So, I've been thinking; my lyrics aren't all that great. To get to business, I wanted to know what are some good ways to perhaps increase my vocabulary, or make better use of multi-meaning words and phrases. How do you guys tend to do this?

I definitely do see that how we grow up and the way we learn influences each individual's way of writings and one's ability to perceive a situation differently from someone else (optimism and pessimism, f.e.). But what can I do to diversify and cultivate the foundation I have?

Some people are born with the gift of crafty words, others tell it like it is while some others just throw phrases together that don't make sense. How many times have you heard a song that was popular, looked at the words and said "what?!" LOL! I say just do what you do brother and stick with it. You'll have good days and bad days....and some poetic days.

Ever hear a really great musician? Sometimes this takes loads and loads of practice to achieve, other times, an individual is gifted and has a head start on everyone else. In all my years of being a musician, I have only seen one case where an individual just "didn't have it" that turned the tides.
 
I knew a guy that wanted to play guitar so bad...but his brain and mechanics in his hands just weren't all that. Guys like this can practice until they are blue in the face....they still fall short. This guy was terrible. Seriously. So terrible it pains me to say that about another human being who has tried so hard and given his life to guitar. I remember being a kid going to an arcade every day when I was 14.

This dude was the guy that worked behind the counter. When he wasn't giving out tokens and doing college homework, he played his guitar...and most of it, badly played. I was 2 years into being a rock guitarist myself and already had more capability than this guy who had been at it for about 5-6 years. Weak fingers, poor intonation from a lack of pressure with his fingers, bad mechanics, bad timing, poorly executed transitions....he tried hard, but just didn't have it.

One day, when I was 18, I went to that arcade and he was still working there. I caught up with the guy since I hadn't seen him in years, grabbed some tokens and started playing some games. As I played....this incredible classical guitar music smacked me in the face like it was wrapped in bricks. I wasn't thinking anything of it, figuring it was probably a tape or something. When I looked up, it was this dude!

He was absolutely flawless, pinpoint accuracy and perfection. Perfect finger tonation, perfect execution, speed and dexterity, rhythm and lead at the same time....finger picking, tapping....I just totally sat there letting my men die in Galaga watching him from a few feet away.

Never in my life have I heard a person with such a terrible start turn into something like this. When someone doesn't have it, they stay "not having it". They may improve here and there, but not like this lunatic did. I went up and watched closer with my jaw on the floor and had to ask what the he did to get like that. I told him that I thought he was pretty bad through the years but always admired his efforts. He told me I wasn't alone and that the more people told him "you just don't have it" the more he worked at it.

Today he teaches as a music conservatory, plays shows doing classical guitar music and is one of the most respected and well decorated classical guitar hero's in NJ and PA. He's also since become a professor and teaches classes at Rowan University in NJ. Talk about a success story!? :)

So, in closing, anything can be achieved if you have the right determination and inspiration. However, the first thing you have to do is accept yourself, get to really know yourself and see where you may be able to make changes. Did you ever notice that poets usually are not good with people or communication? They are either very stand-offish or very quiet and to themselves. Take a guy like me. I like to think I'm a very good communicator and have no problems being a people person. Most poets...are either too guarded or too "out there". A guy like me doesn't fit the bill as a poet, profile wise. LOL! I'm crafty and quick to speak,, but there are never any poetic words in my vocabulary or my songs. I think to get all that stuff right, you have to be stoned or something so you're no longer thinking like you. LOL! Poets are in a class by themselves....sort of like keyboard players. Ever notice most of them are way out there?

Then again, just like surrounding yourself with different styles of music...or one style just to grab some elements from it, being around poetry can have the same effect on you. We're products of our environment in my opinion. Hang around people that cuss like sailors, you MAY end up cussing too. Hang around with people smoking dope all the time, there IS a chance that you fall in with them. Listen to rap, you MAY start rapping. Listen to poetry, read it, live it, you MAY just become a poet. :)

In the meantime, go grab a copy of Master Writer software and allow it to help you finish your songs. It is by far the most incredible tool ever made for lyricists in need of a little push....or a big push....like me. :) Without it, I sincerely feel I'd be lost today as I rely on it for everything. What used to take me weeks and months to do lyrically, now takes a few days or maybe a few weeks. Most times that is not because I'm stuck for ideas....it is because I have so many to choose from which in turn send me into other directions. Start writing a song, get inspired to write ANOTHER so you're working on the main one while logging ideas for the other. LOL! At any rate, good luck and I hope some of this helps.

