I have a theory

PorterhouseMusic

PorterhouseMusic

Mitakuye Oyasin
I theorize that there is little-to-no fast-track for learning to write good lyrics (or songs for that matter). There is no book or class that you can take that is going to suddenly cause one to be good at this. There are no shortcuts. There is no formula, magic dust, or clever advice from someone else that is going to cause one to suddenly be adept. There is no going around or over... there is only going straight through.

There is only doing it. Working at it. Practice, practice, practice. Putting the time in is the only way.

You can say this about a lot of things... but it really applies to lyric and songwriting in a hardcore way - in my opinion.

That's all I have to say about that.
 
PorterhouseMusic said:
I theorize that there is little-to-no fast-track for learning to write good lyrics (or songs for that matter). There is no book or class that you can take that is going to suddenly cause one to be good at this. There are no shortcuts. There is no formula, magic dust, or clever advice from someone else that is going to cause one to suddenly be adept. There is no going around or over... there is only going straight through.

There is only doing it. Working at it. Practice, practice, practice. Putting the time in is the only way.

You can say this about a lot of things... but it really applies to lyric and songwriting in a hardcore way - in my opinion.

That's all I have to say about that.
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Yes. I would say though that a varied vocabulary (often stemming from a wide knowledge/appreciation of literature) is vital to writing lyrics of any level of cleverness 🙃 Either it will help with that or it will speed up the process.

Just another example of the necessity of experience in a field paying off on the long-term spectrum!
 
I pretty much agree with what you're saying because lyric writing does not come easy for me and I have found nothing that makes it much easier. Yeah, I will use Rhymezone and other tools to help with finding a particular word to fit into a verse but nothing that I have ever found that will help tell a story or make lyrics fit with the feel of the music. Then there's coming up with a melody for the vocal which is something that eludes some people that I know that are actually great lyric writers but not good at vocal melody.

I wrote a song recently that needed lyrics (I always write music first) so purely out of curiosity I tried a few AI sites just to see what all the AI fuss is about. The result was horrible and what I got was a bunch of generic rubbish that was completely unusable. Maybe in the future it will be better but For now I don't think lyric writers have much to worry about.
 
markmann said:
I pretty much agree with what you're saying because lyric writing does not come easy for me and I have found nothing that makes it much easier. Yeah, I will use Rhymezone and other tools to help with finding a particular word to fit into a verse but nothing that I have ever found that will help tell a story or make lyrics fit with the feel of the music. Then there's coming up with a melody for the vocal which is something that eludes some people that I know that are actually great lyric writers but not good at vocal melody.

I wrote a song recently that needed lyrics (I always write music first) so purely out of curiosity I tried a few AI sites just to see what all the AI fuss is about. The result was horrible and what I got was a bunch of generic rubbish that was completely unusable. Maybe in the future it will be better but For now I don't think lyric writers have much to worry about.
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Did you end up writing your own lyrics for the song then?
 
Serendipity Records said:
Yes. I would say though that a varied vocabulary (often stemming from a wide knowledge/appreciation of literature) is vital to writing lyrics of any level of cleverness 🙃 Either it will help with that or it will speed up the process.
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Yeah - I think you have a point there. :thumbs up:

So I guess all those Dickens novels (among others) that I read when I was younger may help me in ways other than the enjoyment of his prose.
 
markmann said:
I wrote a song recently that needed lyrics (I always write music first) so purely out of curiosity I tried a few AI sites just to see what all the AI fuss is about. The result was horrible and what I got was a bunch of generic rubbish that was completely unusable.
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Ha! That's interesting! Thanks for the heads up.:thumbs up:
 
PorterhouseMusic said:
Yeah - I think you have a point there. :thumbs up:

So I guess all those Dickens novels (among others) that I read when I was younger may help me in ways other than the enjoyment of his prose.
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For sure. I've found that novelists who also excel at rhymes -- including Dickens, but my fav is Tolkien -- are just incredible wordsmiths. Even without "studying" their writings per se, we can definitely subconsciously absorb plenty of insight on the ins and outs of writing.
 
PorterhouseMusic said:
I theorize that there is little-to-no fast-track for learning to write good lyrics (or songs for that matter). There is no book or class that you can take that is going to suddenly cause one to be good at this. There are no shortcuts. There is no formula, magic dust, or clever advice from someone else that is going to cause one to suddenly be adept. There is no going around or over... there is only going straight through.

There is only doing it. Working at it. Practice, practice, practice. Putting the time in is the only way.

You can say this about a lot of things... but it really applies to lyric and songwriting in a hardcore way - in my opinion.

That's all I have to say about that.
Click to expand...
Right so you are saying what is a fact and has been for hundreds of years - the more you do anything the better you get.
 
Papanate said:
Right so you are saying what is a fact and has been for hundreds of years - the more you do anything the better you get.
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The better you get -- according to the personal standards of intelligent people, yes. But there are plenty of dumb people who have hardly any experience making music who somehow end up on Billboard Top 100.
 
Serendipity Records said:
The better you get -- according to the personal standards of intelligent people, yes. But there are plenty of dumb people who have hardly any experience making music who somehow end up on Billboard Top 100.
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What does that have to do with writing your best lyrics? Top 100 doesn't imply any sort of command of the language - nor is it a sign of lyrical prowess of any sort - in fact I would argue that the stupider the lyrics the better chance it has of scoring - For Example:

Creed 'Arms Wide Open.
Well, I don't know if I'm ready
To be the man I have to be
I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side
We stand in awe, we've created life

‘Closer’ – The Chainsmokers (feat. Halsey)
Hey, I was doing just fine before I met you
I drink too much and that's an issue but I'm okay
Hey, you tell your friends it was nice to meet them
But I hope I never see them again
 
Papanate said:
What does that have to do with writing your best lyrics? Top 100 doesn't imply any sort of command of the language - nor is it a sign of lyrical prowess of any sort - in fact I would argue that the stupider the lyrics the better chance it has of scoring - For Example:

Creed 'Arms Wide Open.
Well, I don't know if I'm ready
To be the man I have to be
I'll take a breath, I'll take her by my side
We stand in awe, we've created life

‘Closer’ – The Chainsmokers (feat. Halsey)
Hey, I was doing just fine before I met you
I drink too much and that's an issue but I'm okay
Hey, you tell your friends it was nice to meet them
But I hope I never see them again
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Well, then they are very, very good at writing lyrics that resonate with their audience :yawn:
 
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