How to write songs, when you have absolutely nothing to write about?

timtimtim said:
Anyway music is not about lyrics, music is about harmony, counterpoint, incredible sounds, etc. Lyrics are just an add-on which can sometimes enhance the music. No true musician would think too much about lyrics. Lyrics are words, and music is anything but words! If you're a musician, just experiment with playing some wierd chord combinations, strange harmonies, beautiful melodies enhanced by emotional backing chords. That's what music is all about, not words.
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There are a lot of writers of folk music, rap music, theatrical music, etc etc that might disagree with you.
 
The Irrelevant elephant.

Armistice said:
Say what????
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Sillybee has achieved the objective of many terrorists ~ confusion. Every weirdly worded post has one thinking, is it a bee alias ? Or a pretender to the throne, a copycat slayer inspired by him ?
There again, who cares ?
 
grimtraveller said:
Sillybee has achieved the objective of many terrorists ~ confusion. Every weirdly worded post has one thinking, is it a bee alias ? Or a pretender to the throne, a copycat slayer inspired by him ?
There again, who cares ?
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True... in this case I think it's more likely a 13 year old in Kazakhstan mis-typing into Google translate... :)

Find the girl for music writing.... hmmm... actually I write less music when I've found the girl than when I haven't... it's a time thing, if nothing else... :laughings:
 
Kinda surprised no one mentioned using newspaper articles as source material for songs. Many an overheard conversation at a bus stop, or a supermarket has formed the basis for a song as well. Carry a notebook with you at ALL times. TALK to random people on the street, people LOVE to tell other people about their struggles, vices, love life, work life, etc. Write about what you know, don't try to make a gangsta rap record if you've never known the life. Inspiration strikes when it pleases, and if you don't get good ideas down immediately, you'll stand a good chance of losing them forever. There are a TON of good books out there about the songwriting process, and all of them are pretty straight on the fact that it is a CRAFT, and as such, must be developed and trained. Rhyming dictionaries and a good thesaurus can help out as well. Books on American slang and colloquialisms are fun as well. Read a lot, write more, and understand that for every great song written, an artist writes a thousand mediocre songs. No exceptions to that rule, that I've found, anyways. I realize the OP has abandoned this thread, but hey, someone might find something of value in my words. :)
 
I'd disagree with this;
Turtleface said:
Write about what you know, don't try to make a gangsta rap record if you've never known the life.
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because of that;

Turtleface said:
The songwriting process, is a CRAFT, and as such, must be developed and trained.
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the rest of Turtleface's post was pretty sound though. Loads of great songs had as their original inspiration, stories in the papers or stories that people had been told or heard.
 
Cool story bro.


I wish people would stop calling songwriting a "craft". It's not a fucking craft. A craft requires skill. Songwriting doesn't. You can't be a good or bad songwriter because it's completely subjective. One man's least favorite song will be another man's favorite. There are no good or bad songs. They are just songs. Write whatever you want.
 
I find it easy to write songs about nothing, I just go by the old Gillan/ Glover method, the words have to sound cool. (meaning they sound natural to the beat and the melody they are sung in).

I like getting my tune together, with the chords, beat and a quick structure, I then just sing what ever comes into my mind on the spot, most of these lyrics becomes pretty weird and strange, sometimes even cool by accident.
After a few attempts familiarizing yourself with the song, record it, with you singing whatever comes to mind, usually some of the made up lyrics you sung stick to you mind.

Once you play it back, start writing down the lyrics.
Then start swapping your misplaced words with words more fitting, it usually helps that they sound the same.
 
Greg_L said:
Cool story bro.


I wish people would stop calling songwriting a "craft". It's not a fucking craft. A craft requires skill. Songwriting doesn't. You can't be a good or bad songwriter because it's completely subjective. One man's least favorite song will be another man's favorite. There are no good or bad songs. They are just songs. Write whatever you want.
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Do you seriously believe this, or is this something you tell yourself to get through the day?
 
With respect to any musical equipment... all that matters is YOU... a musician/artist will get something out of anything/nothing...

