Writing Lyrics

This thread has helped me to realize that I'm not quite insane or that my insanity appears to be commoner that I believed.:p
 
This thread has helped me to realize that I'm not quite insane or that my insanity appears to be commoner that I believed.:p

Or you are in the "special" place for special people ;) (That is as PC as I can make that statement.)
 
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!


So here's the deal based upon my little myopic world view and life experiences..

When I was a child I had a fever...my hands did not feel like two balloons...but the shit I saw was absolutely terrifying and my Mom was at my side telling me they weren't real...my ass they weren't real...why was she lying to me?
They were flying demons with spears...they were coming down at me...like what we envision as Roman soldiers real gnarly bearded beast with wings...I was probably @ 3 years old...Hellacious experience.

I digress....John Lennon once said something to the effect that there is this cosmic river that some of us are able to tap into where musical ideas are transmitted. At any given time two people across the world from each other may be "turned onto" a musical or artistic idea...or invention....

The word music is derived from the word Muse which in Greek mythology were little cherub like spirits that inspired us musically and artistically.

back in the day when I was learning my keyboard chops on an old upright in my bedroom I swear I felt the presence of a spirit or spirits sitting up on the top of the piano looking down...watching or inspiring ..I don't know but it sure felt real...it was a feeling not something I saw..

None of us have clue how this all came about, how this shit happens or what happens when we expire...but fo sho there seems to be more to this deal than meets the eye.

Back into childhood I would hear amazing symphonies that were "not of this world" every now and then I can tap back into that stuff but sure can't remember it or reproduce it...but the groovy thing about being exposed to it is that our subconscious DOES remember every single second of it and when we can let our "real world senses" back off cool shit can arise.

It only happened once but it was quite awesome...I was @ 25 at the time and my guitarist Dave Macias and I were jamming after practice...there were 20 or so people hanging out watching ..I had written this little diddley specifically to let him show off his shit...It was his first time jamming to it....so we get going and the people are sitting there with their jaws dropped as he takes off...well it just kind of elevated to this unknown territory my eyes were closed and I was playing note for note at lightning speed riffs with him...my fingers were doing shit they had never done...all of sudden I see this white light...pure energy like what people say they see when they die...man if felt so awesome...like touching heaven...then we came back down to earth and stopped and he looked at me and said FUCK! That was telepathic! It truly was ....for a brief moment in space and time we were connected, we were one with the life force that makes all of this crazy illusion possible...least that's what I suspect it was...it was pretty bitchin indeed...

OK so I'm pretty far out there and I recognize that..but for those of us who have touched that hand of God thing it's as real as my Mom saying it wasn't real.
 
Also, to actually contribute to the discussion: I write lyrics like most folks here, I get the hook randomly and I fill in the rest. If the muse is present, the rest is good, if not, the rest sucks. Either way it gets written, I’ll worry about people paying attention to my lyrics after people start paying attention to my songs. :D
 
Also, to actually contribute to the discussion: I write lyrics like most folks here, I get the hook randomly and I fill in the rest. If the muse is present, the rest is good, if not, the rest sucks. Either way it gets written, I’ll worry about people paying attention to my lyrics after people start paying attention to my songs. :D

Hey man I just clicked on your soundcloud...holy shit you've got a little bit work posted there...I'll start paying attention :) No seriously I just kinda clicked through a bunch of em ...a freaking wide brush stroke there Maynard! some really cool stuff...keep em coming!
 
...when we can let our "real world senses" back off...

That does appear to be a common theme in many of these experiences.

But such behaviour comes with a threat to social cohesion. People are, by and large, programmed to "rein in" their "other senses" (giving rein to their "real world senses" may be a more accurate description), resulting in our much valued, but mundane, social regimen swamping and choking our artistic proclivities. The idea of freedom of the mind being considered a threat to society is very thought provoking, in itself. Art is the final bastion of expression, where ideas have been dumped like a toxin in a condemned building.

And, as we reach into that place with tongs, and withdraw constipated fragments of "creativity", is it a wonder that we struggle? Through our own volition, we flee the freedom of our own mind, afraid of the nature of what we think, and what others think of what we think.

Thoughts are whispered and intimated tortuously in the mind games of lyrics, then rupture in a hypnotic skirl of rap words, like a noxious gas through a blown gasket. Or a suppressed infant throwing a tantrum, society's child taking after its parent.
 
That does appear to be a common theme in many of these experiences.

But such behaviour comes with a threat to social cohesion. People are, by and large, programmed to "rein in" their "other senses" (giving rein to their "real world senses" may be a more accurate description), resulting in our much valued, but mundane, social regimen swamping and choking our artistic proclivities. The idea of freedom of the mind being considered a threat to society is very thought provoking, in itself. Art is the final bastion of expression, where ideas have been dumped like a toxin in a condemned building.

And, as we reach into that place with tongs, and withdraw constipated fragments of "creativity", is it a wonder that we struggle? Through our own volition, we flee the freedom of our own mind, afraid of the nature of what we think, and what others think of what we think.

Thoughts are whispered and intimated tortuously in the mind games of lyrics, then rupture in a hypnotic skirl of rap words, like a noxious gas through a blown gasket. Or a suppressed infant throwing a tantrum, society's child taking after its parent.

:cool:
 
Really interesting read here and it seems the consensus amongst a lot of songwriters is that the lyrics come after the music. I am no different. Words fit around the music based on the melody you can hear and hum along to when you've got an instrumental base to grow out from. It's encouraging to hear that a lot of people don't view lyrics particularly importantly - I know there are definitely two camps of people on this. I'm absolutely in the opinion that music conveys emotion and it's through this emotion a song connects to a listener. Sometimes, it is indeed the words that will connect a listener to the song more than anything else. But I think the music has to set that emotive context in the first place. It's definitely an interesting topic. As all "art" is subjective, people can take whatever they want from a set of words or phrase. For me, melody > words.
 
I've done a few songs where the lyrics came first, I really like when that happens!

[edit]
I forgot to add that I've done a couple of songs after reading friends' poetry. Sometimes one just bites you in the ass and you can hear the song as you read the poem. That's a powerful creationary experience, IMO.
[/edit]
 
Last edited:
I too have written some songs that began with the lyrics. Sometimes....all the lyrics and sometimes just a line or two or three. When I write a complete song, with all the lyrics first.........I find I've pretty much written a poem that needs to be set to music.....which is not good for me music wise......for some reason. It seems more confining to me. If I begin with just the music or just a line or two of lyrics......the end result for me is usually more enjoyable. Just my 2 cents worth.
 
Back
Top