If You Could Read My Mind: From Late-Night Thoughts to AI Songwriting
A couple days ago, a line kept echoing in my head:
“If you could read my mind…”
Not in a spooky way, and not even in the shame-laced way we often think of that idea. What haunted me was something else entirely—what if someone could see the silly, tangled, noble, and self-defeating thoughts I bury every day? The kind of thoughts I rarely say out loud but wish someone else understood.
And that was the spark.
From Poetry to Lyrics with a Little AI Assist
I’ve been writing poetry off and on for a while now, often with the help of AI tools like ChatGPT. I’ve found them surprisingly helpful—not to write for me, but to write with me. For this project, I started with a short conversation, sharing the idea behind the song, and then we built a few verses together.
At first, I thought it would be a fun or quirky piece—silly ideas, self-dialogue, inner monologues. But as we worked, I realized that the real heart of the song wasn’t in the laughter, it was in the tension: the part of me that wants to win and wants others to win too… the quiet self-hurt… the fear of being seen… and the deep hope that I still might be loved anyway.
So I asked ChatGPT to try again. “Less silly,” I said. “More honest. Include the dark stuff, the contradictions.” And that’s when the real lyrics came alive.
We shaped it like a country song, with verses full of tension and a chorus that admits the mess, but keeps standing anyway. Later, I asked for a bridge and outro to round it out. I even considered including rap elements—something raw and rhythmic to capture those inner spirals—but in the end, we kept it mostly acoustic and sincere.
From Lyrics to Music with Suno
Once the lyrics were in place, I moved the project over to Suno AI—a tool that can turn plain text lyrics into full-fledged songs. Yes, seriously. You choose a style, give it a title, paste in your lyrics, and it composes music and vocals for you.
The first version came back in a kind of country-folk style with rich acoustic guitar and gentle vocals. I ran a few different variations—some with wrapped interludes, some more traditional—and I found one I really liked. It wasn’t just a gimmick. It sounded like a real song. And more importantly, it sounded like my story.
If you’re curious how Suno works:
- You sign up and choose a song style.
- You paste in your lyrics in sections (title, verse, chorus, etc.).
- You click “Create” and wait a minute or two.
- It generates a full song with music and vocals you can download or remix.
Here’s the audio file on Sunu if you’d like to check it out. (and another version).
The Final Touch: Video
I’ve also put together a video to accompany the track, adding a visual layer to the story. It’s simple and honest, just like the song. You can check that out on YouTube here:
Why This Matters to Me
This wasn’t just an experiment in AI tools. It was a creative exploration of something deeply personal. I’ve always believed in telling the truth—even the awkward, messy, or contradictory parts—and this project let me do that in a new way.
It’s strange to say, but with the right tools and a bit of clarity, even a machine can help us say the things we didn’t know how to put into words… or melody.
And if you could read my mind?
Now, I guess… you can.
