"The craetive process is, all at once, easy and complicated."
Well said, Kim C!!

alanabit -- Good point about listening and observing. The stories are out there. Tom Dundee is supremely good at that. songs like "Macbride/Argyle Station Furnished Rooms" and "These Cowboys" are fine examples of his ability to "create a movie" as Jerry put it.

Jerry is quite right about alanabit's songwriting. Jerry's no slouch as a tunesmith either.

One finds the earlier references to Cole porter, Johny Mercer, and the like particularly telling. A good song is a good song; genre' not withstanding. There's much to be learned from all of them (the songs and the writers).