Writing lyrics, then noticing they suck...

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.Tyson Studios.

.Tyson Studios.

I LOST THE GAME
The way I usually get around to writing a song is randomly thinking of a really nice line or too. So I will write it down, then attempt to keep writing, until I get about a chorus and a couple verses. I will stop, save ( since i use notepad on windows) and go on to something else. Eventully I will go back to it and notice that all but the first line i came up with, sucked. So I get mad and delete them. What is the problem? I use rhymezone sometimes (a site where you can type in a word and get a long list of words that rhyme with it) so i dont know. Thanks in advance.
 
You're trying to hard.

Don't delete them before you run them by someone else.
Don't delete them before you try them in song. To me, sung lyrics are much better than read lyrics. Sometimes.
Even then, don't delete them. They may not work in the song you are working, but may be of use later.

As creatives, we are our own worst critics. Often, we are correct. Often... we aren't. :cool:
 
I think this is part and parcel of writing lyrics. Even those that think lyrics are the least important part of a song or not important at all, I'm betting that there will be lyrics that they 'refine', not just blurging out first thing that comes to mind.
I slightly disagree with msb3671 {sounds like the licence plate on a car !} about deleting, but only slightly. In the cold hard light of day, some lyrics are just so abysmal, one is performing a noble service to humanity by deleting them or burning them ! I remember when my wife and I had our first child. I wrote a couple of songs that weren't designed to make sense or be stunning. I was literally just noting down my raw, jumbled, unfocused thoughts, responses and feelings at being a dad for the first time. Although the music was recorded, I never did get round to putting a vocal on. And I'm glad I never did or showed anyone the lyrics of one of them. Even Justin Bieber could've written something better. I don't know what I was thinking ! That's right, I wasn't !
 
All lyrics suck, and they get exponentially suckier when you start forcing them. Just roll with it. No one listening gives a shit.
 
I'm getting kind of freaked out because I seem to be agreeing with Greg_L a lot recently

As far as lyrics go take a randomm sampling of songs you think are great and some stuff that is currently popular and write down a few lines and then just read them out of context of the music just as a written line.
99 times out of a hundred it'll be a complete load of cheesy balls

I used to worry about trying to be deep and meaningful when I first had a crack at writing music and then one day it hit me that all of the lyrics of the songs I considered good/great were, for the most part, a complete load of bollocks that just happened to have been playing at a time in my life when something else memorable was in progress and that's why I kind of connect to them.

Also the only people who seem to really care about song lyrics as listeners are a) Teenagers who haven't realized that most of this shit in general doesn't matter and b) Overly sensetive chicks who never got over being teenagers and will never realize that most of this shit in general doesn't matter

Other than that most people just want something catchy to sing along to but don't care what the stuff is actually about. I mean look at the most popular wedding songs, most of them, if you actually look into the lyrics are about getting dumped/losing the one you love etc

So just get over the fact you're not writing the worlds greatest poem and get on with the music
 
Like someone above me said, don't try too hard. Just let flow with it. You can't write amazing lyrics EVERY single time, you know?
 
Keep everything you write!

And go back and look at it from time to time.

More than once I've grabbed a line or two from a sucky song and used them in what would become a good song...
 
Ever seen that SNL skit where Adam Sandler mimics Eddie Veder? Makes me laugh, but makes a point to. I'd imagine Ed writes from his heart, tries to mean something, etc. I, as a listener, could care less. But the POWER in his voice; as a listener, I hear that, and I like it.

I think there are some great lyric writers out there; Billy Joel, Billy Joe, Bernie T.(Elton John), Plant, Steve Miller, Sting, The Beatles, and so forth. When I break it down, they just tell stories. Some that seemingly have no meaning(to me, anyway). Paperback Writer? ;) Yet I LOVE that tune.

