Alanabit: You've made some excellent points. When I've been in songwriter's workshops at festivals, one of my first bits of advice is "shut up and listen." We all like to feel that we are the fountain of wisdom, insight and sensitivity. Not. Many of the best lines for songs, the best stories, the best imagery, the best humor are all around us in everyday conversations. "Sensitive Singer/songwriters get the deservedly bad rap they get because they think that there is enough profundity in their own life to be the wellspring for endless songs. Some of the songs of mine that have lasted best (for me) are ones that are based on listening and observation. Images that have become songs for me are everyday experiences that it's easy to walk right by and never notice.
See the old man sitting on the stoop of a run-down old hotel, and later when you stop into the Star Cafe, there he is sitting at the table, looking out at the street. It's a ritual he probably follows every day, brightened when someone comes in to the Cafe who says "Hey, Roy, How ya doin?!" And then the lines flow...
"Never thought I'd end up living in a hotel room Lying half-awake all night and sleeping until noon I think I'll walk down to the Star and get a bite to eat Maybe see someone I know, or sit and watch the street."
The stories are all around us. For me, the best song writers are observers who can create a movie in four lines.