-Danny

Even very well known artists often slave over the lyrics. Springsteen was well known to often do up to 50 versions of the lyrics of a song before he go to the one he wanted, and even then often reworked after getting into the studio. He wrote some of the most poignant rock lyrics ever on Born to Run and Darkness on the Edge of Town, but they weren't super-clever or filled with double meanings. He just worked them till they were free of cliche, and had the feeling he wanted.

And partly that's it. I rant all the time about how people don't actually write a song before they start recording. But the same thing sort of applies to lyrics. It really helps to think of a place, a time, a situation, etc..., in order to get a feeling and have the song consistently project that feeling. Listen to some of those Springsteen songs, they just cut right to the core of the story, not by cleverness but by sincerity, and by creating a mood or image in the listener's head.
 
Of course in some types of songs the lyric isn't story content, but it's more just another instrument. There've been plenty of songs with no more than a few lines repeated over and over. And there's nothing wrong with that. But I think that, once the listener has enjoyed the sound, it's nice to provide another, deeper layer to delve into.
 
I'm one of those folks who has little problem with the lyric, generally anyway. I find it easy to get stuff down. But, everyone always probably still feels a little squeamish about what other people will think of them. You can go super-oblique and avoid the problem, and there's nothing wrong with that either. It's worked for bands from Yes to Radiohead and many others. But if you really want to express emotions or explain what you think or feel, it probably needs to be a little more literal, and you have to take the risk that someone is going to think what you are saying is stupid or cliched or whatever. Someone always will.
 

Keep your antennas out all the time. Whenever a nice phrase pops in your mind, write it down. Carry small memo pad with you for that purpose.

Sit down and write down whatever comes  to your mind. Meaningless mindflow. A single phrase in there may give you a new approach to a lyric you're working on.

Read poetry or novels with a fresh approach to language.

Sensible advice from Kalle as always. I'd just add simply, read - read a lot. Musicians listen to other players and soak up influences..lyrics writers need to read.

Kalle Rantaaho


Keep your antennas out all the time. Whenever a nice phrase pops in your mind, write it down. Carry small memo pad with you for that purpose.

Sit down and write down whatever comes  to your mind. Meaningless mindflow. A single phrase in there may give you a new approach to a lyric you're working on.

Read poetry or novels with a fresh approach to language.

This! I have notebooks full of little phrases and ideas, and have also started using the "voice notes" app on my smartphone for recording ideas or phrases I've heard. An example of how they can be used is a couple of years ago while driving and listening to the radio, I heard someone use the phrase "Our choices are between one and none". It caught my ear, so I recorded into a little pocket recorder I had with me. About a month later I was noodling on my acoustic guitar and found a chord progression I liked and recorded  a quick sketch. Then I went back to my recorder and listened to the ideas. The "choices" phrase fit perfectly in meter with the guitar track I had recorded. Off and running after that.


You've got to keep your ears open. I get ideas from books, magazines, radio, overheard conversations, etc. They are everywhere, but if we don't listen for them and record them in some manner, they just go off into the ether.


Randy

This is a technique I've been using lately and I've got really great results with:

1) I choose an everyday theme. This can be anything at all. Let's take for example the theme of 'kitchen' (I'm thinking this example up on the spot, so it may very well suck).

2) I then have a think about keywords the relate to this theme: things found around the kitchen, things done in the kitchen etc. So foods, equipment, cooking etc etc.

3) This is the important step. I add the concept of love. I couple my chosen theme with the concept of love. This instantly gives the impression that I have been clever with words, created double meanings, have a central theme etc. Also it makes my song distinct and memorable.

So some examples of lines would be...

You put my heart in the blender...
I was burning for you, gas mark 6...
Our love was on the chopping board...
Before it reached the expiry date you threw it in the freezer....


These lines really stink, but hopefully they give you an idea of the kind of thing I mean. 

This works well for radio friendly pop. Examples of this technique are:

Lady Gaga - Judas (Biblical and Love)
Rihanna - Drive (Cars and Love)
Rufus Wainwright - Art Teacher (Art and Love)

I hope this helps.

Here's my take and what I try to do and do. 

