[Trash-talk] lyric writing

Mark msp0 at yahoo.com
Tue Jan 20 15:07:43 PST 2004


Hi,

It's been a while since I've wrote a song, as I haven't been in a band
for about 10 years! But probably the best advice I have had comes from
two sources:

John Lennon: "Just say what you want to say and put a backbeat behind
it" (or similar words)

Billy Bragg: "Take something you know and exaggerate an interesting
part of it" (or similar words)

All of my songs ended up too wordy, so I don't have any good examples
from my own work.

I'd start with a rhythm in my mind (or on the drum machine, but I
assume you don't have one of those!), and then start talking along with
it, until I got a few words that seemed to fit. Then I'd write the
rest, expanding on the ideas, before pruning it back to fit the music.

Remember that lyrics are not poetry ... you have to keep your words
short generally, and work to the music, otherwise it sounds too
awkward. Generally a chorus should be something memorable and adds more
passion than verses ... soething you'd like people to sing along with
and get lodged in their brains.

Some of the best lyricists in my opinion:

- Matt Johnson (The The)
- The guys from TISM
- Morrissey (although he gets a bit tedious at times)
- Sting, occasionally (he often writes songs while walking, because it
gives him the natural rhythm to write to)

There are others, but that's all I can think of right now.

Good luck!

cheers,
mark

--- "starvin' @nette" <bowdowntoanette at hotmail.com> wrote:
> No takers?? *sob*
> 
> @nette
> 
> >From: "starvin' @nette" <bowdowntoanette at hotmail.com>
> >To: trash-talk at tcp.com
> >Subject: [Trash-talk] lyric writing
> >Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 13:46:29 +0100
> >
> >A guy held a lecture to us today about lyric writing. I'm trying to
> do a 
> >brainstorm, but even that is hard..! I've never tried writing nor
> composing 
> >music, so I find this incredibly difficult. Anyone care to
> brainstorm with 
> >me? Just send me notes about what ever the fuck.. Just give me
> ideas!


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