Hey, everyone! After a coupla weeks' hiatus, I'm getting back to making music. So, I was wondering- when it comes to lyrics, what process do you typically follow for writing songs?

I'm asking mainly because at the moment I have a lot of trouble making 'story-songs' unless I use some sort of 'plot' or outline for each verse. Any ideas?

Well, I don't mean to over simplify this, but if you want to write lyrics that mean something, then you have to have something to say.  

Sometimes that means, for me, carrying around bits and pieces for months, until something really jumps out for me. Once I have a clear direction that I want to go with lyrics, which might be having the chorus set or the first verse; it becomes much easier to build around them.  This process can still take a long time, especially if I don't want to just settle for something that I am not completely happy with.

For me, and many others I would guess; lyrics are the hardest part of creating a song.  I have had songs that come to me in a rush and are finished in one sitting and I have had songs that have take over a year to completely finish. It is just as important for me, what the words say, as how they sound when sung.

I have a friend that is a professional writer and he keeps trying to teach me to sit down and map out on a piece of paper the most important points I want to work into a song.  Position those thoughts on which part of the song you want to make them.  Sometimes I will throw him a line and say what would your next sentence be; where does this thought take you.  If you have someone to bounce thoughts off of, that can be a really useful tool.

MakeShift


Well, I don't mean to over simplify this, but if you want to write lyrics that mean something, then you have to have something to say.  

This is true.


Write about something you know about, or something that interests you.


Here's a great example of an odd subject matter turned into a catchy song.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSqv-Exedt8


I liked this song for a long time before I started wondering what the heck he was singing about. (If you don't know who Ray Kroc is, do a Google)

WHOA, after a first listen, I really like this song!! 
Not only is it really catchy, but the lyrics are totally meaningful to the story of Ray Kroc. Really cool stuff, mostly that the song isn't meaningless, but about an (as most would say) off-beat-ish subject.

Thanks!

Awesome, Mike. Thanks for pointing this out. It really put songwriting back in perspective. I tend to over-think things and get too analytical. This song refreshed me to what it's all about.

Thanks again.

Thomas; 

 I'll use any idea from any source...Life 101, so to speak.
I have a couple of little Olympus VN-6000 voice recorders, one for songs and one for other things as well as notebooks scattered around,
but I gotta use them.

I'll never run out of ideas...I grew up in a fishing town on the Gulf of Mexico, where the older people spoke French, and where a lot of more or less desperate people ended up. 
There were colorful characters every where...and drama and tragedies and histories and romances and feuds and hurricanes.
There had been buccaneers/pirates. 
There had been a lot of ships torpedoed off shore during WWII, and bodies floating up on the beaches.
There had been smugglers and bootleggers.

My point is that any place you go is full of stories. Any story can be  made into a song; 
The problem, for me,at least is telling a story and putting it to music and THEN recording it.

Which is why we are on this forum, non?

Tony

P.S.If you like the Mark Knopfler song about Roy Kroc, check out his songs "Brothers-In-Arms", or "Fade-To Black", or "You and Your Friend". 





 

 

davdud101


Hey, everyone! After a coupla weeks' hiatus, I'm getting back to making music. So, I was wondering- when it comes to lyrics, what process do you typically follow for writing songs?

I'm asking mainly because at the moment I have a lot of trouble making 'story-songs' unless I use some sort of 'plot' or outline for each verse. Any ideas?

I think you hit the nail on the head there with your "plot" comment. I write my songs using a formula most times. The reason for this...it's sort of like a blue-print like you'd use for building a house. It can assist you in the creation part of song-writing.
 
For example, a good formula I use is beginning, middle, climax and end. Each one of those aspects tells the story just like watching a movie. How will your beginning be? Something with spoken word without music, a theme oriented synth intro, an acoustic guitar, start on the hooky chorus part without any singing, a power riff of some kind, a drum beat, just a bass? These are things that set up your mood.
 
Your middle tells the story and gets into the meat of it all. The climax of course is the the best part of the song...whether it be an infectious chorus or something mind-blowing and musical. Your end is something that can be the segue out of the climax to further etch the song in stone. You can get more intense here, fade out on a chorus with loads of vocals, or back things down and be a bit more intimate. There are no rules.
 
As far as lyrics go, I find it easier to come up with a melody first and then the music part seems to write itself. Once you have a melody, the words should be pretty easy really. Sometimes I tell stories, sometimes I speak about real life experiences while other times I'll make something up and have some fun with it. One of the best tools I've ever used for lyrics is Master Writer. I've written so many songs in a snap with it, I now can't live without it. It literally helps you finish your ideas as it has all the rhyming words, it gives you phrases, dictionary, thesaurus, topics to write about....it's just priceless to me with helping me with lyrical ideas.
 
One of the things I struggle with is...trying to sound like a poet or a lyricist that hits you with double or triple meanings. You know, you listen to the song and think it means this, when it really means that....or something completely different. Unfortunately for me, I'm not that good as a lyricist and basicly tell it like it is to where it's a little too obvious. I've learned to accept that within myself. Some people are awesome at delivering lyrical excellence....some people like me, just tell it like it is and excel more on the music and performance more than super crafty words with double or triple meanings. So first and foremost, accept yourself but of course, strive to be better and more crafty whenever you can. :)
 
-Danny

Danny Danzi


 
One of the things I struggle with is...trying to sound like a poet or a lyricist that hits you with double or triple meanings. You know, you listen to the song and think it means this, when it really means that....or something completely different. Unfortunately for me, I'm not that good as a lyricist and basicly tell it like it is to where it's a little too obvious. I've learned to accept that within myself. 

Yes, not everyone can do that Danny, I think you're either naturally 'poetic' or not. There's plenty of room for 'everyman' lyrics, and sometimes you can pick up an common phrase and work a whole song around it, y'know, like 'Hard to Handle', 'Pigs Might Fly', 'Better the Devil You Know', things like that.

I guess that still begs one question- where do you guys begin?

I typically create a chord progression FIRST, do some basic instrumentation, and THEN let the lyrics come according to the feel of the song. What do you guys tend to do?

I do much like Danny describes.  I start with just tooling around with chord progressions; often just humming a melody to the progression.  Quite often a phrase or sentence will come out of that melody search.  I like to think they are subconscious things that want to come out of me.  From that phrase or phrases, I develop a song.

Then come the rewrites.