 Find a co-writer to work with who does lyric better than you.  Always try to "write up" as they say in Nashville..... that means write with someone better than you.  That is how you learn. 
Many of my more recent tunes have been collabs. I seek out and write with folks who can do the lyric part. I don't consider myself to be a slouch when it comes to writing lyrics but I will say one thing.... having someone else to bounce lyrics back and forth is a really great way to perfect the lyrics. What I think is good, Pat will take and re-write and it becomes so much better....and vice versa. 

For example... I don't keep track anymore.... but Come & Go is a co-write with one of my favorite writers.... Pat Bishop. We bounced the lyrics and music back and forth at least 6 to 8 times, maybe more,  before we got it to where it was at. Then, after that, it was bounced off some Nashville professional writers several times (for advice only... not songwriting contribution) several more times. more edits and changes were made by me and Pat.... 

One song we worked on was bounced over 20 times. 

I also have a songwriter's program called MasterWriter2. It's simply a handy place to keep all my musical ideas and it has built in rhyming dictionary and several other writing tools. This kind of stuff is also available at some online sites for free. The tools anyway...  I use it when I need to rhyme something. I can think of maybe half a dozen rhymes..... but MW2 gives me sometimes as many as 40 PAGES of words that rhyme...and phrases that rhyme..... and close rhymes, and imperfect rhymes.... this has been a great resource to getting ideas. Often, a simple word on the list will cause a whole new train of thought and a new totally rocking lyric line will result. 

Next....if you want to surf, you hang out with surfers, if you want to learn to fly an airplane, you hang out with pilots,  if you want to be a writer, you gotta hang out with others of like mind, craft and skills. You tend to become like the people you associate with. I believe writing is an acquired skill that is perfected by practice, study, and writing...and getting feedback and help from others who are better than you. Only then do you get the correct advice. The internet makes this easy. 

There are a number of songwriter specific web sites. I frequent 2 of them... besides here. At Cake... while you can get some writing critiques, mostly here, the focus is on the recording aspect. Software, gear and the process..... 

At Taxi... (free forums) there are lots of people who are all about the writing aspects of the songs.... from the music to the lyrics.... go there and join and meet people... post examples and ask for advice. There are some really good writers over there. Find them and connect.

At Nashville Songwriters Assn..... they are ALL about the song.... musically and lyrically. Unfortunately, it is a member only site. ($150/yr if I remember correctly)  However, the video library alone has dozens upon dozens of 1 hour seminars view-able by members on every aspect of writing songs. Many of them are about lyric writing. AND... they are conducted by people who have written the lyrics to classic songs that stand the test of time.  Those folks have perfected their craft. The forum there is also members only but they have collab and lyric review and as a member you get to send you music/song/lyrics to professional writers for their opinion and advice.  Plus.... nowhere else that I know of has one on one mentoring sessions as part of it's membership that lets you speak directly with professional writers about your music.... That is priceless to new and experienced writers... to be able to discuss in detail the finer aspects of a specific lyric or a complete song with someone who has been there and done it at the professional level. 

A google search will turn up more songwriter sites.... there are many. 

Just my 2 cents

One thing that might help, in an Oblique Stategies sort of way, is to think about Abstract Expressionist painting. Good song lyrics are very often basically Abstract Expressionist word paintings. They usually aren't detailed, literal declarations. They provide important outlines of the subject and allow the listener to fill in the gaps in a way that resonates with them.

Again, just as an example, I'll go back to Springsteen. Take this line from Thunder Road:

The screen door slams, Mary's dress sways. Like a vision she dances across the porch as the radio plays.

It conjures up an entire story line in a single brush stroke. It's not complex or sophisticated. It just sets the place and the mood, and manages to be simple and earnest without being cliched.


A lot of it of course is delivery. A given line in the hands of one person may come across as beautiful and heartfelt, while another person doing it may just sound like the weakest cliche of all time. Some singers can just get away with the the most banal of lyrics but make them sound very interesting by their delivery, which keeps you from paying as much attention to the meaning, and just hearning them more as kind of 'shaped sounds'.

I agree Dean, Springsteen is the master of the seemingly 'throwaway' lyric. I remember this verse from 'Nothing Man' stopping me in my tracks, so to speak.

''You can call me Joe
Buy me a drink and shake my hand
You want courage
I'll show you courage you can understand
Pearl and silver
Restin' on my night table
It's just me Lord, I pray that I'm able''


In the context of the song, that's beautifully simple, and quite devastating.