Waxing Lyrical

[Si600]

Is there a knack to writing lyrics, or is it one of those things that you either can or can't do?

I can think of the odd line or phrase, but I'm terrible at stringing anything coherent together. When I do, it reads back like a fifteen year old wrote them.

They're only words, I use them every day, sometimes in the right order as well!

Edited July 4, 2019 by Si600

[ambient]

It’s practice I think. 

[chris_b]

Sting said that writing a song was easy, but pairing it down to be concise, simple and effective is very difficult.

[oldslapper]

9 hours ago, ambient said:

It’s practice I think. 

This.

There are online resources you can access, from rhyming apps to writing courses and writing communities. 

Collaborating with other writers is good practice, particularly if they’re lyric minded. You can learn a lot from how others phrase things.

I picked up tips from collaborating, such as compiling a list of titles, looking through papers/magazines for catchy titles (they pay people to do this, so they’re often quite good at writing a headline). My song “Freddie Starr ate my hamster” was a hit in many areas of my imagination 🤪

But the best tip is to write loads, even if they’re full of cheesy phrases, or a little embarrassing to you, eventually you’ll start to develop a lyrical language you’re comfortable with. I try and ensure prosody is adhered to whenever possible (the lyric matches or is supported by the melody). 

Oh and “write about what you know” is often easier and more honest, particularly at first. 

Have fun!!! 

[NickD]

I think a lot of it is practice.

I realised that if I put anywhere near the same effort into it as I do to my bass playing in terms of reading, analysing the work of lyricists I like, and looking critically at what I write, it would improve a lot. I don't think people approach it with the same seriousness as they do their instrument, I certainly didn't... Hey I can talk, been doing it for years, I must be able to write... Lol... Nope!

Throw things down though, then go back to it. There'll be parts where you like what you're saying, but not how you're saying it, just think of another way to say it. Then there'll be parts where what you're saying sounds flowery, patronising, preachy or just stupid, again just try to rethink it.

Be prepared to change things again when you hold them up to a song. I've had to make changes because some words, or combinations thereof, don't sound good when sung.

Don't be too hard on yourself though, remember that there are some really great, successful songs out there with some awful lyrics ... Stupid words, terrible rhymes, but for some reason they strike a chord with people. That's probably another thread though.🤣

[Si600]

OK, so here is the beginnings of the latest missive.  I keep thinking up amazing lines in the car, but by the time I have chance to note them down. they're gone.

 

Front Page

I heard about a demonstration,

My friend told me he was there

I didn‘t read about it in the paper

As if nobody cares

 

You can read it on the front page

You can see it on the TV news

Who tells you it should be on the front page

Don‘t they see there are other views

 

Politicians use the media

To the growth of their own glory

They shout out that it‘s Fake News

When it doesn‘t suit their story

 

You can read it on the front page

You can see it on the TV news

Maybe you should read a different front page

Try to understand the other views

 

I also seem to be stuck in a four line verse-chorus structure, when a lot of the things I hear on the radio are nothing like that.  Not sure where I've got that from.

[Crawford13]

Keep a dictaphone around, would say use the voice memo app on your phone but the old bill would probably have you for using your phone...

Also a lot of song writers talk about writing being like an old tap, at the start the water that comes out is brown and rubbish, but eventually the good stuff comes, so keep going!

[BrunoBass]

I’m a songwriter. I keep notebooks of phrases I’ve read, snippets of overheard conversations, ideas I can draw on. 

I find writing music comes easily, but writing good lyrics is difficult, however if I have a clear idea of what I want to say the lyrics often just flow out in to the page. That might sound obvious but it’s true, and more likely to get a result than staring at a piece of paper wondering what to write. Occasionally I write a lyric that says everything I set out to say, that’s a great feeling. Sometimes it feels like I’m not even writing it, it’s like it’s coming from somewhere else...

By the way, one of my songs was played on BBC Introducing last week - very chuffed! 

[Frank Blank]

2 minutes ago, BrunoBass said:

I’m a songwriter. I keep notebooks of phrases I’ve read, snippets of overheard conversations, ideas I can draw on. 

Exactly this.