The Song Writing Game

In 2016 I began playing a songwriting game with a group of friends that involved writing and recording a new song every two weeks, based on a prompt given by one of the members. I had written some songs here and there, but wasn't much of a "songwriter". and I was totally terrified of this new venture.

I was pleasantly surprised to find it wasn't too painful to squeeze music from my brain, and in fact, the regular deadlines, the impulse carried from the prompts, and kind and incisive feedback from friends all fertilized a garden of thoughts and rhythm in my mind.

The songwriting game has become a steady practice for me ever since, a bi-weekly rhythm something akin to phases of the moon. Sometimes I just can't figure out how I'll be able to do it again, so soon, but within the fortnight I've figured something out.

And on to the next song.
I've been known to become obsessed.

Check out my most recent songs on my SoundCloud:

Interested in boosting your creativity?

Looking for inspiration for a new poem, picture, song, or play?

Check out the list of prompts from our songwriting game…

It's not about writing the BEST song. . . It's about writing the NEXT song. . .

It's not about writing the BEST song. . . It's about writing the NEXT song. . .

  • 1. Write a song from Julio's perspective. (from Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard)

    2. The edge of the wedge

    3. You're waiting for a call that's going to change your life, but you don't know how…

    4. Like the kitchen could clean itself

    5. Prove or disprove a scientific theory

    6. The end of cynicism

    7. Your peripheral vision

    8. Moving Parts- Write lyrics then pass to the 'right'. Write music to someone else's lyrics.

    9. We were ghosts all along

    10. No strings attached (write a song using no string instruments)

    11. Everyday she sends a postcard

    12. Write a Tom Petty song called Two Birds One Stone

    13. Find a photo of yourself and write a song based on what you think/feel when you look at it

    14. Needle's Eye

    15. Living in a dry town

    16. Phew!

    17. Write about the relationship of two fictional characters from a book/movie/etc..

    18. Write a fun song about something you love (that's not a person).

    19. The bar is too high

    20. Write a song about the life and/or death of Edna Forbes

    21. Let Love In

    22. X-Ray Records

    23. the new normal

    24. Deconstructed favorite song, and write a new song about Thanksgiving

    25. Reflection/Reprise/Redo

    26. Write a little song about something mundane

  • 1. Found in translation

    2. Conflict of interest

    3. Using a children’s song or a traditional melody, write a song about heartbreak

    4. Searching for the great white whale

    5. The light knows where it’s going

    6. Write a song about going up against insurmountable odds

    7. Last words of a loved one

    8. Anticipation

    9. Get over yourself

    10. Gut response

    11. Write a follow-up to a character in a Bob Dylan song

    12. Best mistake you ever made

    13. Can’t say no

    14. Surrender time

    15. Write a theme song about a dog in your life

    16. I never used to like the rain

    17. Don’t make a molehill out of a mountain

    18. Path of Totality

    19. Turn the key, set them free

    20. Underneath the Mask

    21. Down for the count

    22. Write a song about the story of the lady who escaped the train headed for the concentration camp

    23. The city will never sleep again

    24. 50 50

    25. Duty Free

    26. Regret

  • 1. Last chance at a fresh start.

    2. Never forget, this is undoubtedly the greatest time in human history to be alive

    3. Me at 3am

    4. Like a brick wall

    5. The outcome is unknown - Swap beats, harmonies, melodies and lyrics

    6. Breaking out of a rut

    7. Everything is perfect

    8. Write a Rolling Stones song with the word 'wheel' in the title

    9. Put music to a viral video

    10. Write a pop song

    11. The myth and the marrow

    12. Lose the crutches - Write a song without two devices you've come to rely on

    13. Incorporating any part of a previous song, write a song about moving on

    14. Change of Scene

    15. Don't Look Away

    16. You're writing a record of your life (either your whole life up to now or your life at the present). It's missing one final track to bring it all together. Write that song.

    17. Grab your favorite book, collection of poems, favorite author, whatever. Randomly open it to a page. Those are your lyrics, put music to them.

