OT: How many of you guys are songwriters?

[Alpha579]

Hey all,
How many of you are songwriters? Because i try to write lyrics but cant find a good starting point. Any tips on inspiration?
Thanx for any input,
Alex

[jrc4558]

You can always use the "How to sing the Blues" as a direction guide!
When I personally have to come up with some lyrics I tend to steal the general idea from a book I've read.
Main point: If you want to write a good poem (or song lyrics for that matter) about, say, apples, never use the word apple itself.
Worked for me so far.

[petemoore]

Talkin' bout love, Talkin' 'bout love'...Talkin' 'bout  .. ... .. ... .. ... .. ..
 Trouble free transmission, puncture or explode,
 Mama let me pump your gas, mama lemme tool your load.
 Talkin' 'bout love.
 You can save alot this way, when you order your lyrics, it'll be less expensive if you order all the "Talkin' 'bout love" s in bulk.
 Just order a gross of something common like this, and the left over words can be used for a sequel, or derivitave writing.

[MarkB]

Lyrics are my downfall... now they are, at least.  I think at one time I could write decent lyrics - but like any other creative endeavor, if you don't do it often (practice, practice, practice) you will lose it somewhat.

I have a hard drive full of musical ideas - all of which stopped short at the point that they needed lyrics to really build the song around.

I've been trying really hard lately to force myself to write stuff... even bad stuff.. just to get the creative juices flowing..  I'll let you know how it goes.
"-)

[bwanasonic]

Some would say the closest to teaching writing you can get is to teach reading. In this case listening. Listen to as many great lyric writers as you can.  Let osmosis do the rest.

Kerry M

[Brian Marshall]

i usully start with the hook   therest usually writes its self

[PeterJ]

I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not Paul Simon or Dylan, so my songs don't HAVE to be deep, introspective and filled with multi-level wordplay. Not that I'm capable of that...

Usually, I find a phrase keeps running through my head, and I build the rest of the lyrics around it. If I have 3 out 4 lines for a verse, it's almost like a puzzle "Hmm... what line connects those two thoughts to this other one?"

Good luck with it -- the only thing that works is sticking with it 'til the song is finished. Unlike Hank Williams, my songs don't just write themselves. Which is why I haven't written that many.

[Marcos - Munky]

I have some riffs saed in my pc, but the lyrics are my problem too. As a alternative, now I'm thinking that I don't need lyrics that can be understanded for almost all the people (like Kurt Cobain lyrics), but I didn't tried this yet.

[downweverything]

Don't try to write a perfect song or even a good song.  Going about songwriting that way is always a dead end to me.  When you just write to write I usually end up happier with what I have.  Perfection is the ultimate restraint of creativity.

[Paul Marossy]

Good songwriting is really difficult for me. I haven't tried to write a song for years because I suck at it. I might give it another shot, though, since now I am a little bit older and wiser. (when it comes to music, anyhow)
I do mostly instrumental music now, which is even more challenging in some respects.

[petemoore]

I like the lyrics that come from mad delirium.
 Like I'm so mad, I get delirius, and can't form sentences, just phrases that exemplify frustration.
 Kurt and John were really good at this.
 The ones that have the LDS based surrealism, mixed with anti-politico social commentary, and fantastic imagery are some of my favorites.
 If you write the lyrics that people really CAN use, and put them into a format [song] that becomes very popular, you're quite likely to have 'secret admirers', that want you to become immortal, now, at their hands. Then you know you're on to something useful.
 Crafting powerful words isn't something you can just 'do' IMO, i'ts more like something that kind of 'happens' to you. The words have always been there, maybe you can change the meaning of them, by putting them in contexts they wouldn't 'normally' be in.
 Well in 45 seconds the computer dies...system 32 lsass exe any ideas...I hate this puter///theres youre title ok Byr

[Rodgre]

I am a songwriter with The Curtain Society and I'm also a producer, helping other people make the best of their songs.

I'm incredibly hard on myself regarding songwriting, and specifically lyrics. I used to write stuff all the time when I was younger. I found that I was sort of writing the same song over and over.... not that they sounded the same, but that I was drawing from the same well for everything. "oh, woe is me, you broke my heart...blah blah blah"   I had to break that.

