Theory on melody and lyrics

[flood]

I believe there is only one set of words that is perfect for any given melody. What I suggest is full of contradictions and filled with logic problems but makes sense on its own terms. At least I think so. You may disagree, and I would happily agree, which is yet another conundrum about my thought.I believe that a melody is a "found thing". You may arrive at it from a dream, from an idea, from many hours of painstakingly crafting the tones.But I believe there is only ONE, and ONLY one, set of lyrics that is perfect for the melody you have found, created, or extracted.Sometimes it is the first lyrical idea that crosses your mind, but for me, it usually takes much longer.Give yourself (and your subconscious) enough time, turn it over in your head and dreams, take the time to really get to know the melody. Often, for me, the melody sounds like it is already concealing syllables. A sort of musical crossword puzzle, if you will.Eventually, the lyric will appear, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, but it will show up.I never try to force my words onto a melody. I think that does an injustice to my creative spirit and robs the melody of its real potential.You may disagree. You may call me nuts. That's fine.I won't disagree.I will allow that any two people will arrive at different lyrics for any given melody, and that is fine too. It doesn't change my premise, because my perfect melody is not yours.But if they are given the time to grow and you carefully nurture them from a dream or the result of hard work, they will flower completely in your mind.Short them, and they will, in turn, short you.I just finished spending 9 months thinking about lyrics for one song.In the last few days I completed another song in its entirety, start to finish. I dreamed the key, intervals and chords. Slowly it came into focus.I also believe that lyrics grow at their own pace. Some come sooner, others take time.My perfect lyric is not yours, nor should it be. If yours is perfect for you, it is perfect for the melody. And will be honest.I suppose I think that is the most important thing. Honest lyrics, or honest within their scope.Currently, I was reading a lyric about a Christian Murderer on another forum here. What struck me? The lyrics were a bit flawed in small areas (but whose aren't?).More importantly, it was absolute truth within the context of the narrator. It was straight-on, thus opening the author to some criticism. I applaud the efforts of anyone who tells the truth of the melody or song. That truth may not be attractive to everyone, or even to the author. But it IS the truth, within the scope of the idea or song.And that is to be treasured.It really is a gift.Best wishes, and thanks for tolerating me!Leon

[hummingbird]

That's a nice theory, however, I believe that you are mixing inspiration with craft. One can be inspired but fall down with structure and form. That's why there are books & classes & feedback on lyric writing and melody writing. If I believe my words & music are perfect (and I used to), then I will not listen to feedback because I don't want to change my 'truth', and I will not be willing to look at the flaws and rework. So there can be "truth" but that doesn't mean there is skill or craft in it.In addition - and this was a very hard thing for me to get my head around - but a songwriter doesn't write a song for themselves. they write it for the listener. So a songwriter is challenged to write something from personal inspiration that has a universal meaning... to say something unique while speaking the language of the listener. The challenge of songwriting, then, is to be creative & personal while using skill & craft to reach out to the listener and make them feel like it's their story that is being told.In a way this is very much like voice, or any other creative pursuit. The goal of training is to hone the abilities, knowledge and skill of the student... so that their voice is so in tune with their vision & heart that it reflects their relationship to the text in colour and texture. A trained voice has a full palette of expression. And that's how I feel about songwriting. Craft brings the heart out of the song more powerfully. So I think I prefer the word "sincerity" to "truth".

[mojobone]

Sept 10, 2008, 7:07pm, flood wrote:I believe there is only one set of words that is perfect for any given melody. I can't imagine how that statement could be more wrong. Need an example? How 'bout "Greensleeves"?

[matthoggard]

Leon,I agree and disagree. Now ask yourself, are you writing for you or the public that might buy your song?Vicki said it way better than I can.In this theory, the writers of the "Happy Birthday song" and the "ABC's" song are genius's.M~

[Mark Kaufman]

I believe the songs we love become so ingrained in our hearts and minds that it seems to be the only way, the One True Song. They are iconic.But having written a lot of songs, I also know that I can write two songs with different lyrics that both work equally well. Trust me, I've done it...and agonized over which one to run with.Good thing to discuss! It makes us take a side: do you write the song, or does the song write itself? Sometimes writing a song feels like discovering something that was already there, and we somehow found it or revealed it. But I think most TAXI writers learn to find whatever song needs to be found.

[flood]

Good thoughts, and great point Mark.There is a major difference between writing under deadline and writing for pleasure. Or cowriting, and so on.I guess I was originally speaking of pure inspiration. The melody or song that you have no deadlines on, that is ALL inspiration. The one you would happily keep working on for years, if it meant that ultimately every rhythm, beat and syllable lined up perfectly, in your mind.I have a couple of these sitting around. Both are in progress and may well be for many months or years, until I find the right words or visions.

[mewman]

I've heard too many brilliant parodies of tunes to believe that only one set of lyrics belongs with any melody. I applaud you, Flood, for your conviction, but I do have to side with Hummingbird on this one. The craft of songwriting often requires a certain amount of intellectualizing, and that thought process, when applied with wit and finesse, can result in a variety of expressions that are well suited to a melody. Still, I think I know where you are coming from. Some times a melody, like the accompaniment to a film scene, just fits perfectly in a scene, so I can see how you may feel that a melody has the potential to fit perfectly with a particular story.Mewman

[cameron]

I agree, Flood, that often the melody sounds like it is concealing syllables. The problem for me though is that the words that they form often have no meaning, at least not enough to form a story from start to finish. I find myself ending up with a bunch of clever lines that don't work together unless I force myself to focus on the story. That's almost always to the detriment of the syllable flow, but it sure makes for a nicer finished product.Cameron

[mojobone]

Forgot to mention that I agree with most of the rest of your post, flood. (also with Mark's excellent point) I believe that songwriters are antennae, we tune ourselves to the frequency and prepare the vessel, but if inspiration doesn't arrive, craft (plan B) is the third leg of the tripod.

[jkoob]

Flood, one way of looking at your theory is the interplay between inspiration and perspiration. It is still commonly held that creativity is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration. You seem to be posing the opposite.Just a comment, nothing more.Take care,Jeff