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Nick Cave, on writer's block: "My advice to you is to change your basic relationship to songwriting. You are not the ‘Great Creator’ of your songs, you are sim

Nick Cave, on writer's block: "My advice to you is to change your basic relationship to songwriting. You are not the ‘Great Creator’ of your songs, you are simply their servant, and the songs will come to you when you have adequately prepared yourself to receive them. They are not inside you, unable to get out; rather, they are outside of you, unable to get in." https://www.theredhandfiles.com/do-u-have-any-spare-lyrics/ https://www.theredhandfiles.com/do-u-have-any-spare-lyrics/

kjakm 6y ago
That's interesting considering it sounds to me that he approaches songwriting like work rather than something he has a lack of control over: "He gets up early, goes to work in his office (a flat connected to his house in Hove), does an honest day’s work, returns home in the evening to his wife and kids, and starts out again the next day."[1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/feb/23/popandrock.features https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/feb/23/popandrock.fea...
- dorkwood 6y ago
  I don't see any conflict, personally. In the linked article, he goes on to say that songs "are attracted to an open, playful and motivated mind". To cultivate that, you need to show up.
bananamerica 6y ago
I cannot fathom how this metaphysics would help me at all. And I’m both religious and a film major/screenwriter.
- dorkwood 6y ago
  Maybe the flowery words obscured the message for you. If it helps, I first came across the quote in a blog post by Austin Kleon[0], an author, talking about people who say they have a book in them. "I never feel like I have a book in me. I always feel like there’s a book around me. It’s like I’m a planet and there’s all this space junk orbiting me, and all the junk starts smashing together and forming book chapters. My job is to grab that stuff around me and shape it into something." [0]: https://austinkleon.com/2019/06/06/its-not-inside-you-trying-to-get-out-its-outside-you-trying-to-get-in/ https://austinkleon.com/2019/06/06/its-not-inside-you-trying...
  - bananamerica 6y ago
    That does make sense thank you.
- dang 6y ago
  It might be more helpful to call it a metaphor. Metaphors can be powerful for reframing one's thinking, dropping limiting assumptions, even reorienting how the body relates to a habitual activity.
  - bananamerica 6y ago
    Thank you for conveying the power of metaphors. You did that very well. I’m familiar with this line of reasoning. I also happen to be autistic so, while I have no trouble with the semantics, these kinds of metaphors usually have little effect on me.
- m463 6y ago
  I think productivity rewards focus - deeper focus on discerning the fine details of a problem and actively diving and driving. Creativity rewards sort of the opposite. It's like letting your gaze wander and see what's around you. Capturing the ideas that fly by like butterflies in a net, and being their steward. Try doing a side-project based on a whim and then expand it as butterflies collect.
tvanantwerp 6y ago
This reminds me of Sam Harris's guided meditation app. One of the common questions raised in the guided meditations is whether or not you can observe the part of your mind that is generating your thoughts. His suggestion is that you can't--the thoughts come into consciousness on their own; you can observe the thoughts as they come and go, but you can't observe where thoughts come from. Like the sensation of breathing, of temperature, or of pressure, thoughts enter consciousness as if they were an external stimulus.
- rtx 6y ago
  Its like we don't have access to all the conscious regions of our brains. Who knows, what evolutionary pressure might have locked us out of there, who know
  - suls 6y ago
    The other side of the coin being we haven't developed access to it yet. Either way, an interesting perspective, thanks!
- Scarblac 6y ago
  I actually started using that meditation app because Nick Cave recommends it in one of the Red Hand Files too.
eCa 6y ago
As an aside, that is also why he declined[1] the MTV Best male artist nomination back in the 1990's. The short of it is "my muse is not a horse". [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdX-aglsXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdX-aglsXU
JoeAltmaier 6y ago
Either way, he's amazing. So few can get to the point that the songs come to them. Celebrate him for that, then.

kjakm 6y ago

That's interesting considering it sounds to me that he approaches songwriting like work rather than something he has a lack of control over: "He gets up early, goes to work in his office (a flat connected to his house in Hove), does an honest day’s work, returns home in the evening to his wife and kids, and starts out again the next day."[1] [1] https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/feb/23/popandrock.features https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/feb/23/popandrock.fea...

dorkwood 6y ago
I don't see any conflict, personally. In the linked article, he goes on to say that songs "are attracted to an open, playful and motivated mind". To cultivate that, you need to show up.

bananamerica 6y ago

I cannot fathom how this metaphysics would help me at all. And I’m both religious and a film major/screenwriter.

dorkwood 6y ago
Maybe the flowery words obscured the message for you. If it helps, I first came across the quote in a blog post by Austin Kleon[0], an author, talking about people who say they have a book in them. "I never feel like I have a book in me. I always feel like there’s a book around me. It’s like I’m a planet and there’s all this space junk orbiting me, and all the junk starts smashing together and forming book chapters. My job is to grab that stuff around me and shape it into something." [0]: https://austinkleon.com/2019/06/06/its-not-inside-you-trying-to-get-out-its-outside-you-trying-to-get-in/ https://austinkleon.com/2019/06/06/its-not-inside-you-trying...
- bananamerica 6y ago
  That does make sense thank you.
dang 6y ago
It might be more helpful to call it a metaphor. Metaphors can be powerful for reframing one's thinking, dropping limiting assumptions, even reorienting how the body relates to a habitual activity.
- bananamerica 6y ago
  Thank you for conveying the power of metaphors. You did that very well. I’m familiar with this line of reasoning. I also happen to be autistic so, while I have no trouble with the semantics, these kinds of metaphors usually have little effect on me.
m463 6y ago
I think productivity rewards focus - deeper focus on discerning the fine details of a problem and actively diving and driving. Creativity rewards sort of the opposite. It's like letting your gaze wander and see what's around you. Capturing the ideas that fly by like butterflies in a net, and being their steward. Try doing a side-project based on a whim and then expand it as butterflies collect.

tvanantwerp 6y ago

This reminds me of Sam Harris's guided meditation app. One of the common questions raised in the guided meditations is whether or not you can observe the part of your mind that is generating your thoughts. His suggestion is that you can't--the thoughts come into consciousness on their own; you can observe the thoughts as they come and go, but you can't observe where thoughts come from. Like the sensation of breathing, of temperature, or of pressure, thoughts enter consciousness as if they were an external stimulus.

rtx 6y ago
Its like we don't have access to all the conscious regions of our brains. Who knows, what evolutionary pressure might have locked us out of there, who know
- suls 6y ago
  The other side of the coin being we haven't developed access to it yet. Either way, an interesting perspective, thanks!
Scarblac 6y ago
I actually started using that meditation app because Nick Cave recommends it in one of the Red Hand Files too.

eCa 6y ago

As an aside, that is also why he declined[1] the MTV Best male artist nomination back in the 1990's. The short of it is "my muse is not a horse". [1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdX-aglsXU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VqdX-aglsXU

JoeAltmaier 6y ago

Either way, he's amazing. So few can get to the point that the songs come to them. Celebrate him for that, then.