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Phishe
Lysergic Bliss
Registered: 01/21/06
Posts: 2,908
Loc: Planet Earth
Last seen: 11 years, 5 months
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Lyric writing tips.
#5874821 - 07/18/06 07:31 PM (17 years, 8 months ago) |
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This is always what i have most trouble with in writing a song.
Can anyone give me some tips or direction in writing lyrics. Everything i write sounds stupid after a while.
Any help would be great. Thanks.
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EmpTyCLosEtSpAcE
yatahey
Registered: 03/22/06
Posts: 99
Last seen: 17 years, 25 days
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Re: Lyric writing tips. [Re: Phishe]
#5900711 - 07/26/06 12:45 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
Phishe said: This is always what i have most trouble with in writing a song.
Can anyone give me some tips or direction in writing lyrics. Everything i write sounds stupid after a while.
Any help would be great. Thanks.
K first off I'm not totally in the realm of the sober so this may ramble a bit. Mebbe I'll re-edit later. More likely I'll crash and forget I posted this.
That could mean two things. Either the song IS stupid, or it no longer holds the same meaning as it did when you wrote it. This happens to me alot. I'll write songs that I KNOW are good songs. They'll convey perfectly how I felt at the time and the point I was trying to make. I'll play them for friends and they'll love it. But after a bit they can lose meaning to me and I'll hate them. Either because I've practiced it so much that it doesn't have the same impact OR because I no longer feel the way I did when I wrote it, so it seems silly. Usually this happens with songs I write after I have a bad break up, I get depressed over something, burn the pizza, etc. Seems important at the time then later once I'm over it I realize it's a trivial thing. Doesn't mean the song is bad, just that I no longer need it. *btw I'm damn proud of my pizza song!* So as far as that goes just remember that music is subjective, even when it's your own. As far as actual writing tips....dunno, probably everyone does it different but here's what I do.
1)I usually only write songs when I'm in some type of emotional turmoil OR in a really damn good mood. Lyrics I mean, not music. That just comes. Also my creativity seems to come in bouts. I might write 4 or 5 songs that rock, then write 25 shitty ones, then not write at all for a few months, then start the process over again.
2)Sometimes the only things you can come up with just plain SUCK!! Don't be discouraged. Just keep writing those sucky songs 'till they're out of your system. THEN mebbe you have room in your head for a good one! The number of hours I've spent working on lyrics that I immediately threw away would astound and amaze you. Or possibly make you laugh at me. Either way, don't worry about it. Sometimes you have to push the shit out to get at something good.
3) A good song writer is his/her own worst critic. Well, maybe. It's true for me but likely not for everyone. I know that I can look at most of my songs and say, "I could have done that better." I might not know HOW I could have, but it often seems like there's something lacking. Doesn't matter, I did it to the best of my ability and if someone doesn't like it, fuck them. Didn't write it for them anyways!
Anywho, thats how I do it. I think I'm fairly decent lyricist too. But most importantly of all, try and let what you feel flow through you onto paper. I think the best songs are the ones where the writer didn't really have to think about what they're writing. They just transcribed ideas to words w/out over analyzing them and in doing so were able to convey the raw emotion from which the song emerged.
-------------------- I can't imagine what the cops are going to think when they come in and see a couple hippies on some guy covered in puke and shit screaming i'm dying as we tell him it's ok he'll like it.-Chinacat72
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CptnGarden
fuck this site
Registered: 05/13/04
Posts: 11,945
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tip #1
dont try to rhyme
tip #2
ganja is good
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MLBjammer
Invitro Freak
Registered: 02/24/06
Posts: 560
Loc: Southeastern USA
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Re: Lyric writing tips. [Re: CptnGarden]
#5904456 - 07/27/06 05:58 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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You will write more interesting lyrics if you have a deep well of imagery and language, meaning that you should read a lot of different things, listen to a lot of songwriters, etc. For me, writing a song is trying to put a unique spin on the human experience. And things you have heard and read will subconsciously pop up when you get inspired. And I don't think you can force yourself to write lyrics; they will come when they come. If it's forced writing, it will sound forced. If you have songs in you, with a little nurturing they will emerge.
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SneezingPenis
ACHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!111!
Registered: 01/15/05
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Re: Lyric writing tips. [Re: MLBjammer]
#5910926 - 07/29/06 01:39 AM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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Quote:
MLBjammer said: You will write more interesting lyrics if you have a deep well of imagery and language, meaning that you should read a lot of different things, listen to a lot of songwriters, etc. For me, writing a song is trying to put a unique spin on the human experience. And things you have heard and read will subconsciously pop up when you get inspired. And I don't think you can force yourself to write lyrics; they will come when they come. If it's forced writing, it will sound forced. If you have songs in you, with a little nurturing they will emerge.
great advice. The only thing I can add, is refrain from all cliches, and not just the obvious ones. Shit like "I cant stand to be without you", "you are my everything". Especially stay away from reflexive bullshit, if you need a reference to what I am talking about, listen to any Bush (the band) lyric. "I hate myself, I love me" type crap.
Also, only until recently (100 years ago) did music start taking a self-absorbed attitude, atleast lyric-wise. The seemingly esoteric, yet all encompassing generalization of lifes ups and downs makes up about 98% of modern lyrics, while back in the day, people were trying to convey a concept or capture a moment that was beyond themselves.
I have one rule for myself when writing serious lyrics (funny songs excluded): don't use the words "I", "You", "Me", "Us", "they/them", or "we".
I always try to tell a story from the 3rd person perspective, usually something completely fictional, but with a moral. I think so often, people sit there grasping for ideas about lyrics and what is the first word that comes out of your mouth when trying to improvise? "I", maybe due mostly to the fact that it is a vowel.
Basically, don't try to convey how sad/happy/pissed off/unfair your life is, because that is common for everyone, it is nothing new, and you aren't conveying anything substantial.... its about the difference between painting a wall, and painting a canvas- anyone can picture what that wall would look like completely blue, which is why it isnt really art.
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ExecutionStyle
Entheo
Registered: 07/27/06
Posts: 34
Loc: Fruiting Chamber
Last seen: 16 years, 3 months
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Write some new lyrics to your favorite song. After your piece is complete read it off free verse, with no beat. If your satisfied, try altering it to your desired song.
For me, I need a beat to start out with. This gives my writing far more passion.
-------------------- "We can only be what we give ourselves the power to be."
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Newbie
User of semicolons.
Registered: 07/18/04
Posts: 24,713
Loc: SoCal
Last seen: 16 hours, 55 minutes
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Expand your vocabulary Keep a notepad handy Write like nobody's reading
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FGL
Stranger
Registered: 06/25/05
Posts: 572
Last seen: 9 years, 10 months
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Re: Lyric writing tips. [Re: Newbie]
#5929066 - 08/03/06 04:25 PM (17 years, 7 months ago) |
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take a songs you like (from different music styles)and then make a lyric ( better 10) with that melody, afterwards make a melody for those lyrics. Make a list or words and phrases without thinking about it: for example: beautiful trees, birds flying around, oranges, stadium of madness, purple kiss, toad eyes, dense streets eating my skin, you'd liked to suck from my blue rain... (althuogh you may think that it sucks, the point is to open your mind to apparently nosense stuff, and learn to give sense to it creatively in your songs)
Sorry for my english...
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