How to write lyrics - (ideas?)

M

misterx

New member
Here's how I write lyrics:

1) Write a short story about the song, no structure or ryhmes at this point. Just a story, from start to finish.

2) Generate a list of key phrases, key words, from your story.

3) Finally start to think about it as a song. At this point I usually have enough information to start generating actual song lines. A singer's rhyming dictionary is always near by. :)

Any other tips to add or subtract to??
 
Everyone does it differently.

I play music about three to six hours a day.
Somedays, I play stuff along with tapes I've made.
Other days I feel 'free' like. Like I want to explore new areas.

We all have favorite chord progressions, ie: I, III, IV.
One thing that may help is to switch things around.
I, IV, VI, III.

Pick at it, strum it, add some effects and crank it. What ever my mood is, I do.

If you have a drum machine, some drum loops, a metronome, what ever, that helps give some soul or structure. You ever walk down the road and find yourself humming in beat with your steps? Same thing.

Once I've got the rhythm meshed with my feelings and mood, I begin the melody, and if I'm lucky, the lyrics flow with no prodding.


Soon I run out of creative gas, and begin to slow down. At that point I stop what I'm doing and play something else. It's tiring for me, in a way. It's fun, it's efffortless work, but it wears me down after a while. Ten minutes, an hours.

I come back later and begin adding, editing, deleting and rearranging the lyrics and music. Tools are required. Something to make music, paper, pencil, text editor, cassett recorder cuz I tape all my practice sessions, rhyming dictionary, etc.

That's kinda basic, but pretty much how I work on a song.
 
"and if I'm lucky, the lyrics flow with no prodding..."
Well, that was a cool expression how you get your music flowing, but what about the lyrics? They just "flow" with no prodding? For me, lyrics are much harder to start flowing, hence the method outlined in my first post. You indeed are very lucky if your lyrics flow fluidly from your brain to paper. Much more difficult for me.... :(
 
I am a master lyricist, I shall say this only once

no, just kidding,

but I have found that my favorite lyrics are those that you can say without singing and in some way believe them or believe that you can actually say them.

So thats how I write lyrics. Start talking.
 
I'm mainly a lyrcist and write words to a tune that I hear in my head which gives me the meter and a parameter to write within. Once I've got a completed draft of the lyrics I make the decision whether I want to try to compose the music or give it to a composer or co-writer.

If I decide to compose music for it, I basically also start a re-write or editing of the lyrics because I am rarely able to duplicate the music in my head which I wrote the lyrics to. Sometimes I come up with a totally revamped song unlike what I originally wrote and sometimes I get something pretty close to what I had in mind.

For the past 7 years I write pretty much full time and try to treat it like a real job by allotting so many hours per day to doing nothing but writing songs and music. I think that's a good idea, but some of my best songs have been written outside of that time frame. I also spend a lot of time transcribing music which I think helps the writing process. Take a song you like or one that's getting a lot of radio play and break it down to see how it works and then write a chart of it in your own style; basically re-arranging the song. This I think helps more than anything else I do, except for reading which prompts a lot of good ideas for lyrics.
 
misterx.
To illustrate the difference between ways people write songs/lyrics,
I cannot write the lyrics, then add the music.
I've tried many times, but there lacks that bonding, relationship, between lyrics and music when I'm finished. The song usually ends up just laying around on a cassette someplace.

For me, the mesh between music and lyrics come together at the time I do it the first time. I have no idea why I do it this way. Likewise, I have no idea why anyone would do it any other way. :) Heck, it works for me.

I can't write lyrics every time I pick up an insturment either.

I always use a cassette tape when I practice or create as song.
In the past I've found that when I stop playing to write it down on paper, I loose the flow/idea/feel.

When I feel I have something worth my time to go back over, I then spend some time working with it. Sometimes it isn't as good as it sounded when I first played it.
I toss it.
If I find that it has something that can be developed, I save it to another tape. I have alot of unfinished songs this way. Then when the mood hits me to edit the lyrics, I pick a song at random, ususally, and work in it.

By recording it onto cassette first thing, I don't forget the melody that got my attention right off, that I so easily forget if I don't record it. Same for the words and the music.
I'm comfortable writing a song this way.

During the editing portion of my songwriting, I feel very comfortable adjusting the music, finding a special chord for that certin word, fixing a dull spot in the melody. There is no problem doing that anytime. The lyrics are my stumbling block. If I don't get them pointed in the right direction when I play the music, I have a problem. In other words, I have to have the music/lyrics and the mood all at the same time.

I still have fun though.


Peter.

If I decide to compose music for it, I basically also start a re-write or editing of the lyrics because I am rarely able to duplicate the music in my head which I wrote the lyrics to. Sometimes I come up with a totally revamped song unlike what I originally wrote and sometimes I get something pretty close to what I had in mind
Click to expand...