I'm inspired by either reading an interesting book (I was able to finish an album after reading High Fidelity!) or by certain songwriters that I love. The problem there is that some of those songwriters are so far above me that it just frustrates me that I can't compete. People like Leonard Cohen, Mark Kozelek and Joe Pernice just slay me. Their ability to take a minute detail and magnify it to a point that you can base a whole song around it is unreal. I try hard to do the same thing, but it takes drafts and drafts and rewrites.... and eventually I probably ditch the song for years if it doesn't work just yet. I'll re-examine abandoned songs after a few years.

Roger

[drew]

The best thing you can do is refine it by practicing it.

If I don't hone my skills by writing songs two or three times a week (like I do sometimes... not all the time... unfortunately for me) writing songs becomes extremely hard.

If I do hone my skills and also drink a lot of coffee, I can write lyrics and a melody on top of a song without feeling like I've put my hand in a vise and every line I squeeze out of my brain, I crank it tighter.

The best songs for me come from compiling lyric phrases and ideas that I like and sometimes when thinking about one, a part of a melody or progression just presents itself to me.

For me, the strange thing about songwriting is: If I immerse myself in it, it's easy, but it's hard to get it to go if I'm not completely focused on it. That said, I've been off the internet for the past couple of months so I can work on writing songs for a new album


drew
www.toothpastefordinner.com

[strungout]

I write from time to time, stories, poetry, songs, tho I'm yet to be satisfied with a song  :?

I think alot of people "can't" write, because they have difficulty allowing themselves the freedom to do it. Some stuff is hard to assume, and the rest just might not be that important for someone to express. Personally, I'm working on that.

So, as mentioned before in the thread; pratice is the key, like anything else. Reading alot of poetry, song lyrics, etc. helps a lot. You'll see alot of different ways to write about something. Alot of songwriters keep a book where they write whatever sentences pop into their head, even just words sometimes.
If you've found yourself just improvising on the instrument you play, you can try to do the same thing; just start writing, and keep writing, even if sentences don't really rhyme, if the subject changes (read my signature, it's from Ghost in the Shell by Masamune Shirow), fill a book like that. Then you can come back to it later, and find new ideas, continuity, while re-reading it. If you're comfortable enough with what you wrote, you can get others to read it, they'll probably think of something you haven't. And seriously, I never found anything better than sharing with someone who has the same interests as you. I draw and I have a friend who does also, and both of us get primed when we look at each other's drawings, gives us ideas and just plain drives us to draw more.

Good writing, ciao.

PS: Could check out the lyrics from Nirvana (Kurt Cobain), System of a Down (Serj Tankian), The Beatles (especially Lenon), NOFX (Fat Mike; full of puns).

[gorohon]

You could take the "mad lib" approach.  You'll get some kind of absurdist vibe going on that way :lol:

[Tubebass]

Most of the posters so far seem to be starting with music and writing lyrics to go with it. What about starting with lyrics and writing music to go with it? Anyone done that?

[puretube]

for me, I`m quite with petemoore - though he`d better de-worm his PC soon....  

[Paul Marossy]

Anything that I have wrote that was anything "decent" was a spur of the moment thing that came together in an hour or less. If I work on something too much, I seem to screw it up.  :oops:

[Chris S]

I wrote all the songs for my band, my advice is...

1. Read the lyrics of the lyricists you admire (not to copy but get ideas). Some people love lyricists whose lyrics are direct and more obvious some like lyrics that are more indirect and hidden (i prefer the 2nd)

2. Write bad songs. (and don't beat yourself up when you do) And then find the 3 or 4 line that you like and work out why you like them

3.  Write about experiences you have had that you find hard to talk about or experiences that others have for which you have a great empathy. (Most of my songs are break up songs with the occasional love song and the occasional song about a social justice issue, although I'm still not very good at these)

[RDV]

My one lone recorded song: http://www.myspace.com/theintention2

I wrote the music to "Lone Love" and all the guitar solos.

Thankyouverymuch

RDV