For those who write lyrics...

[Silenced Fred]

What do you use as your inspiration? For me, its tough because it seems like the only things I can write about are personal experiences or something that is close to me.

 

Anyone else have any problems like that?

[SGSpecialguy]

What do you use as your inspiration? For me' date=' its tough because it seems like the only things I can write about are personal experiences or something that is close to me.

 

Anyone else have any problems like that?[/quote']

seems to me that the best song writers always write about their personal experiences

[daveinspain]

Tell a story, express an opinion, write about something going on in the world today, write about somethat happened to you in the past.... etc.

[Silenced Fred]

seems to me that the best song writers always write about their personal experiences

 

Maybe I need to lead a more interesting life then... Or find a better way to express it. I feel stuck right now, I'm in a lyric writing rut, trying to bang out some songs for practice next week, first full one with the whole band, and I want to have at least three songs written.

[Kiwi]

Don't try forcing it too much, because while you might get something out of it, chances are you're not going to be too happy with it later on. I've kind of managed to find my stride as a lyricist by just letting it come naturally to me, good things take time. My tip would be to carry a small notepad with you or at least have one close at most times, which would give you the freedom to not worry about coming up with something, but once you do, you'll be able to write it down fast.

 

Also, I tend to write better things if I try to complete an idea all at once. I might perhaps edit parts of it later, but trying to just write whatever comes to mind around that certain lyrical hook or whatever it might've been usually helps me to get better groundwork for later use.

[DAS44]

Let it flow, like Kiwi said don't force it. If it's simply not coming, go do something else for a bit and try again.

[CajunBlues]

seems to me that the best song writers always write about their personal experiences

 

I agree.. the best lyrics always seem to be inspired by a story that folks find interesting... If it is a personal experience, then that's a plus... But if you lead a boring life, either spice it up or embrace other stories you have heard/read that would make a good story or topic...

[milod]

Okay, consider a couple of things writers have done for ages.

 

First, I agree with such as T.S. Eliot that rather than writing when in an emotional state, wait until you can reflect on that emotion: "I love you," "I hate you," "The culture is going to hades," "Let's go have fun," or "I got the gutbucket blues."

 

Secondly, in that reflection, consider visuals. For example, "Your eyes smiled, but it was a lie; you looked back at him as you drove by..."

 

Third, I think that the rhythm of a piece has to be there first, and has to "fit" with the lyric. The classic Rolling Stones "I can't get no satisfaction" is really a protest song and is done to a "fast dance" beat of the day with a punchy beat. "Love lyrics" tend to be set as "slow dance" stuff and have been for well over a century when written for "recordings" that are expected to be roughly under 3 minutes.

 

... Mind you, I'm writing this as a "critic" as opposed to any sort of a songwriter.

 

But here's another thought, too: A number of good "tunes" have been reset on a number of occasions with different lyrics and vice versa. Some good tune/lyric combinations have been done speeded up or slowed down to different "dance speeds" as well.

 

I have no idea what "dance speeds" you're working toward, but if you're playing alongside a dance floor and folks are habituated to going to that venue to dance instead of just listening, it may be something to think about in writing...

 

m

[Silenced Fred]

I have a multipage document saved on my computer with random lines that I think of, and try to incorporate into music.

 

Milod- thanks, its hard though. I have to stay attached, but detach myself at the same time...

[ZenKen]

Nothing wrong with instrumentals. :)

[ChanMan]

If you truly have writer's block, then the best thing to do is relax and let it go. Mentally give up on writing the songs by next practice. See if you can be spurred on by impending defeat....

 

Or ask Milod, as i think he is a professional writer/photographer and see how he overcomes it.... I think that's what I'd do.

 

 

ETA I see he posted while I composed.... he's a good fellow, that Milod :)

[GIANTRobOT420]

Empty your cup

[Silenced Fred]

If you truly have writer's block' date=' then the best thing to do is relax and let it go. Mentally give up on writing the songs by next practice. See if you can be spurred on by impending defeat....

 

Or ask Milod, as i think he is a professional writer/photographer and see how he overcomes it.... I think that's what I'd do.

 

 

ETA I see he posted while I composed.... he's a good fellow, that Milod :) [/quote']

 

Not really writer's block, I just have to think of other things to write about. I do have some more inspirations, so I'm gonna see how that goes...

