Lucinda Williams – HuffPost 3.15.10
[Note: During this interview with Lucinda Williams, she offered some insights into her creative process that might be useful for artists.]Mike Ragogna: What’s your creative process like?
Lucinda Williams: A therapist told me one time, “Don’t worry about it, you’re working on a J-Curve.” That’s how I wrote all the songs for West, I ended up just writing and writing. And when I was writing songs for Essence, I was kind of going along, and Frank said, “You know, it’s starting to get to that time,” and I was like, “Yeah, yeah.” Then all of a sudden, I just broke out my folder of stuff and sat there for ten days straight.
MR: So, it just happens when it hits you.
LW: I don’t get up and write every day from noon to whenever. For me, once I get an idea for a song, then I’m fine, then I’m okay. It’s just a matter of time before I get in that space to sit down and thrash it out. The time to worry is when you’re NOT getting ideas or are inspired. Like the other night, we went out to see these artists who were in town at this little place called The Bootleg. We saw them, then there was this guy who played after them who we didn’t know anything about. He was really good and inspiring, it was so refreshing to be inspired by an artist. Nobody knows who he is, he doesn’t have a manager, he doesn’t have a label, and he’s playing guitar and harmonica with a vibe and a presence and something to say.
MR: What are the mechanics of your songwriting process?
LW: I get the skeletons of the songs and the melody. First, I get the idea, then I get a hook. Then I’ve got some skeleton with the lyrics, and then it’s just a matter of filling it in. You know, it’s just like journalism, I think. I approach songwriting that way.
MR: Yeah, I think you’re right on. It comes from a similar spot, it’s that same place.
LW: You know, besides being a poet, my dad was an editor. He taught creative writing, and he was my first editor. He was my first teacher, really, my mentor. When I first started writing songs, I showed him what I was doing. He taught me about the economics of writing, how not to use the same words over and over again. At a certain point, I stopped showing him everything. (laughs) When I was doing Car Wheels…, I was still showing him the songs, and I was trying to finish “Lake Charles”–I had been working on that for some months. I was trying to figure out the chorus where it says, “Did an angel whisper in your ear…,” and my dad said, “I really think you should use another word besides ‘angel.’ You’ve already used ‘angel’ in ‘Drunken Angel,’ can’t you think of something else? The ‘devil’ or something?” And I said, “Okay,” and it was back to the drawing board ’til finally I said, “I’m just going to stay with ‘angel.’” I said, “Dad, it’s just gotta be this, nothing else is gonna work,” and he said, “Okay, but you’ve used it up. You can’t use it again.” (laughs)