Lesson on how to write lyrics?

[TallicaDeth]

ok, i just recently sat down with a pencil and a piece of paper. i made a pretty ok simple song with a guitar, bass, drums and singing. except when i got to the singing part i sat there for 20 minutes just thinking. i turned on some good music and sang with it...still nothing.

i was wondering how you write lyrics.
i cant rhyme very good, i cant sing very good, but i have a good imagination.

[JimmyM]

lyrics are such a personal subject that it's really impossible to tell you HOW to write lyrics. all i can say is write what you feel and try to avoid cliched lines you've heard a million times.

[Freez]

I have a trick that really helped me with this; I used to think that writing lyrics was hard, but it turns out that, for me anyway, what was relly holding me up was that I didn't have a melody. Lots of chord progressions that I refered to as songs, but no melodies. Once you have a melody, the lyrics become a lot easier, because the rhythm of the melody will actually almost suggest sound patterns. Mick Jagger and Keith Richards refer to this as "vowel movements" (I know, sounds like bowel movements), and they actually rehearse new material with Mick just singing sounds over the melody. Once they find out which vowel sounds seem to fit the melody, they write the lyrics accordingly. I've even taken this one step furthur, writing melodies first and then finding chord progrssions and patterns that fit the melody. Really works well, and changes your idea of what your particular writing style is. It can really be an eye opener. One more thing; don't get too hung up on the lyrics making perect sense. Some of the best pop/rock tunes in history have phrases or even whole sections that don't appear to make sense. All that does is increse the mystique of the performer and make people think you're deeper than you really are! Hope this helps...

[MIJ-VI]

Carry a small pad and pen at all times in case inspiration strikes and freeze-frame everything else you're doing until you've captured the moment in full. (Forget 'I'll write that down later'. Do it or lose it.)

Scribble down every fragment which comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense. (To hell with logical sequence and spelling & grammar. One can edit an idea into a more sensible form later on.)

Don't ruin a spontaneous - and fleeting - moment by questioning it in any way. Allow the muse to flow through you to the page. During that suspension of time you are a simple conduit to a larger creativity.

Keep everything that you scribble on during these moments. Some ideas will take years to pull together into lyrics, some never will, and some will almost write themselves.

When crafting together a previously captured inspiration, be one who tells a C-note tale in 10 cent words.

My .02

--------

Then there's the narrative approach to songwriting:

Gordon Lightfoot "...had a hit song about a shipwreck on Lake Superior. In late November 1975, Lightfoot had read a Newsweek magazine article[18] about the tragic loss of the SS Edmund Fitzgerald which sank during a severe storm on November 10 with the loss of all 29 crew members. His song, "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", most of the lyrics of which were based on the facts contained in the article..."

[JoeVictim]

+1 to vowel movements and carrying around a pad or a tape recorder.

Lyrics are very personal and there is no right or wrong way to do it. One band that has super intelligent lyrics that I am envious of is Propagandi.

"Is this life? To stand here and wait. In this city forged of scraps. Is this life? To stand on the dead. On feces and sweat. Is this life? It's starting again. Quick, gather your belongings and go. Run while it's still dark. Out here you're as good as dead. Leave the shots echoing behind. Don't look back until you run out of land. When you think there's a second that you can't be seen, the current can decide how this night will end." -Cut Into The Earth, Propagandi

These lyrics are intelligent, speak of current issues, and don't ryme at all. You just have to find you way of writing and expand on it. Don't try and be too smart about it, just let it come out.

[theunknowndude]

I like intelligent lyrics,... sometimes rhyming sometimes not,...

maynard from tool is a brillian writer,... and I like some of corey from slipknot's work,... he brings some archaic or rare words back into use that I like,...

spiral architect is a big one for me,... I love this part:

Life as it seemed to the circling man
As he gazed into discarded land
Was a ride on a carousel of faith
Then he flew away

He travelled far through his worn out mind
Through sorrow and pai, what had he gained?
Still his dreams they could never take away
So he flew into the sun again

Emptiness struck as he realized
There's no answer to "who am I? what am I?"
He then saw why men must construct for themselves
A cloud of Unknowing

[iamthebassplayr]

Do it as often as you can.

