Narrow your focus to a single moment in time. Most songwriters try to cover too much ground too quickly. This leads to a poor picture usually. As a artist paints with a brush your trying to paint with your words so paint a very detailed picture with your words about a single moment in time.
Pay particular attention to word soundings. I know this is a silly example but never the less it's a great example.
Creyfish and Crawfish. Both spoken in a different way. Creyfish sounds up or high whereas Crawfish sounds deep and low. If your song at that point ends in a high note try a word that ends in a similar fashion. The reverse can also be true. If the song at that point is low try a word that sounds deep and resonating. Advertisers know this instinctively and use it when in every commercial.
Pay attention to your surroundings. You would be extremely surprised at the amount of inspirations comes just from the people around you.
Good Luck. I would like to see what you come up with.
I have the same problem with lyrics as you do Shredd. I have been trying to get some insight into this recently.
As those above mentioned many great songs have goofy lyrics, so it is not always as important as the melody itself.
I try too hard as well to make every lyric a masterpiece and end up with nothing.
I have been trying to just write spontaneously:whatever comes out without any thought to music or melody or cadence and it has helped.
Sometimes you have to let out all the garbadge before the good stuff starts comming along.
I always remember what Hendrixs' engineer Eddie Kramer said about Jimi. He said that part of Jimis' genuis was that he was not afraid to sound bad. He was always reaching and stretching. He would not stick with what he could do easily and so always came up with new exciting ideas.
I also think that we are our own worst critics, so maybe your stuff is better than you think.
I will be watching this topic for anybody elses' good ideas.
Another option is simplicity, consider the Nickleback song \"Figured You Out\", it starts right in your face \" I like your pants around your feet\". If you find the lyrics online, they're actually pretty cheesy, but they work and ahem....have made some serious cash off it!
I switched my mp3 player to random shuffle (4,000 odd songs) and a song came up today that I hadn't listened to far a while. I won't tell you the name of song or band (they rock IMO anyway) but here's the opening lines from the song in question:
\"He's so purity, a shaven and a mourner,
and standing on a Pigeon toe, in his dissarray\"
Now the song rocks but I don't have a f*****g clue what the heck he's singing about! S'pose it doesn't really matter what you sing but rather how it interacts with the music.
I always liked lines such as \"Just a line without a reason\". Always makes me wonder - is that part of the lyrics, or was it just inserted there to rhyme for no other apparent reason?
Then again more screwed up lyrics, you have M.O.D. and Green Jelly \"The Misadventures of S**tman\" is a classic! Half of the heavy death metal stuff you can hardly make out words let alone lyrics so it all depends on how you structure the song.
I find when I'm in a writing frame of mind, I pick up the acoustic and strum a few chords which I think might fit the mood of what I'm trying to get across. For instance minor chords for a somber, introspective mood, or major chords for a more upbeat feel, or mix it up. I generally write in a stream of consciousness(I think thats what you call it) frame of mind. As I said earlier strum a few chords and write down whatever pops into your head no matter how ridiculous it may sound, do this for awhile and you will gradually see an idea start to come together. After that you now have a starting point and the hardest part is behind you, after that you fine tune till you have a finished song. This is what works for me I hope this helps. As with anything practice ,practice ,practice!
Found this paragraph on the web site that was mentioned early(soundonsound) and thought it was a really good idea.
\"Another idea is to use an existing song — yours or somebody else's — as a starting point. You could try, for instance, taking a line from a song and then using the opposite as a starting point (for example, 'Look at the ground', or 'Don't look at the stars', or 'Look away from the stars'...). Alternatively, you could try to write a song on the same subject without using any of the same words, write an 'answer song' in response to it, or try to develop a minor feature or character in the song into the central element of your own. You could even take an incomprehensible lyric from another song, transcribe what you hear phonetically (remember the old TV adverts for Maxell tapes?), then use the results as a starting point.\"
\"Tell me whats a poor boy to do... sept to sing for a rock-n-roll band\" -Mick Jagger in his prime was one of the all time best at rocknroll lyrics.
