Originally Posted by
sodascouts
He came up with an example of not-so-clever vs. clever: "'My baby left me, I'm all alone, I sure am blue.' Now, that's not as interesting as 'An empty glass, an ashtray, a lonely room' - that's more interesting, but it's the same story. Again, it's about spinning a tale, casting a little intrigue out there. I mean, is there anything more interesting than the intro of Phil Collins' 'In the Air Tonight'? That intro comes on, and just the chords, and the dark pad, and you're hooked, you're there. It's not always the lyrics, sometimes it's the mood, but the whole idea is to draw people in. It has to be interesting. It can't just be slop. Like I said, if you find yourself writing cliches or hating the chords that you've written, well, then you keep working and find some good chords. You find another way to do these things. You just keep working."