Songwriting Saturday

How do I get ideas for writing songs? Sometimes I have a very specific idea, I want to write about a certain experience or try to emulate a certain genre/artist, and I dive right into it. Sometimes, I have a tiny idea, and I take it all the way. One morning I was walking around the house, humming to myself when a little lyric popped up into my head: and to be fair, I've had my share of crying wolf, when one's not there... It came with it's own little tune, and I knew it was too good to pass up. I sat down with my guitar and worked out the chords that would fit behind this little ditty, and began to elaborate.
What came of it was this song about a guy I knew last year; he and I were good friends, and he wanted to be more than that - at the time I had no idea what I wanted, but as soon as I told him I just wasn't interested in him like that, sorry, he became rather cold.
I enjoy writing songs as letters to people. For one, it's rather therapeutic if you are feeling particularly hard-done-by, or, on the other hand, if you're about to explode with happiness and other squealworthy feelings, it's so amazing to turn that into something that you're going to have with you for the rest of your life (or as long as you can remember it!).
Either way, song writing is something that I love. Don't get me wrong, I have written a few songs that I don't share with others because they just aren't that good, but you have to write through the mediocre songs to get to the real gems. I hope you enjoy this one.

Side of You by Olivia Rafferty