This is what I can't do.
A complete different way of writing than I do.
My way, I know is quite limited and confining, but I'm more of a musician than a songwriter. Maybe that's my problem. :eek:

Another thing I do is carry a small mini cassette recorder with me all the time. Driving, in a store, in the forest or on the toilet, I can hum a tune and the lyrics I just thought of, then fiddle with it later. Doing this, I usually only have the music, then I can fit in the lyrics on the fly.

I've taken songs apart also. Some interesting things tucked away in some styles of songwriters.
 
i never try to write lyrics....all day long (almost) i walk around humming to myself, experimenting with little melodies and from time to time a lyric will just pop into my mind....that gets the gears turning.......from there usually at least 50% of the lyrics that end up in the final song come in the next 10 minutes......
 
Depends on your style. I go both ways (so to speak). Sometimes the lyrics come and I must find the music. Other times, I will let a newfound chord progression or chord "mood" lend its hand at writting the words. I think it is important to not babble in the end but babble all you want will in the process of writting. I hear allot of songs that never decided what they wanted to say, that never had a point.
I loved Badgas statement that you get tired and drained and must step away for a bit. For me, this is usually a good sign that I'm getting somewhere and satisfying things are to come if I step back and don't force anything. Keeping in mind that, when you step back, you don't step too far away. Even if you work on another song or scales or anything to keep yourself in the circle of music, you must dedicate a degree of attention to the craft.


So much for that rambling editorial.

Peace, progressions and nubile inspirations

Theron.
 
For me the songs write themselves. (shrug) I know better than to try and force it. When I have a good idea I can hardly put it down. When I don't there is nothing I can do but something else.

The upside is that I love all the songs I write. They all have real meaning for me. The downside is that I'll go for long periods of time without writing anything- and feel pretty bad about it. That ususally means that something else is wrong for me, anyway. Its a good indicator.

I'm with Gidge, though- I'll hum or sing sylables to a melody for hours/days until the words start coming and that becomes the seed for the lyrics. Then the music and the words evolve together- with a little help from cubase.

Take care,
Chris
 
Badgas' remark about being more a musician than a writer strikes a nerve with me because I've always thought of myself as a songwriter and not a musician. It seems like everything I have learned in the last 25 years musically was for the purpose of being able to write better songs. In that way I feel limited because I'm really not a very good musician in the sense of improvising or playing with other people.

As for the manner or method of writing I'm all for going with what works for you. I work with an awful lot of co-writers because my lyric output is leaps and bounds beyond my composition output and they all have their unique way of writing and working, which is almost always different than mine. Most of the co-writers I work with are young because 1) I'm a dinosaur; 2) it's the younger up and coming groups that are looking for material and I've found them to be better musicicans and composers than lyricists. I think the way things are now with all the writer lay-offs in Nashville and Los Angeles it's a good idea to be as flexible as possible in how, when, where and who you are willing to work with.

I'm not a singer/songwriter; all I do is write, so I figure if somebody wants to stand on their head while composing on a midi keyboard I'd best learn not to laugh out loud. Happy Writing.
 
Chris just capsulated what I was trying to say in five-hundred words or more, "I know better to try and force it."

We all have our little things that work for us, but it's sure nice to hear other peoples little habits and tricks.

For years, I wrote a song and that was it. No editing, no asking help from anyone. Since I came here I've redone about twenty-five of my old songs, because I picked up an idea or two from you guys.
The songs I write now, in my estimation, are a lot better than what I wrote even two years ago.

Sorry I don't remember who I got what tip from, but,,,,
Thanks guys.
 
Writing Lyrics!!!!!!

I write alot of songs. English literature, creative writing, and literary theory were my specialties at university. I write for a newspaper (for personal reasons I won't disclose which one, but it is major). That being said, I don't place much emphasis on the lyrics in a song, but thats just personal preference. I'm more of a fan of the stream-of-consciousness sort of writing style (Dylan, Lennon etc.) I mean, who am I to pass off song lyrics as something more than what they are---song lyrics. I leave that to other forms of writing i.e: essays, critiques, dialectics et al. Here is a suggestion for writing lyrics that you might not usually come up with: ....try writing with your wrong hand. I know it sounds crazy, but it can work. What happens when you write with your wrong hand is you access the part of the brain that you usually don't access. In other words if you write with your right hand you usually access the left part of your brain....If you try switching hands you will access the other side...you can come up with lyrics you normally wouldn't think about. For the record, the right side of the brain is the "creative-abstract" cognitive function. The left side of your brain is the more "logical-reasoning" cognitive function. Hey, give it a shot it works for me.
 
