Writing Lyrics

Does anyone ever write their lyrics as a poem - then write the music?

Slightly related.. I performed the Eagles' Desperado a cappella after first introducing it as "A poem by Don Henley".
 
Does anyone ever write their lyrics as a poem - then write the music?

Slightly related.. I performed the Eagles' Desperado a cappella after first introducing it as "A poem by Don Henley".

I have not, ever. When I write, I'm aiming to pick words and phrases that come naturally from the chord pattern/tempo I'm playing at that moment. Then build around that vocal melody that's developing.
 
I have. A lot when I was younger, not as much now. I keep a notepad and guitar handy so if something comes to mind when I'm watching the TV I can work stuff out. I also walk a couple miles on my lunch break everyday listening on earbuds and the rhythm of walking and just thinking random stuff, along with what is playing often gives me ideas for new musical and lyrical phrases. I carry a notebook to jot stuff down. I also get inspiration when I am riding a motorcycle, though I have to try to memorize ideas that come along, cant exactly write notes while riding. I am not really skilled at the writing to chords and tempo, I tend to find I have to record something first and then work lyrics to fit if I can.
 
Does anyone ever write their lyrics as a poem - then write the music?

Slightly related.. I performed the Eagles' Desperado a cappella after first introducing it as "A poem by Don Henley".

Yes, more or less. The differences to most poetry, is I make sure the lines' lyrical rhythm is consistent, including line lengths and accents and the structure will lend itself to music - most poems don't use choruses or bridges, for example.
 
Does anyone ever write their lyrics as a poem - then write the music?

Slightly related.. I performed the Eagles' Desperado a cappella after first introducing it as "A poem by Don Henley".

Over the years I have done it both ways ...just depends on how the muse hits ya..

Lyrics fall within the world of poetry and musical ideas, melodies are in the realm of music when joined together they become a song.

If I am inspired by something that makes me want to put it into words the words usually come first...but then there is that weird thing with melody / lyric lines that just pop into your head and then the words come afterwards..or at the same time..

all roads lead to Rome but there are a lot of roads to get there from..

Singing Desperado acapella that's pretty unique...sure like them words.
 
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... all roads lead to Rome but there are a lot of roads to get there from..

Hey! That rhymes.. :rolleyes:

Singing Desperado acapella that's pretty unique...sure like them words.

I was in the process of learning the song so I could eventually perform it on acoustic guitar. I had the vocals down pretty good, but was still a bit rough on a couple chords. I was at an open mic and they needed a fill-in and I was "volunteered" - so that's what they got.. they liked it. I returned a couple weeks later and performed it acoustically - that was fun.
 
all roads lead to Rome but there are a lot of roads to get there from..


I have to agree here 100%.

The way I go about it varies depending on the style of song I'm writing, and where I'm at (physically and mentally) when the inspiration for the song hits me. Most of the time a melody will pop into my head and I will begin to think of words and phrases that reflect the atmosphere of the music. Other times I will have a specific story to tell and I'll develop a melody around lyrics I've already started on.

Once I even thought up a tune in my sleep and after I awoke, I wrote down lyrics about....hearing a song in my sleep! :)

There are so many different ways to compose lyrics, and I believe that's part of what gives each song its character.
 
Once I even thought up a tune in my sleep and after I awoke, I wrote down lyrics about....hearing a song in my sleep! :)

I have had several dream songs...the coolest for me was I was in a classroom setting with Natalie Merchant..now I like some of her stuff but it's not like I'm a huge fan..definitely never bought any of her music...but there she was in this dream and each one of us had to see what we could do with this line "Your love drives me crazy" and each of us would go up to the front of the room and give it a shot.... It was a cool melody line we were all working it pretty cool..anyway woke up and went out and made a song out of it...and made a million dollars off of it! :eek: ...OK so maybe no one but me has ever heard it but it is a pretty fun little diddly..

Lyrics

Through out my life...
I've known love
How deep? As deep as the sea
How high? as high as the sky above
In all my life I've never known a love like yours
Never had a love do to me what yours does...
You love drives me crazy
Your love makes me Koo Koo
Your love
Your love
Your love drives me crazy...crazy

repeat this your love line several times doing the style from the dream.... song is done
 
I have had songs/lyrics come to me while sleeping many times, sometimes I have remembered them and worked them out but most time I just have the memory of having come up with something I can no longer remember! One was a couple of verses and a chorus sung by judy Collins and I can only remember ever hearing her sing one song so that was different.
 
I've had one song's lyrics come to me in a dream. The whole song, actually. As soon as I awoke I rushed to write them down and only made it to
the first chorus before it all fizzled away. I thought about finishing it but it came to a quick dead end and I tossed it. Now if I'd have been awake
when this came to me, I'm sure I would have finished it - because I'm sure there would have been a more substantial form of inspiration pushing
it, and I would have had more control over the creative process.
 
I once had the "song in a dream" thing backfire. I was in a local gigging band at the time and I dreamed I had composed a new song for that band and was running through it with them. When I woke up I was able to recall most of it, lyrics and melody. I was pretty excited about it until I played out the melody on my keyboard and realized it was an exact copy of one particular part of Bohemian Rhapsody! :eek:

Although the lyrics were completely original (to the best of my knowledge) and had absolutely nothing to do with the Queen anthem, I was so let down I trashed the whole thing. You can't always trust the subconscious!
 
I once had the "song in a dream" thing backfire. I was in a local gigging band at the time and I dreamed I had composed a new song for that band and was running through it with them. When I woke up I was able to recall most of it, lyrics and melody. I was pretty excited about it until I played out the melody on my keyboard and realized it was an exact copy of one particular part of Bohemian Rhapsody! :eek:

Although the lyrics were completely original (to the best of my knowledge) and had absolutely nothing to do with the Queen anthem, I was so let down I trashed the whole thing. You can't always trust the subconscious!
"Mediocre artists borrow, great artists steal"
 
Weird... I've also had songs appear in dreams. The second I wake up I think it's some amazing tune with the greatest melody, but I either forget it by the time I get the phone recorder or it just wasn't as great as I thought it was in the dream.

But that's really weird, its an entire song completely organized with drums and vocal melody and everything.
 
I think that I have posted once before about my remarkable hypnagogic experience. It didn't result in result in lyrics, but in a classical composition way beyond anything I could compose.

It was back in my uni student days, and the sound was so "present", that I awoke twice to check where it was coming from. But each time I awoke and listened, there was silence.

(Actually, I may have awoken three times).

I was really tired, and, as I flung myself on my student bed and crashed out, I started to hear the most exquisite classical music, which I guess was a "piano concerto" (piano, violins, violas and other strings were present). It immediately woke me up, weary as I was, and I gazed about the room, convinced that I had left some music playing, even though I hardly ever listened to classical music. Total silence! I struggled to keep awake to check if it was a neighbour. Silence. But then, within seconds of my head touching my bed again (I was flung down in the middle) the music was back, loud and clear. That is when it really dawned on me that I was "dreaming" it. This time I awoke, lifted my head again, and counted a few minutes in my drowsy stupor. There was complete silence again. And I figured that the second I started to drift off to sleep again. the music would return. Sure enough, it did. I knew I didn't stand a chance of remembering any of it, or have any means of writing it down, so I just let it play me to sleep. That was totally surreal!
 
Hypnopompic music has been a lot more commonplace for me. I wouldn't call the words "lyrics" though. Usually, it is just a couple of phrases related to the dream. The most memorable was a couple of chords, accompanied by the words. "remember!..........REMEMBER!!" right as the dream closed. I think I was fully conscience as the last couple of notes were still playing.
 
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