You will write some real crap, some really clichés, and some good stuff too, but doing it more and more is what is going to help you find what works best for you and push you forward into greater things.

And a +1 to everything else said.

[JohnMCA72]

A rhyming dictionary can be a pretty useful tool. Sometimes an idea will jump out just scanning through it & seeing a list of otherwise-unrelated words together.

[kcwm]

For me, it's a matter of taking a subject matter that people can relate to...something that, in at least some capacity, I've personally experienced. From there, I let my imagination distort it and take it in a particular direction.

I also listen to other songs and purposely try to misinterpret what the singer is saying, but not a goofy misinterpretation. I'm not referring to changing a single word. For example, in Pearl Jam's "Rearviewmirror", there's a phrase where Eddie Vedder sings "A fool to your crown". Now, maybe I mishear that as "A rule to fall down". Then I think to myself, "that's interesting..." I jot it down (or type up a note in my phone). Now, I've never misheard that particular lyric, and "a rule to fall down" is a bit of a stretch, but it served the purpose of an example using the first bit of lyrics that came to mind.

When I'm stuck on a rhyme, I will turn to google to find words that rhyme. Sometimes, that's enough to make me think of a word and sometimes I use a word I found with the search. Now, I'll admit to rhyming too much, but if that's your thing and you get stuck, this can definitely help. If you're not going for an exact rhyme, you could try a search for "words that sound like..." The internet has made situations like this much easier.

I'll admit to being more of a fan of simple lyrics. One can tell an effective story using common words. I'm not a huge fan of big words for the sake of a big word. I don't even need for lyrics to be overly clever if they are effective at conveying the point.

But, as someone else said above, lyrics are very subjective.

[Freez]

Originally Posted by MIJ-VI

Carry a small pad and pen at all times in case inspiration strikes and freeze-frame everything else you're doing until you've captured the moment in full. (Forget 'I'll write that down later'. Do it or lose it.)

Scribble down every fragment which comes to mind even if it doesn't make sense. (To hell with logical sequence and spelling & grammar. One can edit an idea into a more sensible form later on.)

Don't ruin a spontaneous - and fleeting - moment by questioning it in any way. Allow the muse to flow through you to the page. During that suspension of time you are a simple conduit to a larger creativity.

Keep everything that you scribble on during these moments. Some ideas will take years to pull together into lyrics, some never will, and some will almost write themselves.

When crafting together a previously captured inspiration, be one who tells a C-note tale in 10 cent words.

My .02

This is good advice; I've had a lot of those "moments of inspiration" that I didn't immediately commit to paper, only to find later that I'd forgotten it, or didn't remember it correctly. I try to put my mind at ease by thinking, hey, if it was that great I would have remembered it, but deep down I know I've let a couple good ones slip away.

[TallicaDeth]

Thank you guys, you are all so helpful. I think im ready to finish the song and get my band to try it out.

By the way, what do you think of "One"-Metallica ?
I think the lyrics are freakin' sweet.

I also found that writing a subject of a song and writing a story about it and when your finished change it around to make it rhyme, then write a chorus that matches does help too.
Some cool subject i got are:
Jumping in front of a bullet to save someone
All the bad parts about your personality
Daydreaming about a girl you will never be with

[EdHunter]

I find almost all of my lyrics (and poems, too) are about war. It's soemthing I know about, and the suffering and cruelty therein are perfect for writing about.

[GlennPagano]

I am currently writing a concept album about a boy that goes to sleep. In his dream he starts out on a boat and washes up on an island. Once on the island he meets 3 different creatures. Then he wakes back up. I am going to base my lyrics off of this.

[Mike M.]

I find that the subject matter has to be about something that I believe in 100%. If I don't believe in it and if I can't relate to it then I'll stare at a blank piece of paper for hours. But once the right thought hits me, there's no stopping . It pours out.

[martyman5000]

Most of my lyrics match my bass line melodies...

All walking down the E string

I rode my bike EABC down your lane BCD in the rain CDE