rrrrrrggggggg (or writers block part 3)

[Layla Nahar]

I sat in my studio (ok, it has a tv) from about 11 in the morning -or even earlier, till about 9 at night with one song. This song consits of 8 lines, (2 quatrains) its all verse, no chorus. After the whole day, all I suceeded in doing was manipulatings those quatrains a bit to nail my "AA B" form -- wow. And I actually pinched the form from another song that I realized was like mine, essentially 8 lines of "story". A whole day, just to rearrange stuff on paper.

So, why do we keep doing this???

 

[joro]

Ya need a hook to tie all that loose story together....to develop your chorus...

That is the hardest part I think.....the common words that tie it all together....ya know?

Good luck....

BTW....

we do it for different reasons I am sure but,....for me....
it is just so cool to finish a song....to be creative.....
to have something of my own that I made.....ya know?

Take it easy,
Joe

 

[limoguy]

Hi Layla,

A novelist can spend 350 pages developing a story from beggining to middle to end, and develope the characters till you know everything about them.

With a song it's a lot harder I think. You have basically twelve lines and a chorus to tell the whole story. Lock the listener in at the first verse so he wants to hear the rest of it, hold his interest through the remainder of the song and say something profound in a way that has never been said before. No small task for sure!

I exerience the same difficulty as you do sometimes. Right now I have what I think is a great song going. I have the first verse, a great lift, and the chorus with the hook in it. Unfortunately I am now stuck trying to figure out what else to say in a second verse that will convey something new so I am not repeating myself.

When this happens I get up and leave it for awhile. The song runs around in my head and once I've had some time to get away from it I usually get what I'm looking for eventually.

We do it because we are compelled to do it. We do it for the love of being able to convey something that is important to us to convey and we feel like we've accomplished something when other people hear it and say..." yeah, I can relate to that!"

Keep at it...it'll come to you!

Limoguy

 

[Layla Nahar]

Thanks to both of you guys.- I appreciate the encouragement. In fact, I will be leaving it again for a little while. Lets see what happens.

 

[limoguy]

And when you're finished....we'd love to see what you have created!

Limoguy

 

[Jagular]

I exerience the same difficulty as you do sometimes. Right now I have what I think is a great song going. I have the first verse, a great lift, and the chorus with the hook in it. Unfortunately I am now stuck trying to figure out what else to say in a second verse that will convey something new so I am not repeating myself.

Verses after the chorus are the toughest part IMHO.

Damn, I wish I could spend all day songwriting. As it is I’m lucky to get a couple hours a few times each week.

G’luck Layla – You’ll get over it

 

[limoguy]

I'm with you on that Jag. Sometimes the first verse makes a better second verse! LOL

I'm a little luckier, I have all monday to write, plus time at work at night when it's slow and there's nuthin to do. But yeah...I wish I could do nothing but write full time!

Cheers!

Limoguy

 

[Cyrokk]

I find that a good way to really reel a listener in is to leave stuff out. Us songwriters have an advantage over the novelist: we don't need to use complete sentences. We can string groups of words together to draw the listener to exactly the point we are trying to make.

Usually my lyrics start off sounding awkward because they are too wordy. Dropping a few out can make a huge difference.

Too me though, the most difficult part about songwriting is hammering out the last one or two quality words. I sometimes spend months trying to find the right word to fit, only later to completely replace the lyrical phrase with something else.

It's like trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle with pieces from four or five different puzzles, discovering at the end that you are missing a piece.

Cy

 

[James HE]

I find that a good way to really reel a listener in is to leave stuff out.

well said.

(i had type some other stuff here, but really i don't think it needs to be said by me right here right now)

 

[limoguy]

I find that a good way to really reel a listener in is to leave stuff out. Us songwriters have an advantage over the novelist: we don't need to use complete sentences. We can string groups of words together to draw the listener to exactly the point we are trying to make.

Cyrokk's hit on a good point here and something I've been learning about in my own writing. In lots of cases, leaving particular details out of the song invites participation on the part of the listener.

I've got a song I'm working on right now that is about a street person. Originally I explained in the song how this person came to be living on the city streets. After making some changes, I saw how it could be much more interesting to omit details, leaving the audience to guess there own idea about how this came to be. In this case, it widens the interest because I have been unspecific about that particular point.

IMHO...Cheers!

Limoguy

 

[Jagular]

I find that a good way to really reel a listener in is to leave stuff out. Us songwriters have an advantage over the novelist: we don't need to use complete sentences. We can string groups of words together to draw the listener to exactly the point we are trying to make.

Cyrokk's hit on a good point here and something I've been learning about in my own writing. In lots of cases, leaving particular details out of the song invites participation on the part of the listener.

I've got a song I'm working on right now that is about a street person. Originally I explained in the song how this person came to be living on the city streets. After making some changes, I saw how it could be much more interesting to omit details, leaving the audience to guess there own idea about how this came to be. In this case, it widens the interest because I have been unspecific about that particular point.

IMHO...Cheers!

Limoguy

Hey…I have an old song I wrote I was thinking about reviving and improving titled “Street People”. You been hacking into my hard drive???? . It’s way to long and a little cumbersome, but I liked the message and it just popped into my head again a few days ago. I may have to put it into surgery and see what comes out.

 

[limoguy]

No Jag,

I haven't been hacking into your hard drive! I have a hard enough time working my own!

Limoguy

 

[quattro_xxph]

I find that a good way to really reel a listener in is to leave stuff out. Us songwriters have an advantage over the novelist: we don't need to use complete sentences.

Or you can use a musical passage to complete the sentence instead of words. Yet another advantage.

Too me though, the most difficult part about songwriting is hammering out the last one or two quality words.

Indeed