    18. Reimagine a well known cover: make a slow song upbeat, make a summer anthem into a minor blues, a thrash version of a lullaby, a disco version of a protest song...

    19. Nina Simone

    20. Underwater

    21. Pick an era or a player from your favorite sports team and write a song about it/them

    22. Write a song with no more than 22 words

    23. Skeleton

    24. Write a song about a conversation you overhear- real or imagined

    25. Take a sad song and make it better

    26. Take a glad song and make it bitter

  • 1. Respect

    2. Blind spot

    3. The only constants in life are death and divorce

    4. Re-Do

    5. Leave your shoes at the door

    6. Recall fondly one of the hardest things you've been through

    7. Redo a song in the game, not your own

    8. Write a song portrait of someone you admire greatly

    9. Leaving your heart in paradise, knowing you'll never return

    10. Kill for a cure

    11. Write a song about the grandparent that you knew (and knew you) the least

    12. Write a sexy, confident love song

    13. {Lewis & Clark} The feeling of having your expectations wiped away by what's in front of you, but being too far in to turn back

    14. The Leviathan

    15. TFW your favorite song is playing. (Bonus points if you incorporate any part of the song)

    16. Explore the dynamics of give and take in a song

    17. A Perfect Place

    18. Your best beginning

    19. Find some old unfinished work and finish it. Or, write a song incorporating the theme Unfinished-Undefeated.

    20. Write a song from the perspective of your opposite

    21. Whole Cloth

    22. The achievement of a monumental, albeit insignificant, task

    23. Songwriting 101

    24. In the box thinking: make a song using samples from other songs (not your own). The only recording you can do is voice(s).

    25. Winter Storm

    26. Pound of flesh

  • 1. Live into it

    2. Write a song that is hopeful and/or excited by the future. No more moping!

    3. Tell a story with no narrative, only description

    4. Identify one of your own ‘greatest struggles’. Identify a departed family member or loved one. Write a song about the advice they would give you regarding said struggle.

    5. Grab A Hold Of What You Have, For We Have Such Little Time

    6. Write a song about an off-beat character from your childhood, someone you knew personally or just were aware of that really flipped your young wig!

    7. Write a song about girls

    8. Write a song about a favorite room in your house/home. Or a house/home from your past. Or even a house/home of someone else's that you spent a lot of time in. Include at least one key modulation in your song.

    9. _________&__________ : Write a song about two lovers who can not be together

    10. Mirror Mirror

    11. Maybe this is the last time (or write any kind of song about anything you want)

    12. Higher Ground

    13. Utilizing the oldest instrument in your possession (first guitar, family piano, 70s synth, etc...) write a song to sing to yourself at 15 years old

    14. Write a song about a secret

    15. Apophenia 

    16. All good things...

    17. Won’t Be Long  or  This House Is Built On _________

    18. Write a song that begins at the end and ends at the beginning

    19. Pencil vs Pen

    20. An answer for everything

    21. Your phone rings, and you see it's a call from yourself

    22. SPACE (Can be outer space, personal space, open space, empty space... but also leave some space in the recording as well!)

    23. Magical Thinking

    24. Faith

    25. A Month of Sundays or Divorcee (Bonus* If you incorporate both)

    26. Finally, some good news!

  • 1. Bourbon and Bitters

    2. Write a sympathetic song about your arch-enemy (Bonus* if you make it a Latin pop song)

    3. Super Moss 

    4. Write a song about a situation in which somebody tries to solve a problem but ends up making everything a whole lot worse

    5. https://www.facebook.com/817824382/videos/10158977135054383/

    6. Acknowledge a past mistake

    7. Write a dance song, incorporating a new dance move(Bonus Points- if you come up with an actual dance move to go with the song | Extra Bonus Points- if you make a TikTok doing the dance)

    8. spooky, late-night, dark and stormy, atmospheric, lost and found

    9. If I Were Truly On My Own

    10. Making a mountain out of a molehill: Make the most from the least

    11. Better Figure It Out Right Quick

    12. Wabi Sabi

    13. (No Prompt Given)

