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How Do you write your lyrics Sometimes i just write poems rhyming couplets etc
and structure them with a melody, slightly alerting thier form Call me pretenious but i take heavy thought with my song writing what im currently learning is how to turn a short story premise into a song using a rhyming dictionary etc... Organizing syllable structures etc and sometimes i stop being pretenious and just let it flow but it vary's from time time sometimes i just say unintelligable crap while on the guitar or the piano For me its easier to develop the lyrics and melody than pain the song with differnt colors sounds etc... I hear its popular to write the melody and the instrumental presentation then the song i can never do it that way | |
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I'm with you - sometimes it just flows out of me without much thought until the very last few lines.
But, with story-based lyrics, I'll start out on a blank page and write out the premise of the story in as few words as possible: "boy meets girl with a limp" And from there, I'll then do some free-form writing - just pumping out phrases, thoughts, plot development/twists, whatever that would help in the final writing phase: - step to the right - she was fine but couldn't walk a straight line - in the end he learns it's a wooden leg etc. So THEN, when I'm actually ready to start assembling the lyrics, I have a much more concrete vision of the total song - a beginning, a middle, and an end. Additionally, I know in advance of certain lines that I'd like to have flow in the song - which helps avoid the problem of having three great lines and no possible way to come up with a 4th line that rhymes correctly... as in: "she was fine like a tangerine, a face like an orange, I'd say she was perfect, except for, her _____" uh oh, uh. what rymyes with orange and will fit in that verse? I learned this technique from a book called "Tunesmith" by some big songwriter from the 70's. A lot of his information was pure B.S., like always have perfect rhymes. What a crock. But, so, if you're wanting to write story-based songs, or really any kind of lyrics for that matter, the above tips are VERY useful in coming up with a song that is coherent and flows. Sometimes, we tend to think that our first shot at a song's lyrics will be the best, but I can't stress "refine refine refine" enough. Even after I've had a song for two years, I'm still trying to figure out ways to make the lyrics work better. -- haste editing [Edited 11/9/04 12:20pm] The Last Otan Track: www.funkmusician.com/what.mp3 | |
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otan said: I'm with you - sometimes it just flows out of me without much thought until the very last few lines.
But, with story-based lyrics, I'll start out on a blank page and write out the premise of the story in as few words as possible: "boy meets girl with a limp" And from there, I'll then do some free-form writing - just pumping out phrases, thoughts, plot development/twists, whatever that would help in the final writing phase: - step to the right - she was fine but couldn't walk a straight line - in the end he learns it's a wooden leg etc. So THEN, when I'm actually ready to start assembling the lyrics, I have a much more concrete vision of the total song - a beginning, a middle, and an end. Additionally, I know in advance of certain lines that I'd like to have flow in the song - which helps avoid the problem of having three great lines and no possible way to come up with a 4th line that rhymes correctly... as in: "she was fine like a tangerine, a face like an orange, I'd say she was perfect, except for, her _____" uh oh, uh. what rymyes with orange and will fit in that verse? I learned this technique from a book called "Tunesmith" by some big songwriter from the 70's. A lot of his information was pure B.S., like always have perfect rhymes. What a crock. But, so, if you're wanting to write story-based songs, or really any kind of lyrics for that matter, the above tips are VERY useful in coming up with a song that is coherent and flows. Sometimes, we tend to think that our first shot at a song's lyrics will be the best, but I can't stress "refine refine refine" enough. Even after I've had a song for two years, I'm still trying to figure out ways to make the lyrics work better. -- haste editing [Edited 11/9/04 12:20pm] I basically do it the same way I create a premise sometimes o fthings that are personal Like seeing your lover with another man etc... than i create the main premise it was a monday morning so the premise is Haunted by a repeating monday morning where you where betrayed just write a story, about "Here i am laying on my bed saddened by these painful memories of a betraying lover,the clouds embrace the sadness of the rain, knowing my broken promises on that dreadful monday" than i just create a syllable structure and rhyme scheme usually goes along witha melody of some sort so that begining premise turns into something like "Monday Mornings Always sadden me" Their reminicant of painful memories Clouds are crying with their pouring rain Broken Promises, Why must it be monday" creating an AA/BB rhyme scheme syllable structure 9/11 i find it simple like that or sometimes if it just flows out like Funk Tunes i just mumble nonesense and make something out of it | |
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