by Jim
Well I couldn’t put it all on one list, so here’s #2… these are songs that I do not recommend listening to when trying to write, not without a foreign substance involved (which I also don’t recommend), Again, this is strictly opinion, so don’t get mad if you see your favorite song on here… (If it is on here… seriously though!) 😉
System Of A Down – Chop Suey!
Know that one kid in college who used to blare an annoying song he loved over and over in his dorm room? I was the kid banging on his door yelling STFU because he wouldn’t stop playing this song. It’s not metal, but it’s heavy enough that I couldn’t drown it out, not even with Slayer.
This song is way too distracting for me to get any serious writing done. I never understood what people got from this. It has some impressive drums and guitar riffs, but that’s it.
Macy Gray – I Try
My wife insisted I put this one on the list. I personally don’t have a huge issue with it, but I can’t write to this song. Every time I hear it, it reminds me of a retirement home choir singing. Macy, I’m sorry… you sound like you’re in your 70s.
Norah Jones – Don’t Know Why
There is no talent here. I’m sorry, at least 12 other artists came out around the same time with similar voices. This song seriously puts me to sleep and is mindnumbingly repetitive. ‘Don’t know why I didn’t come…’ well probably because your singing put the guy to sleep so he wasn’t at his best.
Edie Brickell & New Bohemians – Circle
This song was all over the mix stations for a year or two after it came out and really… I can’t for the life of me fathom why. The singing is abysmal, the music is stupid, and the whole thing is just completely unlikable! I get mad when I hear this and turn it off within the first few seconds. I cannot write with rage-inducing music on.
Don’t Care (Original) by Daniela Andrade
This song would have likely slipped under the radar if it weren’t for the fact that YouTube played it as an advertisement during my playlist… so you can imagine, it took me out of what I was trying to do. Not surprisingly, I was not the only one as you can see from many of the angry YouTube comments. Thankfully the YouTube AD algorithms have gotten much better and now I get music that somewhat applies to me interrupting my playlist. Though the occasional rap song still sneaks in now and then. To be fair, that is how I first heard Metalite.
Amy Winehouse – Rehab
The song is bad enough melody and vocal-wise, but to be honest, it almost didn’t make the list as you could literally write pages about the irony of the lyrics…
Yeah someone should have tried harder to get her to go to rehab…
Nickelback – Rockstar
Yeah you knew that one of their songs was going to make it onto this list. These days its almost a required rite of passage for metalheads to hate on Nickelback. This song however… yeah this just proves that the band thinks WAY too highly of themselves. It’s a basic guitar tab that is corporate pandering and completely uninspired. You’re not going to get far writing with this in the background.
Hinder – Lips Of An Angel
I debated putting this one on here… the guitar work in the background is okay I guess… They’re sort of a slightly worse sounding Creed. My problem here is how many people (particularly women) liked this song when it came out. It boggles my mind every time I hear it. No one, again particularly women, should like this song! If they’re thinking clearly the initial thought should be ‘My girl’s in the next room, sometimes I wish she was you!?!? WHAT AN ASSHOLE!’
But Jim, they’re looking at it from the perspective of being the one on the phone.
Uh huh and how often does that work out?
Beyonce – Single Ladies
The amount of times she repeats the chorus line in this song is tooth-grindingly bad. This is the type of thing that bring creative writing to a halt.
Well that’s it. May do another one later on, for now… enjoy…
Readers,
Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.
I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
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Note:
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Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!
-Jim
James Harringtons Creative Work 
I usually can’t write to anything with lyrics, with some very rare exceptions for foreign languages that I don’t speak. So Latin in Faure’s Requiem doesn’t bother me. Or in some trailer music like say “No Strings on Me” from Age of Ultron because it’s brief. But normally, nope. Well one addendum, if it’s a battle/combat scene I’m writing, I might get into it.
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