Bruce springsteen said he covered that song just so he could sing that line.
BoB Dylan- sure hes a crusty ole dude now but OMG the social lyrics that boy wrote. ...how does it feel.
or you can take the high road and write poetry like Neal Pert. There is unrest in the forest there is trouble with the trees for the maples want more sunlight and the oaks ingnore there pleas.
Just some examples of artist Lyrics I admire.
My all time favorite all around musician singer lyrisist is STING. Just pick any tune of his and his lyrics will take you on that ride.
Different people have different ways to go about writing that work for them. You need to find what works for you from all this good input people are giving.
For me I come up with music first and I usually don't put lyrics to it right away. I let it simmer a bit on the back burner.
I go back and listen to it over and over (obviously I record the basic tune first) and let my imagination go free to feel the mood and see what the tune brings to mind.
All my music has to say something. That's just me. It doesn't have to be something I went through but I have to be writing something with some meaning.
Once the inspiration hits, about what the song is about, I start jotting ideas of what I want to say through out. At this point it isn't necessarily poetic but I get down what I want to say. That can be making a point(s) or creating a story about someone or something and it can be written like you would tell someone in normal conversation.
Next I start taking those ideas and try putting things together. It's usually all over the place but I just get the ideas down on paper. I put it in order and change things later.
Eventually I work it down to almost finished lyrics. I say almost because the next step is to record it with lyrics and music and listen over and over seeing if other ways of saying things or other ideas pop in my head.
Sometimes I can sit down and it just rolls out. Other times its a process but the main thing is write.... write.... write down everything you think of without worry about how it sounds or what order it comes. Progressively refine it until you have the finished song.
My thoughts if they help anyone.
(P.S. I've been learning that you don't have to spell everything out. People get ideas of what's being said without every detail spelled out. Especially if you use the music itself to set moods and effect emotion the way you want it to)
Sorry if this has been written already, I'm on my way out & too lazy to look thru the 4 page thread (I'm lame, I know)...
1) \"Write for the garbage can\". Spend a set amount of time every day writing lyrics, and JUST WRITE. NO editing, NO erasing. Don't actually throw the stuff out, but CONSIDER it throwaway. LATER, out of 10 pages of this, you might get 1 good page of ideas & lines. Out of THAT you may get one AWESOME verse. Do that whole thing 3 times and you have an AWESOME song. If you edit while you write, you'll neve get the ball rolling - \"creative time\" and \"critical time\" should stay separate.
2) Have a rhyming dictionary or the rhymezone.com page open, just for ideas. Also have a thesaurus or online page open for that.
Thousands have so called \"made it\" with contracts, tours, websites, record sales, fanclubs, etc. ... but their music and lyrics might not inspire on this forum. Other now 60+year old rockers realize \"words do have meaning\" and influence others. Will the lyrics be something the author comes to regret? http://www.local6.com/spotlight/9637946/detail.html
Comments
Few suggestions comes to mind.
Narrow your focus to a single moment in time. Most songwriters try to cover too much ground too quickly. This leads to a poor picture usually. As a artist paints with a brush your trying to paint with your words so paint a very detailed picture with your words about a single moment in time.
Pay particular attention to word soundings. I know this is a silly example but never the less it's a great example.
Creyfish and Crawfish. Both spoken in a different way. Creyfish sounds up or high whereas Crawfish sounds deep and low. If your song at that point ends in a high note try a word that ends in a similar fashion. The reverse can also be true. If the song at that point is low try a word that sounds deep and resonating. Advertisers know this instinctively and use it when in every commercial.
Pay attention to your surroundings. You would be extremely surprised at the amount of inspirations comes just from the people around you.
Good Luck. I would like to see what you come up with.
Wolfgrim
As those above mentioned many great songs have goofy lyrics, so it is not always as important as the melody itself.
I try too hard as well to make every lyric a masterpiece and end up with nothing.
I have been trying to just write spontaneously:whatever comes out without any thought to music or melody or cadence and it has helped.
Sometimes you have to let out all the garbadge before the good stuff starts comming along.
