Song production today, an unusual song about Richard Dadd and fairies. It sounds rather weak at the moment.
I think today that the best way to write songs is the same as developing painting ideas, poems or anything else.
First ensure that you have stock material. So listen to lots of music, ideally random melodies and certainly NOT anything you've created before (this is one reason why bands that perform a lot become poor song writers). Then one evening, exercise (I find this is much better than meditation/relaxing) and you'll probably hum and write the whole song, the important parts anyway, one verse, a chorus, and the other magical third bit in the middle, enough original material. Then, some days later, expand it in the production phase.
For lyric ideas, as with poetry or literature, it's best to picture a scene and describe that image. It makes the process easy. You'll find that the music fits the picture and the mood you're feeling naturally and well. Use of the unconscious is essential.
