Lately, I (Jascha) have been obsessed with Paul Simon, a peerless American songwriter. Here’s what he says, in an interview from the early 1990s, about the delicate task of writing the first line of a song:
“How you begin a song is one of the hardest things. The first line of a song is very hard. You want a first line that has a lot of options, to get you going. Like a road opening out, not closing in. It’s good to start with something that’s true. Something simple and true, that has a lot of possibilities.”
If you go back and look at his songs, you can see that he takes his own advice. So this week, let’s make it easy on ourselves. Let’s use some of the most common sentences in the English language, randomly selected by the magic of the Internet, so spur us on into spontaneous song.
Your mission (should you choose to accept it):
1) Go to englishinuse.net, a list of common English sentences, randomly selected every time you visit.
2) Read the first sentence aloud. That is the first line of your song.
3) Sing your song, starting with the first line. (more…)