There are two things John and I always do when we're going to sit down and write a song. First of all we sit down. Then we think about writing a song.
And some of The Beatles' most well-known songs came very easily, as this website reveals.
John David's account of the composition of his beautiful song You Are The New Day shows how easy it can sometimes be.
The inspiration for New Day was quite simple; I had just had a major blow in my personal life, and was sitting alone late at night on the settee feeling very low, and watching an ominous story on the news about the very real possibility of nuclear war.
I started singing to the (hopefully) soon-to arrive New Day like it was an entity, that would rescue me from the depths. If the sun came up and the birds started singing as usual then I could believe that it really was the new day in which life would go on, and in which hope would survive.
The tune and the words popped into my head at the same time, and it was all written in about 10 minutes, which is why (to me at least) it's not perfect. But I didn't feel I had the right to change anything.
The best performance of this song is undoubtedly by the group who made it famous - The King's Singers. But the video below has 2 minutes and 10 seconds of chat before the fun begins.
This very good performance by Marchmont St Giles' Church choir begins immediately.