i find that i start with a chord progression or riff or something, then start working out a tune over it, which pretty quickly starts to lock into some syllable sounds.

before long, i have a line or two; then i struggle to write more with the same meter! I have found, tho, that it helps to get your few 'naturally formed' lines, take the feel of the progression, and just write; free-form; on the topic. You can then harvest the best lyrics and chop them into shape! THis can give a rather 'stream-of-conciousness' vibe, but if its good enough for Bob Dylan, it'll do for me!
 
while we're at it, i'll offer my $0.02

Guitar first (my mother tongue), then when the song has structure i'll play with the melody by humming and mumbling whatever words come into my head until I notice a little melody that fits. I'll play with it and thresh it out until i'm relatively happy with the melody.

its during this part that whilst concentrating on the melody i usually stumble across phrases or words that fit a part of the emerging meldoy/structure. I'll write these down and use them to form a skeleton of the lyrics. Then i concentrate on the lyrics and complete and revise them until satisfied.

For me: compared to other approaches, this yields songs where the lyrics (particularly their meter) melody and structure of the song mesh together nicely.


phosphor
 
Well... I've written aboot 70 songs in all (completed songs,.. not counting the ones I never bothered to finish cause they sucked so bad :p ) And I wish I could tell you a formula to write good lyrics... but I don't think there is one...

95% of my songs come all at once. I'll be playing guitar,... I'll run across a chord structure or a lick or what have you,.. I'll find the "mood" that the guitar part tends to convey, I'll pull oat my handy-dandy song-writing pen and then,... **barf**... the song's done.. :p

I have had success once or twice with taking a single lyrical line and writing a song around it.. or taking a whole set of lyrics and putting them to music... and a couple times I've used old lyrics from songs I wasn't happy with and combine them with new lyrics/chords to form a much better song.... but mostly, it's just spontaneous inspiration.

I think I like it that way... I mean,.. I never have to "force" a song out... that way, I don't have any "still-births" or "miscarriages" (for lack of better (and more tasteful) analogies) I've gone for, I think, a year and a half before without writing a single new song, but I didn't sweat it.. eventually, it comes around again. You just have to be patient sometimes.

WATYF
 
I usually just write from my personal experiences.

I have one interesting story. I was contacted by an agent about a movie being filmed in Jacksonville, Fl called Initmate Strangers.

They were looking for a theme song for the film and the agent asked if I would have a go at it.

There only information I had was that it was about two strangers who meet and have an affair but it ended in sorrow.

I proceeded to write a (what I consider) to be a very beautiful ballad ablout these 2 unlikely lovers who must part after one night because the belong to someone else.

Once submitted to the agent it all seemed great and it was submitted to the producer of the film.

Unfortunately the film was actually about 2 people who met and had a breif affair that night and the guy ended up killing the female. Not quite what I had written about.

Not surprising it was rejected but with a note saying they really liked the song.

Later.
 
poem of two cents

In the subject of songwriting
lyrics are a bitch to master,
sometimes they seem to be blocked,
but at times they come out faster.

Write them down while they're still fresh,
churning thoughts inside your brain.
Don't delay or you'll forget
that main verse or its refrain.

You write down just what you think
when you feel the mood is right.
Jot down thoughts, a phrase, a rhyme,
even in the dead of night.

Sometimes when you are relaxed,
or daydreaming in your den,
you will surely find that words
flow more freely from your pen.

Or like I am doing now,
and for the immediate future,
when I change the mighty pen
for the keys of my computer!

Hope you find your inspiration,
(if writer's block's not your damnation!).
 
I'm a genius

I write music with the greatest of ease,
I write lyrics that remind me of cheese.

The music part is easy for me. Every note I compose is heaven sent. I have to do lyrics the hard way: write, rewrite, trash, edit, rewrite, start over, get tired and put the song away for a few months, try again, rewrite some more, etc. and eventually come up with something that almost does the music justice.
Occasionally thr lyrics come easily...those are the songs that turn out the best...the ones that are a piece of cake to write.

Tucci
 
For me, music is one side of the brain and lyrics are the other. I can rarely write music and have the lyrics come out with it. All the music does is give me the meter.

Actually, I listen to stuff I wrote and can't remember how I arrived at the lyrics. I kind of go into a zone of some kind.

I like what you say, misterx. Thats a good way to get a handle on what you want to say. I like CyanJaguar's comment too. I think thats right on the money. Actually, a lot of great comments here. I think it is different from person to person. You just have to find a way that works best for you.

Don't forget, if writing great songs was easy, everybody would be doing it. Its luck, inspiration, craft, skill, dedication and motivation--all in varying degrees.
 
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