how do you write lyrics

[sexybeast14]

heres the problem, hen i write a song i can never think of lyrics or the melody for how it should go with the song . so how do you do it

[ChanMan]

Pencil and paper.

 

I rely on inspiration for the words and melody.

 

Big help, I know.

[daveinspain]

heres the problem' date=' hen i write a song i can never think of lyrics or the melody for how it should go with the song . so how do you do it[/quote']

 

Once I have a groove I like, I look for a vocal melody that works over the groove (chord structure drums and bass). Once I come up with a good vocal melody the words just seem to fall into place. Pick a theme, something you have experience in or like. Or think of a situation and then tell or talk about that situation... The words will come, trial and error to get just the right words to fit your melody and groove...

[retrosurfer1959]

Words are always first for me - I might play a riff or something or even record it if I like something (at my age I tape record everything or it's gone) but nothing is finished until the words are finished there it's a song for me if it's just guitar then it's practice.

 

I record most woking sessions on a Boss micro BR so I have it later like they say memory is the first to go at least I think thats what they say, should have recorded it?

[Silenced Fred]

heres the problem' date=' hen i write a song i can never think of lyrics or the melody for how it should go with the song . so how do you do it[/quote']

 

I play around, find a chord progression that works. After that, I think of a recent, powerful experience, then write about it, just let it flow. Edit it a little bit to make sure it semi makes sense and kind of rhymes.

 

Yeah, most of my songs are about me and my experiences. I don't know how to write about anyone else's and I feel that with my emotions, they are the strongest with the most passion. That is what I look for in a song: passion.

 

If it helps, try it. Just write about something you experienced

[loneguitar]

I get the tune first, usually at night, then I work out the lyrics. It's not exclusive to that sometimes I'll just hear a phrase or a statement and then it's started. I think each has their own way, this is just mine. Insiration and mood effect this as well.

[TommyK]

I don't write much but what works for me, is thinking about what I want the lyrics to say.

 

Then come up with a few dozen key words, then build phrases that build on the key words. Then you need rhyming words. You may not use all the key words, but it is a start.

[Buc McMaster]

....i can never think of lyrics or the melody....

 

Ah! The art of lyric writing! I find the imagination is a very impotant part of lyric writing. You have a phrase or thought pop into your head that sounds like a good premise for a song.........now what? Release the hounds of the imagination! While the possibilities for song concepts are endess' date=' being able to imagine circumstances that might surround that concept are what allows you to paint a lyrical picture of your thoughts. For example......

 

I had an idea for a song about two lifelong friends. Pretty simple idea, yes.......how to make it different? Imagination applied to a simple idea can create something unique.

 

[i']Me and Eddie were headed home, in the old gold Chevrolet

He'd had some words with his lady and Eddie didn't have much to say.

We saw the neon flashing and pulled it in the parking lot

Went inside and Eddie started talkin' 'bout things he thought he'd forgot.[/i]

 

So we have two friends in a car stopping at a diner along the road. Nope, didn't mention the diner specifically but implied it unmistakably by mentioning enough for the listener to picture the scene. What you don't say is every bit as important as what you do.

 

Eddie spoke of a girl he knew and how she'd broke his heart

He remembered their good times together, how quickly things fell apart.

He said he'd learned his lesson and swore he'd never do it again

Eddie says that knowin' where you're goin' is mostly knowin' where you have been.

 

The friends converse, Eddie mulling over an old girlfriend that had hurt him like the one mentioned in the first verse. Knitting the song together with references to previously made points reinforces the concept. And for me, the last line of that verse is perhaps the best single line I have ever written. Little gems certainly help a lyric!

 

The refrain:

Me and Eddie were friends for such a long, long time.........we were brothers.

I know when the angels came to take him, Eddie asked if I could come along.

 

Whoa! What happened to Eddie?! A twist is introduced.......Eddie has died and left his friend (me) alone. Nothing in the lyric previously indicated this was the case. A surprise. Also note that there is no rhyme here. Rhyme is not always necessary for a lyric to be effective. That's where melody and meter can play a big role......but that's a whole nuther subject!

 

This road goes on forever, southbound on Highway 3

I glance in the rearview mirror and Eddie's lookin' back at me

They say the good die young and Eddie's watchin' me from way up high

But I believe he's a whole lot closer - com'on Eddie, let's go for a ride

 

The last verse clears things up a bit. Eddie was never there at all. I was riding down the road lost in remembering my old friend Eddie who indeed died young and left me behind - it was all in the imagination.

 

Take your idea, thought or concept and get inside it. Look at it in your imagination from every possible perspective you can think of. Paint a picture with words of what you see, leaving some gaps for the listener to fill with their own perspective, drawing them into the tale. Look for things the casual viewer would miss and reveal them to the listener in a natural, "look over here" kind of way. And every once in awhile surprise them with something unexpected from left field.

[MojoRedFoot]

Lately I have only been writing music...i leave the words to the singer. Back when I did write whole songs, I kinda wrote lyrics and melody simultaniously.

[FirstMeasure]

Great Post Buc McMaster!

 

My advice for the topic would be to write your "Bad" lyrics and don't show 'em to anybody, then write some more lyrics. If they're "Bad", don't show them to anybody. Eventually you'll get all the "Bad" lyrics out of your system and you'll start writing good ones. I firmly believe that you have to follow through on Bad Song ideas if you want to get to your good ones, just like Tree Fruit. An Avocado Tree that produces the Best Avocado you ever ate may just bear the worst Avocado you've ever eaten.

 

An interest in English, Literature, and Poetry doesn't hurt (with lyrics, not Avocados).

[Izzy]

Sylvia Plath once said if she couldn't make a chair out of it she'd make a flute.

So write like mad and then decide what is good after you've put it down a while.

 

I write short stories and poems. I read over things I wrote in my early teens and I jot down what was good. These bits I save become part of something entirely different or stand alone. I never throw anything out because artists are self-deprecating and it is best to have someone else make the call. I am someone very different than I was ten, fifteen years ago and now I can judge that work and rip myself off.

 

Poetry and lyrics are very similar...I'd go about lyrics the same way.

There is always a rhythm I groove with when I write poetry.

Sometimes lyrics become poems and poems lyrics.

[Mr. Robot]

I am hopeless at this. I always think it turns out corny and the other folk are better.

 

I have an Australian friend who astounds me because he can create the music and wonderful inciteful lyrics. I guess that is why he is a legend in Australia.

 

But I still wish I had it. Some people are just born with it I guess.

[chewy60]

i'm not all that good with words. that's why i play guitar....

[charlie brown]

I write "poems," poor as they may be(?), with a middle eight and/or chorus. (Smile) Just, to get

the idea down, on paper.

 

They're never "Finished" in my head...as when I (finally) get some chords, and a melody together,

I see what "poem" fits, or can be modified, to work...and go from there. "Lyrics" come much

easier, to me, than "music." Everytime I sit down to come up with a chord structure, or melody,

I (often) realize..."Oh, that's just (insert song name)..again!" ;>b LOL!

 

I often use "poetry" or song "lyric" writing, to get out my frustrations, with Love, the "World," and

anything else, on my mind.

 

CB

[djroge1]

I seldom write lyrics.

 

Most of the music I write is instrumental.