'Yesterday', legend has it, had a working title of 'Scrambled Eggs'. Yeah, yeah, yeah... :cool:
 
TS,
Don't delete: instead, create a bank of lyrical ideas & plunder it when needed. Today's dud line could be just perfect for a problem spot in a fortnight or decade.
I like lyrics, I generally listen to music that has lyrics I interpret as good - that includes much of Greg's stuff.
I also listen to music in which lyrics play the crucial role of noise modulators which I interpret as fun or primal - that includes much of Greg's stuff.
I've used bits of lyric I wrote in the mid to late 70's every now and then. I was a different person then and they bring a different perspective.
My most recent track "The Master" is based on lines I wrote in '78 and reworked in 2010 - that includes some of Greg's stuff. It works for me.
Oh, & don't use Notepad: it's good & quick etc. but by using it your already determining that whatever you create isn't worth writing or storing in anythoing better.
Use a bit of headology!
Do carry a notepad in your pocket though. Random, subliminal & bizzare ideas can then be recorded for later consideration. Beer coasters are good too! I have several with interesting ideas scrawled on them.
 
I believe Paul Simon said write then re-write and then rewrite again. They will improve !
 
msb3671 said:
'Yesterday', legend has it, had a working title of 'Scrambled Eggs'. Yeah, yeah, yeah... :cool:
Click to expand...
Crazy innit. But true. It went
"Scrambled eggs, oh baby how I love your legs...." to help cement and establish the melody. Then it became a deep psycological subliminal treatise on the sudden and unexpected death of McCartney's mum when he was 14 and his reflection on how it all seemed so secure while she was still alive and his regret at some of the things he used to say to her. You know how kids can be.
msb3671 said:
Some that seemingly have no meaning(to me, anyway). Paperback Writer? ;) Yet I LOVE that tune.
Click to expand...
Long before the Beats got a recording contract even, the first guy to turn some of them onto drugs and the odd sex orgy {written about in 'Polythene Pam'} was a poet {whom I'd better not name, in case he sues me !} who wanted to write paperbacks because in the very early 60s as things were changing, hardback books were seen as part of the old order whereas paperbacks were part of the 'new thing', where the money was. So the song was alluding to that but also were part of the Dylan/Jagger/ Townshend/ Davies/ Clark/Sloan inspired drift away from lovey dovey lyrics to subject matter that encompassed a wide variety of things and feelings and different modes of expression, real feelings that real people identified with. In the 4 years up to and including 1965, only 2 Beatle songs ( that they wrote) weren't about luuuurrrrvvvve, ostensibly {'Think for yourself' and 'Nowhere man'}. Of the 16 they recorded in '66, 12 weren't.

Some lyrics are great. Some lyrics are functional. Some lyrics are rubbish. Whichever way, it matters not at all, as long as the overall song is good, memorable and means something to the listener, in the same way it really doesn't matter if you can't hear the kick drum clearly or the bass clearly or catch the subtle beauty of the alternative guitar tuning........as long as the song is good, memorable and means something to the listener.
It matters and it doesn't matter. It's the indefatiguable paradox !!
 
I don't go looking to write "meaningful" lyrics... or capturing the essence and meaning of life in a 4 minute pop song... I just try to write little stories. A lot of the lyrics that get posted here make me cringe with their over-earnest search to be "meaningful"... it's a tough gig.... few are good enough. I'm not one of them...

People seem to like my little stories, which is nice, but I write them because I like doing it, not because I care if people like them or not all that much... if I aspire to anyone's lyric-writing abilities, it would be Declan MacManus

Downside of all this is that GFs always assume my songs are about ex-GFs.... and other people think I hang out with all these really weird people, most of whom appear to have reached tragic, if undisclosed ends... ;)

It's FICTION people... :laughings:

RayC's advice is gold... keep a book and put all your stuff in it and you'll find a use for it one day! Enjoy what you're doing... rewrite, but don't force... walk away and come back later... and RhymeZone is your friend... :)
 
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