Same with writing songs, if you are a songwriter you WILL have something to write about.

In fact, it's as easy as 1,2,3...

1. Get up early.
2. Work hard.
3. Finish a song ready to perform.
 
hey man i get writes block ALOT, specially with my form of music (Rap and HipHop) so it tends to sound... repetetive. Honestly, keep a notebook, laptop, anything you can wrute at any given time. Im a fairly goofy person so i come up with something all the time and never write it down. Always be ready! Also, depending on your style of music, i would def do a little research as to what others are doing, and do something different and better. Hope this helps a little, but keep at it! Mario never let blocks get in his way >.> haha
 
Toasta Whales said:
Hi... I'm a 17 year old musician struggling to write a set of songs
for the cd I'm currently recording.
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Look at the junk in your room. Write a song about an eraser or
a pencil. A picture on the wall. Your pet. The idiot neighbor.

I just got inspired!
The rug,
I dug
(bongo interlude)
I can't hug it,
(another bongo solo)
so I shrugged it,
(cut loose)
din fug-gut it. (say this while fixated on the fuzzy dice hanging
from your rear view mirror then interject a scream and end with
oh baby or mama)
(start a bongo groove)
Oh yeah,
That fan's a blowing on me... yeah... (it's an electric fan, pervert)
Like a wistful wind... yeah...
Oh yeah...
(flute solo with bongos)
Repeat with feeling... (these are instructions but you can sing it)
Repeat with feeling...

If that doesn't work then beat your head against a brick wall
or take a trip on a bus and write about the experience. Which
ever hurts more.
 
Well im really no expert but i think you always have something to write about... As long as we have emotions we got stuff to write about, you just gotta figure out what you want to say. I find it pointless to write about nothing or about something arbitrairy. For me, my best compositions are the ones with meaning.

But what i do to find the lyrics is just improvise on a certain guitar riff or whatever is gunna be in the song i guess and i just improvise till i get something. Then i listen to the recording, write down what i like and then start again a few days later and in no time ive got a song.
It might be just me, but thats what i believe
 
If you write about something that's pointless it may turn into something that
has a point. The gist is to not limit oneself. Write something about anything.
If we spend our time waiting for inspiration then we may miss the inspiration.

A silly song may create a cool progression or melody that will spark something
unspecified or undetermined. Even a bongo solo.

Don't limit creativity.
 
And because of the way we are as human beings, sometimes we'll write stuff that seems trite and meaningless and it's not till maybe years later that we discover what we meant. The vice is also versa ~ something can seem real deep and pregnant with meaning and be vacuous.
 
I'm also 17 and i have conquered said problem. Also i'm going to arrogantly assume i know what i'm talking about cause i've been complimented on my songs. Don't mean to come across as a dick, im just trying to help.

Anywhat, It doesn't matter that you don't have much to write about--neither do I. what's important is that people THINK you have something to say. When you write a song, it has to be convincing as hell. You could write about murdering someone, and if you do it right, people aren't gonna care that you didn't actually kill anyone. It'll be a damn cool song.

As for the girl friend situation, be GLAD you don't have a girl to write about, unless you're trying to write a love song. Lack of emotional bombardment makes you clear headed, and you can focus on writing a tune that's funny, or at least entertaining, because a lot of songs about girls tend to come out self directed, and boring. and cliche.
I swear, for every song i've kept, there are 5 i toss out. because they don't come across as honest. Your unique voice has to come through.
Here's a verse of one of my songs. Its already recorded so no taking... copyright ;D

you've got everything you'd ever want so all you care about
is the porsche your god damn mother give's you when you start to pout
maybe you've got the ass of an angel but it won't excuse
this parasitic mind f**k that I never can refuse

did i date a girl like that? no... but it sounds like i did.

I'll give you another example: blink 182. their lyrics are by no means sophisticated. but if you listen to a lot of their songs, they sound like this stuff actually happened to them, so IT WORKS. green day has had a couple tunes recently where i cant figure out what in the f**k they're trying to say. FAIL.


In short, make it honest. Make it YOU. and your songwriting problems will be solved.
 
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