song lyrics

  • Thread starter Thread starter ollie99
  • Start date Start date
ollie99

ollie99

New member
I've written many songs in the past, sometimes including lyrics, but recently me and my band have written lyrics for a song all together, and me and my friend also wrote lyrics to one of my songs and it took a lot longer than when I'm doing it on my own. does anyone else get this?
On my own I can write lyrics to a song in about 15 minutes to half an hour, but when I'm with other people it can often take about half an hour to write 15 words!
 
There are many ways to look at this. In fact i think most bands experience this issue. If you think you are much more efficient, then by all means go ahead and cement your position as the songwriter. They are your bandmates so i am sure they will be fine if you need to work in your own way.

However! Always show them your work and accept their feedback with an open mind. If you have some strengths that they don't, then they must have something to offer too. That's the power of being in a band.

I quote you an example. Slash almost threw away "Sweet Child" because he thought it was a sissy ballad. But Axl saw the potential and gave it a go. I need not explain what happened to it.

So embrace the songwriting process however it is! Rock on =)
 
Longer, but was it better? Did the end result make it worth it? Did being collaborative help you &/or them?
In the end it does come down to the song: is it better for the time taken & the collaboration undertaken?
 
to be honest, I wish more songs were instrumental so that people would respect other aspects of music other than the vocals, and that way more people would see how much more interesting songs varying from metal to country are compared to pop music, RnB, rap and all that stuff
 
Instrumental melodies have to be pretty good to compete with a melody that has words attached.
The world of music has a whole lot of brillaint instrumental melodies and a plethora of poor vocal melodies with shoddy lyrics but the latter resonated better than the former with large swathes of the populous for very complicated reasons.
 
I can't really comment on the collaboration side of things too much, but I do know that someone else's line as a starting point can spark ideas that otherwise might have remained unwritten. The point I'm really picking up on here is the mention of the music having particular qualities in respect of geographic and individual approach and the respect for it in its own right beyond being only a platform for vocals.

It's a point I totally agree with and think that expression through the arrangement and performance of instrument playing is often sacrificed to the point that it is a hurdle to be overcome in a work like way to arrive at a point where the vocals can find the spotlight. Maybe it's partly a desire to appeal to a musician's perceived favoured audience where-by they'd like to fit into a scene of their own choosing.

I guess family have a part to play and the musicians formative influences in a lot of cases do shape what comes next, I'd go as far as to say that a sign of modern times in many parts of the world is the preference to jump on a bandwagon or follow a style which someone else has delivered to good effect which has influenced an artist to a degree which compels them to aspire to the way they themselves were touched by that experience.

I know I've certainly put instrument sounds into arrangements because it seemed to be the done thing if one is to make an effort to have the music identifiable instantly as leaning towards a genre. I also know I shun the genre aspect in a very conscious way and as I progress in becoming a recording artist due to my having a home studio to enable me to turn my ideas into finished articles, I'm adopting a do what I like and to hell with working within an initial set of boundaries approach which does leave me unable to answer a what kind of music do you play/create question. Global awareness is enlightening in respect of experiencing music which has tradition woven into it and it's appeal through different scale types and melodic allure through its intrigue does invite emulation, especially if a musician has no actual experience or awareness of what their local/inherited musical history is made up of.

Certainly a point worthy of some exploration and you've made me think a lot with your comment, so thank you.

regards

Tim
 
ollie99 said:
On my own I can write lyrics to a song in about 15 minutes to half an hour, but when I'm with other people it can often take about half an hour to write 15 words!
Click to expand...

When people are collaborating, things can take a lot longer, because you have to accommodate a multitude of ideas and opinions.

However, a measure of song-writing success is not how fast it takes, but the quality of the result.
 
A bit like the old joke of designing a horse by a committee! A small chance that it turns out passable, but the odds are that one guy on his own will be responsible for any outstanding ones.
 
I've heard many singer/songwriter types say something like "a good song should take less that 20 minutes to write" or something like that. But I guess if you are working with 3 other people it's 20 minutes times 4.

The only time I wrote song lyrics with other people (as in simultaneously, in the same room - not back and forth via email) I ended up doing 90% of it myself while 1 person did nothing and the other made a few suggestions. I thought it would be fun to try writing as a group, but after half an hour I hated it. It just reminded me of being back in school doing a "group project" where there's always that one person who never shows up, one person who does most of the work, one person who gives the presentation, and the few who might be involved in the discussion on some token level (i.e. "I bought the poster board and markers for the charts.")

I should also add that I have had great experiences with "songwriting retreats" and writing music with other people, but not so much with lyrics. Unless it's "exquisite corpse" style, where everyone writes their own section to fit with the preceding one.
 
airbagtester said:
I've heard many singer/songwriter types say something like "a good song should take less that 20 minutes to write" or something like that. But I guess if you are working with 3 other people it's 20 minutes times 4.
Click to expand...

That's interesting, considering we wrote a new song and our band has 5 members including me, and it took us about 3 hours just to get a theme and write the first verse!
 
I tend to think that lyrics work best when written by one person, but in a band situation listening to what others have to say and making changes if you think they improve the lyric, but also having the absolute right to say "No, it stays as is".

The band, however, also have the absolute right not to play the song, as well.

The music is a different thing - band members usually bring their own bits and pieces to the music - in particular if it's simplistic rock/pop music this is often a good thing.

I don't get how someone can bring a set of lyrics, vocal melody and a basic and a much used chord sequence along, and then have their band turn it into a great piece of music by their musical contributions by way of melody, dynamics etc. and still claim total 100% songwriting credit.
 
Armistice said:
I tend to think that lyrics work best when written by one person, but in a band situation listening to what others have to say and making changes if you think they improve the lyric, but also having the absolute right to say "No, it stays as is".

The band, however, also have the absolute right not to play the song, as well.

The music is a different thing - band members usually bring their own bits and pieces to the music - in particular if it's simplistic rock/pop music this is often a good thing.

I don't get how someone can bring a set of lyrics, vocal melody and a basic and a much used chord sequence along, and then have their band turn it into a great piece of music by their musical contributions by way of melody, dynamics etc. and still claim total 100% songwriting credit.
Click to expand...

I don't know if this is exactly what you meant, but yeah when writing the music for a simple rock song then people doing different parts isnt going to make much difference, where as if a person wants to make a song which is a lot more than that and they really want the parts to blend and the music, not the lyrics, to tell a story in itself then I think it is much better for one person to do that
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top