Some Thoughts on Lyric Writing

[Casey H]

One thing that's very helpful in writing lyrics is to do some sort of storyboard/outline. Remember how in high school English you had to define (or were told) what paragraph 1 was, paragraph 2 was, etc.? Songwriting can use the same techniques.So, when writing lyrics, step back from the actual words, rhymes, etc. and think about an outline like this... It's best to do this in plain spoken words before thinking about actual lyrics. What do I want to say in verse 1?What do I want to say in the chorus?What do I want to say in verse 2?(Repeat what you want to say in the chorus)What do I want to say in the bridge?(Repeat what you want to say in the chorus if here)What do I want to say in verse 3 (if applicable)?(Repeat what you want to say in the chorus) This allows you to think about the story flow and how the verses set up the chorus. One of the most important things is how that 1st verse sets ups and flows into the chorus. The other verses are very important too, but remember if you haven't impressed Mr. or Ms. A&R by 60 seconds, you're done.Most of us (me too) tend to jump into the actual words and rhymes before we have all that worked out (unless it just comes naturally). Don't be afraid to write in prose first and then see if your lyrics support the prose. Also, don't worry too much about rhymes on the first pass. Get those good ideas down. A few days later, different ways of saying things with the right rhymes will come to you. A rhyming dictionary and thesaurus are invaluable. And random Googles on subjects turn up lots! OK, it's pretentious of me to use my own lyrics as example. I do NOT consider myself a great lyricist and I have no lyric-bulletproof songs. But the example here (the section of lyrics, not nec. the whole song) got nice feedback in a pro-critique for verse-chorus setup:-----------------------------------------------------(Verse 1) Drink my coffee in the Border's store Books are full of great advice And all the wisdom of the PhD'sCan't seem to set it right No matter what I do or say We continue to fight (Chorus)Frankly Scarlet Don't give a damn Frankly Scarlet Don't give a damn Scarlet I walk away from you --------------------------------------------------That song got signed to a library largely due to the great production/performance of a member here on a new version but that first verse-chorus setup helped. (The others verses aren't great IMHO- just OK).Verse 1 describes the situation. He's in the bookstore browsing all those self-help/love/relationship books... he can't make this relationship work no matter what. The chorus- he's angry, fed-up, and leaving. I didn't storyboard this song- I wrote it a long time ago. Had I done that, I think my 2nd and 3rd verses would have been better since I think they 'drift' a bit.HTH Casey

[buildingcastles]

Thanks for that. I've sorta done that with a few partially written songs, just so I could get a summary of what I have so far and figure out where to go from there. I think that's good to do so you don't just wander aimlessly through a song, and you progress throughout.

[milfus]

aye, the best advice I ever got, was treat a song like a 3 minute movie, you know how you break it into acts, theres climaxes, twists, the chorus is the reoccuring theme of the entire story, there should always be someone in focus somewhere, doing something solid. It is really a great analogy.

[kirby]

Thanks for the advice on lyric writing, I've always concentrated more on using ryhmes cleverly and found that I would loose the meaning of the song, even though I may have had a good idea for a song, and the structure was good, I ended up struggling at the end to make it come together, or I would jump ahead and leave some important part out of the lyrical imagery.

[mojobone]

Good example of 'three minute movie'? "Livin' On A Prayer" by Bon Jovi. The very first line paints a picture and then lays out the situation:"Johnny used to work on the docks, union's been on strike, he's down on his luck, it's tough, so tough."Halfway through the line we get a pretty good picture of "Johnny", he's given to wearing ripped t-shirts and jeans and is kinda beefy-lookin, probably drives a Camaro, in my mind, at least. Second half of the line, the poor slob's not doin' well financially speakin'. Now that's what I call economy.

[suzdoyle]

Excellent idea, Casey (and great song example!!) . . . It's similar to actors needing to keep in mind the overall story first more than the specific lines . . . if they forget a line, they can still move the story forward by knowing where the story is heading.With songwriting, your storyboard idea helps focus things on the essence of the message -- and that all important concision is crucial to effective songwriting, IMHO.Bravo!,Suz

[putter232000]

I agree with Suz, and it is also important to set the stage with picture words that evoke the situation, the emotion you want to evoke instead of just telling. The storyboard allows you to get the details down about the flow and direction, then you re-write to create the pictures and emotion. Just my 2 cents!Andy

[suzdoyle]

Great 2 cents, Andy!I occasionally play with a musical theatre improv group, where the actors (and I at the piano) make up scenes and musical theater style songs on on the spot (similar to "Whose Line is it Anyway").The director and experienced actors suggest that the most important thing to do as a singing/actor is to focus on one emotion and explore that in song, evoking a specific imagery (as you mentioned, Andy), and not trying to explore too many things at once. Simple emotion, focused topic. It's amazing what can come out of that!Suz

[claire]

Verse two is the "then what happened?" verse. Too often we rehash what we said in verse one rather than move the story along in verse two. I like to watch the video play out in my mind while I'm writing so you actually "see" the lyrics rather than just set up clever rhymes. Someone once suggested writing the story as if you were writing a letter to a friend, keeping the lyric conversational and real. Write the story, see the video, then let it percolate in your brain (while the rest of the world thinks you're a little nuts because you're so busy brain-writing that you don't always pay attention to what's going on in real life!) and then the lyrics start to come.

[cameron]

Jul 2, 2008, 6:06am, kirby wrote:Thanks for the advice on lyric writing, I've always concentrated more on using ryhmes cleverly and found that I would loose the meaning of the song, even though I may have had a good idea for a song, and the structure was good, I ended up struggling at the end to make it come together, or I would jump ahead and leave some important part out of the lyrical imagery.That's exactly the problem I have Kirby. Casey and Milfus have given some good advice for helping us deal with that.In line with the Bon Jovi example, Sarah McLachlan says that she always tries to make it so that you understand what the song is about within the first two lines of the song.Cameron