I always remember what Hendrixs' engineer Eddie Kramer said about Jimi. He said that part of Jimis' genuis was that he was not afraid to sound bad. He was always reaching and stretching. He would not stick with what he could do easily and so always came up with new exciting ideas.
I also think that we are our own worst critics, so maybe your stuff is better than you think.
I will be watching this topic for anybody elses' good ideas.
Keep on making music.......Dan
I switched my mp3 player to random shuffle (4,000 odd songs) and a song came up today that I hadn't listened to far a while. I won't tell you the name of song or band (they rock IMO anyway) but here's the opening lines from the song in question:
\"He's so purity, a shaven and a mourner,
and standing on a Pigeon toe, in his dissarray\"
Now the song rocks but I don't have a f*****g clue what the heck he's singing about! S'pose it doesn't really matter what you sing but rather how it interacts with the music.
TY
shando
\"Another idea is to use an existing song — yours or somebody else's — as a starting point. You could try, for instance, taking a line from a song and then using the opposite as a starting point (for example, 'Look at the ground', or 'Don't look at the stars', or 'Look away from the stars'...). Alternatively, you could try to write a song on the same subject without using any of the same words, write an 'answer song' in response to it, or try to develop a minor feature or character in the song into the central element of your own. You could even take an incomprehensible lyric from another song, transcribe what you hear phonetically (remember the old TV adverts for Maxell tapes?), then use the results as a starting point.\"
Bruce springsteen said he covered that song just so he could sing that line.
BoB Dylan- sure hes a crusty ole dude now but OMG the social lyrics that boy wrote. ...how does it feel.
or you can take the high road and write poetry like Neal Pert. There is unrest in the forest there is trouble with the trees for the maples want more sunlight and the oaks ingnore there pleas.
Just some examples of artist Lyrics I admire.
My all time favorite all around musician singer lyrisist is STING. Just pick any tune of his and his lyrics will take you on that ride.
Just my 2 cents.
For me I come up with music first and I usually don't put lyrics to it right away. I let it simmer a bit on the back burner.
I go back and listen to it over and over (obviously I record the basic tune first) and let my imagination go free to feel the mood and see what the tune brings to mind.
All my music has to say something. That's just me. It doesn't have to be something I went through but I have to be writing something with some meaning.
Once the inspiration hits, about what the song is about, I start jotting ideas of what I want to say through out. At this point it isn't necessarily poetic but I get down what I want to say. That can be making a point(s) or creating a story about someone or something and it can be written like you would tell someone in normal conversation.
Next I start taking those ideas and try putting things together. It's usually all over the place but I just get the ideas down on paper. I put it in order and change things later.
Eventually I work it down to almost finished lyrics. I say almost because the next step is to record it with lyrics and music and listen over and over seeing if other ways of saying things or other ideas pop in my head.
Sometimes I can sit down and it just rolls out. Other times its a process but the main thing is write.... write.... write down everything you think of without worry about how it sounds or what order it comes. Progressively refine it until you have the finished song.
My thoughts if they help anyone.
(P.S. I've been learning that you don't have to spell everything out. People get ideas of what's being said without every detail spelled out. Especially if you use the music itself to set moods and effect emotion the way you want it to)
I love his posts...so I'm sure if he added some notes to that...I'd buy it for a dollar. Unless he added some supermodels...then I'd want it for free.
Only if the \"graphs\" were included :!:
1) \"Write for the garbage can\". Spend a set amount of time every day writing lyrics, and JUST WRITE. NO editing, NO erasing. Don't actually throw the stuff out, but CONSIDER it throwaway. LATER, out of 10 pages of this, you might get 1 good page of ideas & lines. Out of THAT you may get one AWESOME verse. Do that whole thing 3 times and you have an AWESOME song. If you edit while you write, you'll neve get the ball rolling - \"creative time\" and \"critical time\" should stay separate.
2) Have a rhyming dictionary or the rhymezone.com page open, just for ideas. Also have a thesaurus or online page open for that.
http://www.local6.com/spotlight/9637946/detail.html
TY
shando