics. And if the whole process starts to get mechanical or manipulative ("Let's see... what rhymes with 'balloon'? Maroon, coccoon, baboon..."), then it's time to let it go for the time being, and pick it up later. And when the song's done, then the other instruments get the attention - but that's cuz I work alone during the songwriting. Even Lennon and Macartney used to work alone and bring what they'd done to the other one, who would then work with it. But everyone's different - there was an article in Guitar Player (Sept/98) about songwriting, and that's one of the things that came out of it - everybody has their own approach. And I was most impressed by the people who seemed to have no approach at all - they just sort of got an idea from here or there, in this form or that, and then stuck with it until it either turned into a good song or something that could be archived for later use.