 

I'm just gonna let it flow, see how things work out.

[milod]

Nathan...

 

Yeah, you're both attached and detached to write well, I think. The old poem that goes along the lines of "I fall on the thorns of life, I bleed" was too cornball, IMHO, 200 years ago or whatever - but Shakespeare's sonnets hold up across the ages in spite of antique language because they're so well crafted - and so are such as "Stormy Monday" as a blues.

 

Everybody gets writer's block at one time or another. There are two ways around it, one is, as has been said, just "Zenning out" and the other is to write anyway about anything. "I look out the window, the clouds are gray on blue; (repeat first line in a 12-bar blues progression) you're the gray, Baby I know I just can't hold you..."

 

Basic blues progressions don't necessarily require fancy writing, but rather more something along the lines of a bit of metaphor involved and... one can push oneself to write even when you don't think you can.

 

m

[charlie brown]

Or....you could be like Pete Seeger, and borrow from books...like the Bible. "Turn, Turn, Turn,"

verse...is from Ecclesiastes. Lennon, wrote from newspaper headlines (A Day In The Life), etc.

All kinds of inspirations, are out there...you just have to be open, to them.

 

I don't seem to have trouble with lyrics...ideas, etc...just putting them to music. I seem to write one,

or the other....the lyrics, or the chord progressions. But, doing both, at or near the same time...seems

(for me) to be more problematic. ;>b "Blues or "County" is much easier, musically...as they "all sound

alike," anyway. ;>) LOL!

 

CB

[Daryl M]

I have, from time to time, gone to a music store and read the song titles from the backs of random CDs. Sometimes a title would catch my attention, and bring to mind an idea or a hook. It's an easy way to jump start the thinking process.

[pohatu771]

The whole thing is lies. No one wants to hear someone go on about themselves, because 99% of the time you want to whine about something going bad in your life. The key is finding a balance between writing something you feel and writing something others want to feel. If you start to sound like a teenage girl, no one cares anymore. The key is to shake off all of the adolescent self-indulgence and write like a person.

 

Most of what I write is based on something I've heard or said without thinking. Today, especially, people want to be clever, but it's forced and doesn't make sense. "A Hard Day's Night" is a good line. It makes sense when you hear it, except that it doesn't. The same goes for "Eight Days A Week." The trend now, for some reason, is to be intentionally confusing. I think it's a way to write a song when you don't actually have anything to say.

 

Now, to say that I follow my own advice would be a lie. The secret is to write whatever you think of, but knowing the difference between tolerable and not. I have thousands of files on the computer that are stored in a folder that never gets opened, but only a few dozen that I've developed completely. Even fewer are recorded.

[DeVeeWee]

My one companion I have always with me, is a little tiny notebook ... I write down the things I'm experiencing at the moment itself ... it might sound a bit weird to some but on the other hand, more than normal to writers. I write down ideas, concept, the things I register, names, street names, quotes I've heard, you name it, anything ...

 

I came up with this idea to write the things down when they occur ... when I was too tired to read fairytales for both of my sons...so I invented my own stories which kept me awake since I had to concentrate. Afterwards my kids liked those stories even more than the ones from the books. That made me

 

I had to keep that momentum, so I took pen and paper and started to write down the stories ... until I had a book with more than 60 fairytales. Friends tell me to publish it, but it's still a bit early for that ...

 

So, when you write song texts, have a notebook that you can carry easily with you, and write down what's important to you at the moment that matters to you ... my 2 cents!

[Witmer]

Yet another approach to the process is to write about things that really move you personally. Just get it out, even though merely "expressing yourself" is adolescent and, ultimately, boring. But once it's on paper, search the description of what you're feeling for the common human element - the piece that anyone - or maybe anyone of your generation - could relate to, and work at pulling that to the front, and pushing the self-focused stuff backwards.

