As soon as I read the prompt I knew what I wanted to do. I was going to print lyrics from songs that mean something to me onto paper, tear and collage then stitch onto a fabric base. But what songs, what lyrics? 

I keep my 300+ CD’s in my studio so, in between stitching, I started to pull out and listen to those songs that fill me with joy and sunshine; to those songs that I associate with particular moments in my life; to those songs that are difficult to listen to because of their association with loss; and to those songs on my mental funeral list (we all have one don’t we?). As I listened I read the lyrics and realised that actually the lyrics alone don’t move me – the music has the greater effect. It is the combination that triggers the emotion and the memory. Maybe that is why I don’t read poetry?

But just as I was about to start work on my piece Lisa Walton asked a question about copyright on Facebook – it seems that printing lyrics was not going to be an option unless I got permission from the artists. Given that I had pulled out lyrics from a dozen artists, some well known, that seemed unlikely. Time to rethink.