Lyrics
This post is about lyric writing. I feel that writing lyrics is the most important part of the creative process. The tune has to be good of course, especially the chorus which is the focus of a good song, and we are only concerned here with good songs!
The first set of words have to ‘scan’. This means that if you have a tune the words must fit. Seems obvious but it is harder to match the accents in the tune. There are critical points in a tune. The notes on the beats 2 and 4 need strong words, that is how rock music works. These points will help punch energy into these beats.
Some words ‘resonate’ these have a vowel as the last letter. The vowel allows the singer to impart their personality into the song. A good singer will recognize a good song when they hear one. So if you are not a performing composer make sure you find a good singer.
The first set of lyrics you write do not have to mean anything at all! In fact it is better that they don’t. This leaves the direction of the song open. What you are looking for is a title, something that encompass the point of the song. Ask yourself one simple question, what is this song about?
Write lyrics that sound right together. You are writing for the sound of the words not the meaning. In fact there are finished songs that are clearly about the sound of the words , not their meaning. Whiter Shade Of Pale is my favorite example. Paul Simon’s Punky’s Dilemma is another.
David Bowie used a method for lyric writing that is unusual. This is what he did.
He would cut up the lyrics of two of more songs of his that he conceded weren’t very good, or for some reason just didn’t work. He placed the pieces in a bag and gave the bag a shake to mix them up a bit. Then, without looking he would pull out some words and assemble them in order.
I don’t know if he wrote it this way but here are the lyrics for Golden Years
I liked this idea so much that I wrote a program to allow the computer to combine lyrics or indeed any text, maybe a Shakespeare play, Midsummer Nights Dream, some poetry, maybe The Ancient Mariner.
The program runs on a Linux system, there is no Windows or Mac version as yet. However if they is a demand I will look at writing one. In the meantime you could use the Bowie cut-up paper example.
Whatever you write enjoy the creative process. Sometimes it may seem that are are carving words out of stone but stay with the process until you have some results. Good writing!