 

Not that I'm a great writer, but writing is what I've loved and studied since before I was your age. I'm pretty sure the *theory* is sound. :-)

[Jeff-7]

My one companion I have always with me' date=' is a little tiny notebook ... I write down the things I'm experiencing at the moment itself ... it might sound a bit weird to some but on the other hand, more than normal to writers. I write down ideas, concept, the things I register, names, street names, quotes I've heard, you name it, anything

[/quote']

 

Good suggestion, many lyricists do this. Another way to go about it is to compose the instrumentals of the song (whether or not it is you composing them) and write or sing what you envision or feel when you hear the instruments. In many bands where there are split "duties" the instrumentalists will compose most of a song and the lyricist will listen to the music for inspiration and compose lyrics to suit it.

[milod]

Jeff... an A+ on that one.

 

A lotta songs that today are standards were written as instrumentals and lyrics added or changed later.

 

One thing I'm kinda wondering though, is the degree to which the culture has changed beyond where I could write a "teen" song without it being a history piece. <grin>

 

For example from the 50s, Eddie Cochran's "Summertime Blues" that most kids in that era could identify with; the soupy "Tell Laura I Love Her" and "Teen Angel" are a couple more that I wonder would even "fit" today's youth culture.

 

Even the Beatles' "I want to hold your hand..." Is that relevant to an older teen nowadays or more for fourth graders? I'm not saying this critically, but simply from some observations. OTOH, "Somewhere over the Rainbow" might be pretty relevant in terms of lyric, but the tune? I dunno.

 

I dunno. I really don't. I think some lyrics are very much a bit of zeitgeist in terms of their success - and ditto even some instrumentals. I'm reminded from the late '50s "Theme from a Summer Place" and how in the 50s every girl with a piano was hammering out "Heart and Soul" that actually was a 1939 hit redone a dozen times.

 

The piece "You Belong To Me" with Jo Stafford, who really wasn't first with the piece, was changed already by the early '60s and then the what, 90s Allie McBeal breathy and half silly acoustic guitar backing replaced a "swing" arrangement.

 

I dunno... To quote a lyric I rather enjoy, "If I could roll back the years, back when I was young and limber, loose as ashes in the wind, I had no irons in the fire... I could ride them wild young mustangs, the adrenalin came quickly ... and Juanita down at Mona's was my only heart's desire..." In metaphor I think that still holds, but is it even something a kid today outside ranch country could half understand?

 

m

[Jeff-7]

If you're wanting to write a teen song today it either has to be super "cutesy" or flat out pornographic.

[milod]

Jeff...

 

When I'm feeling cynical I tend to agree.

 

Then stuff happens like yesterday afternoon. Over a dozen volunteers for the whole summer showed up from the local high school to help coach a "Special Olympics" softball team. No pay, no glory for some kids who are all-state athletes. Just good young hearts and minds there to help people far less fortunate.

 

And the "kids" here on the forum are pretty decent too, from what I can see. I'll be the first to say I'm glad I was brought up when I was rather than today. Every generation has its own challenges; about half are the same as all prior generations shifting from childhood to adulthood; and about half are different because of the changing times.

 

I will say that I think there's a lot more intentional crudity today than when I was a kid. But then I just talked to a lawyer from the office next door wearing jeans and boots as I am - and 40 years ago we'd both be wearing jacket and tie, dress slacks and boots. <grin>

 

m

[Jeff-7]

I used to volunteer at the Kansas Special Olympics events pretty regularly. I'm 26 so I consider myself a kid still but I don't find much of the popular music to be appealing. Sure music about sex has been around for a long time but it seems that people used to be more subtle in their lyrics instead of bashing you over the head with tunes about getting strange tail and things of that nature. Lady Gaga springs to mind when I consider crude lyrics and I don't want my little cousin to be listening to that music.

[Silenced Fred]

Jeff- I hear what you are saying. I am trying to capture my emotions in the songs it needs some refinement but it helps to get the emotions out on a page. I am currently working on a song I am less attached to, but modern songs are very crude, and I'm trying to avoid swears because, IMO, I want to get playing shows wherever, and I want them to be appropriate for any audience. A lot has changed, but if I can get people to feel the feeling I have, that would be phenomenal.

 

It may sound super sappy, but that's how I feel

 

To the people suggesting a notebook- Trust me, I do. I have one in my pocket at all times, I keep one next to my bed, random spots around the house, etc. That works great, I can't tell you how many times I think of something and can't remember it for the life of me unless I write it down.