General Music Chat

I WRITE EVERY THING ELS IN MY MUSIC NEED TIPS ON WRITING LYERCS

you might brush up on your spelling first

Hell man just make something up!

Maurice

Depends. do you write lyrics first or music? I can go either way but usually lyrics first - the music seems to jump out at me.

Keep a note book handy. Look for things that catch your attention as you live out your day. Write down anything that remotely sounds like it might be a title. Let the title talk to you.

One's current situation is always good song fodder - be it your love life, your artistic stagnation or the reverse, the clowns you encounter, your fears of the future or reflections on the past...etc

Use a template - it helps focus your direction. Sometimes a bridge, once you look at it, might better be utized as a chorus.

Listen to lyrics in songs you like. And you'll never go wrong listening to early Dylan. (blonde on blonde has been a life long inspiration to me)

Talbot

Maurice I notice that you put your songs to videos taken from video games, you might think of those games as some sort of inspiration for lyrics.

You got the chops man, Im jealous, keep on rockin

To me you sound like a cross between Maiden and Avenged Sevenfold, dont know if that makes sense, but I listened to a couple and you are rockin!

in a world where everyone is constantly running their mouth,
it is difficult to find something pertinent to say.

Jc thats easy steal from them, I used to carry a notebook and anytime I heard some interesting term I would write it down, sometimes these evolved into songs, these days with my cell phone recorder I will hum a melody or sing a little line of something that comes to mind.

My old pickup had a little recorder on the dash and I used to put all kinds of little things in it, well I traded it and forgot all about it, I just wonder what the next dude that owned it thought of my lyrics and sounds I had on that thing......

I WRITE EVERY THING ELS IN MY MUSIC NEED TIPS ON WRITING LYERCS

lol dude I am on the same boat.

My friends always jokingly say that if I could sing and write decent lyrics, I could have a successful career in music.

I have always found it easy to write music. I can take all the factors of key signatures, progressions, time signature and melody and turn it something cohesive and if I'm lucky, something beautiful. But for the life of me, I just can't seem to produce any lyric that won't resemble a nursery rhyme or drivel found in bathroom stalls.

I have taken it upon myself to get better at lyric writing and focused on reading poetry. I think that is a good start for me.... reading poetry. Also, I pay more attention to the lyrics of artists that I consider great lyricists: Arlo Guthrie (Alice's Restaurant is one of my faves), Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Steve Goodman, Chris Cornell, Billy Brag to name a few. I take into consideration what I think makes these artists effective in lyric writing, their delivery, colorful wordplay, and imaginative description. I have also interviewed singers and vocalist I know and they tell me almost the same thing-- Write as much as you can and read, read a lot. It's one of those things you get better by just doing.

I WRITE EVERY THING ELS IN MY MUSIC NEED TIPS ON WRITING LYERCS

Always from the heart....Except...when its from the head

I keep a notebook and write down any random thought that could remotely be used for a line in a song, song title, band name, etc. Will I or could I ever use them all? Nah. Right now, I have almost 2500. There are some good ideas there, though.

I personally focus on content. That's fairly rare these days, as vocal melody is king. Start with a vocal melody and throw words in...It's an old story of how, originally, "Yesterday" by the Beatles was actually "Scrambled Eggs". Queen used a similar technique-"Tie Your Mother Down" was just a fill-in, but the band voted to keep it, as is.

Just a few techniques to try.

Mate I've been reading your jibe for a long time, love it, don't change.
It's cool.
There's been a lot of talk about lyrics and songs on here over the years. Usually and idea will come from nowhere, perhaps something happening in your life, an event, but the hardest thing is to create from nothing.
Search your soul, it's there, it knows you are there. The two of you just need to meet up.

Good luck.
Chipfryer

I WRITE EVERY THING ELS IN MY MUSIC NEED TIPS ON WRITING LYERCS

Just like you are placing videos now, just use words instead. If it is fast upbeat and the energy is more important then the lyrics, rhyme as much as you want. The slower and or deeper you want it to be, break the vocal cadence on occasion, since now the vocals will not so much end on each beat, so thy stand out more.

When you stumble across something that you think is really good, go back through and try to make each section just as good. The biggest key is of course the vocalists, how they interpret it will make massive changes on how it is actually performed. With the fast pace of most of your stuff the vocals will probably bridge across the beat unless the person is singing like a machine gun. That may work once or twice but it will kill the vocalists on any long sets and too me, would get monotonous after a while.

Centripetal Force sounds like Ozzy style vocals would work there. Long drawn out and across the rhythm. So what would you say about centripetal force? It is hard to get started. It can sends things into chaos and forces things to they?re edge. It creates a void in the center. It is uniformed and centered but if its path is altered, it becomes dangerous. It is a circle of momentum, a complete cycle. It has a rhythm and frequency. It can defeat gravity. Once let go, the object is hard to recover etc. Just apply those sort of attributes to a situation.

00:03
The puppet masters pushing us apart, a twisted wizard behind the curtain.
You?re waiting for a guarantee, a confirmation that something is certain.

00:50
It crawls, you stall, I want to get something started.
For you, for me, all I want is a little of the dream.

It?s a force of nature that you?re fighting against.
Centripetal force, of a predictable course.
You knocked it out of line and so now it?s finally time
That you give me an answer, your final decision.

Do we make a pair, or do we call it right here?
I?m tired of the games, always defending my name
Your family and friends pushing to our end
Of the way you play me, with certain precision.


Anyway it?s just a rough idea, good or bad that?s probably how I would approach it. On any word that you like the concept of but the cadence doesn?t work, use a thesaurus to find a word with similar meaning, but a different structure. Like anything it takes practice and as per my sad attempt above, I would never go with a first try.
I?m usually semi-satisfied, after about five or six re-writes.

Good writers read. A lot. Read lyrics, poetry, short stories, science fiction, the news, whatever you can get a hold of. Get a command of the English language too; spelling, punctuation and grammar count.

Try to tell a story first, then develop lyrics around it. Find a topic that you feel passionate about or are at least interested in.

If all else fails, find someone to write lyrics for you. There several good writers right here.

Good luck.

OK XDO, Listen up.
Do what I say and you will be on your way or at least taking the first step.
Vignette:

Find your main subject, lets say, Love.
Write it in the middle of a piece of papper with a circle around it.
Now like a sun, draw 5 short lines coming out of it in different directions.
At the end of each line draw a small circle and in those circles write
one word related to Love. Like sex, mariage, family, passion, trust.
Now from each of those circles draw a line out with another circle at the end of it.
Now write a related word to each of them like sex could be tremble and
mariage could be church and family could be nosey and passion could
be spontaneous and trust could be cheating.
Now from each of these words draw 4 lines like the sun again and at the end of
each line write a related word. Now you have writen 20 more related words.

At this point you should have a picture in front of you that would help
you write a Love song.
If this doesn't work, you are not a lyracist so stick with the music.[/b]

Nice Klug, I read that one before somewhere too. Writing - whether it's music, lyrics or prose - is a gift and although it can be developed, you need to have the basic tools in place first. Not everyone can or should do it.

You probably read it when I wrote it here twice before for others.
It's a fundamental lesson to find out if you should even be trying
to do it. The exercise can be expanded and manipulated to your personal likes.[/b]