[FrankHudson]

Well anything can be inspiring. I agree with Pitar so much on the mysteries of the muses, that I then disagree that reading can hurt that. I also hold with the idea that if one "clocks in" wearing one's work clothes, then you're ready when the muse shows up.

I say that even though what comes out from "working on" something directly is often not as good as those things that start as a sideways inspiration (coming as if from "the muses"). Frost's "Stopping by a Woods..." is an example. He wrote that after working all night on a longer poem that is now less-often remembered. Frost might have been working a double-shift, but he was clocked in and had his work clothes on.

I'm partial to poetry for song-writing inspiration in that it's really sort of the same game, and my current project involves combining words (mostly poetry) with various original music. You can even dump any of that stand and deliver what this poem means schoolroom history when reading poetry for songwriting inspiration and get something from it. You be mystified or totally "wrong" about what a poem means and get something from it. Sometimes a line or two can spark off an idea.

For prose, Vonnegut is surprisingly good for this too. He's often aphoristic, and expressing oneself that way works well in a song. And then I'm also probably one of many who've enjoyed making up melodies to the songs in Vonnegut's "Cats Cradle."

I'll also say history and biography can work, particularly if you like to try story songs or songs in characters.