Gently Down The Stream

“Stream of consciousness”: a form of writing literary style where thoughts, feelings, and reactions flow uninterrupted by objective description or other phrasing (e.g., dialogue). We’ve probably all done this kind of writing in high school English class. Ramblin', babblin’, seemingly unconnected words flowing out of our pen and onto the page.

Can lyrics be derived from a stream of consciousness approach? You betcha. Let me bring forth a couple of examples of stream of consciousness (S.O.C.) songs by well-known artists and examine why I think they work.

First is one that was a hit for the Georgia-based band R.E.M. called It's The End Of The World As We Know It.

If you’re an R.E.M. fan, you’re probably tapping your toe and singing along with this song. If not, you’re probably wondering, what the hey is that??? I have to admit that most of the lyrics whiz by me without my ever grasping what they mean. Pretty much a word salad. But somewhere in there are some lines that seem to have a political message; “world serves its own needs”, “a government for hire and a combat site”, etc.

Another example of an S.O.C. song is Loser by Beck.

I really dig this song. The scratchy slide guitar riff at the beginning, the chorus - partly in Spanish! - and the slacker-esque spoken lyrics all add up to one cray-Z song. Talk about stream of consciousness - does anyone have a clue what “Loser” is about? I don’t. And I don’t care!

OK, what makes these songs work, and how might they help the intrepid songwriter who wants to try composing their own S.O.C. song? 

First, despite what seems like a randomness to the lyrics, you get the sense in both songs that there are some underlying themes. But I think the key to both songs being relatable is in their choruses: for the R.E.M. song, the title is repeated three times in the very simple chorus, and they even echo the melody in each line. For the Beck song, it’s again the simple “soy un perdedor, I’m a loser baby, so why don’t you kill me?”. Not anything more.

A word-sodden, lightning-paced, mishmash of random thoughts in the verses followed by the simple chorus gives the listener a moment to take a breath, to maybe ponder for a sec what just flowed by in that rolling stream of consciousness.

Are you ready to dip your toe into the stream?