Last night, 8:30-ish, J called to ask me for help in writing lyrics.

I told him only what I've heard from NPR interviews with artists who journal their thoughts and then turn them into lyrics.

He esteems Fiona Apple and Maynard Keenan (artists from his generation) who both write cryptic lyrics at times.

I told him for me, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon, Paul Simon, David Crosby, Steven Stills, Neil Young, and James Taylor were my picks for our generation. Sting, Shawn Colvin, and Tori Amos are in there somewhere.

Though he has a keen musical ear, he doesn't have the confidence to throw words on a page (being dyslexic). This has proven to be the one area where he has to work hard and tends to give up out of frustration.

After an hour or so, he figured I gave him enough input and he was going to try.

Do any of you have insights into this?