I saw an interview with James Taylor some time back, where he gave advice on songwriting. One piece that stuck with me was this method: He'd take a song he'd like that somebody else had written, and either write new words for it, or a new melody. Then he'd take that new song and write a new melody or new words for it. He'd end up with a completely new song, but building on the old one.
Interesting approach. Not quite the same, but similar, here are Paul's original lyrics for Yesterday: Scrambled eggs Have an omelette with some Muenster cheese Put your dishes in the wash bin please So I can clean the scrambled eggs Join me do There’s a lot of eggs for me and you I’ve got ham and cheese and bacon too So go get two and join me do Fried or sunny side Just aren’t right The mix-bowl begs Quick, go get a pan, and we’ll scramble up some eggs, eggs, eggs, eggs Scrambled eggs Good for breakfast, dinner time or brunch Don’t buy six or twelve, buy a bunch And we’ll have a lunch on scrambled eggs “The song was around for months and months before we finally completed it,” John Lennon remembered. “We made up our minds that only a one-word title would suit; we just couldn’t find the right one. Then one morning Paul woke up and the song and the title were both there, completed. I was sorry in a way, we’d had so many laughs about it.”
Interesting approach, I'll try it as I need a song lyrics for a story (the main character is the musician). I often have some kind of a base I am building on, like a starting point (fairy tales, myths, classics) that inspires me to give my commentary (in the form of story etc) on it.