    14. Give Or Take

    15. Use the crutches : Incorporate and heavily utilize tricks that you often use in your songs and production.

    16. Write a song about your next life

    17. The thunder is done

    18. Who? What? Where? When? Why?(pick three)

    19. Love needs Love

    20. Write a song about feeling good for no reason

    21. Unreliable Narrator

    22. Circle of fifths 

    23. Write a sequel to any of your songs. *It doesn’t have to be a song, in the game*

    24. The Good Stuff: No negativity, no sadness, not even bittersweet; write a song about beauty, wonder, peace, love, contentedness, inner-strength, self-mastery, entertainment, expertise, poetry, flowers, pleasure… you know, the good stuff!

    25. (No prompt given)

    26. Clean Slate

  • 1. Using a different/alternate vocal character, write a song entitled The Ghost of 2021

    2. The Perfect Moment

    3. The Soundtrack of your Life

    4. Write a story song based of a book you recently read

    5. The salt brings out the sweetness

    6. People are all the same

    7. Write a song based on an episode of Seinfeld.*must incorporate the storyline from 1 specific episode*

    8. There’s no such thing as a coincidence

    9. The Multiverse

    10. Do a funk song about being in over your head

    11. Take a breather *Literally or figuratively*

    12. The feeling of being a kid

    13. Who Amongst Us Could Say? 

    14. Mereology 

    15. I can’t remember the sound of my own voice 

    16. Getting High

    17. Tell a story from your past. Bonus points if you have a person from the story, record on it.

    18. Let's do an instrumental track!

    19. Reimagine one of your songs.

    20. The perfect crime

    21. There's Always Room For Growth

    22. I must be in heaven

    23. Cover a friend’s song. Bonus points: if you make the song completely different

    24. Least bad worst case scenario

    25. Write a holiday song that goes into the difficulties of the holiday season. Bonus points: If you incorporate an instrument or vocal that is out of tune.

  • 1. Drone on

    2. Write a song based on an episode of the Twilight Zone *must incorporate the storyline from 1 specific episode*

    3. Home in

    4. Dress it up in a Monkey Suit (symbolize the emotions)

    5. Master of Two Left Feet

    6. You can’t connect with others, if you're not connected with yourself

    7. The fog

    8. The Way You Say Goodnight Is Like Poetry

    9. Uncommon Combos (using ear-catching words in unusual pairings)

    10. There are a thousand lifetimes in every minute

    11. The age of bewilderment

    12. Take a song of yours (preferably pre-game) and give it a 2023 update

    13. Song is the awareness of time

    14. 3rd Act Problems

    15. You can always pick it up again (it gets lighter)

    16. My Love For You Is Not Fake News

    17. Dependent Co-arising

    18. Do You Trust Reason Over Feelings?

    19. 200 songs? 200 songs! "Keep on keeping on"

    20. Where do you see yourself in ten years?

    21. False starts and dead ends

    22. Write a song from the perspective of a character in a horror movie. Note: Use one specific character from one movie, it's ok to use one that is in a franchise but focus on telling their story.

    23. Kombucha Moonshine Apple Pie (write a song with nonsense lyrics)

    24. The same things you love, are the same things that will kill you!

    25. “In the land of Memory, the time is always Now” -Stephen King

    26. Another year over, and a new one just begun!

  • 1. Get specific: add some particulars, interesting details, and other distinct images

    2. Heading back to… (any city or town*) *it can be a fictional town or city

    3. Waking Up

    4. Bury the lede

    5. A song about a mythical creature

    6. The paradox of choice

    7. That one word ________

    8. Spring is here!

    9. "All My Old Haunts"

    10. Graduation | Move In/Out

    11. But what will people say?

    12. Mystery

         Fantasy

             Prophecy

                       History

    13. Last Good Weekend

    14. Feature a place with a memorable/ironic/funny name

    15. Object around the house

    16. Songs I Didn’t Write