OT: How many of you guys are songwriters?

[Quackzed]

sometimes i'll just make up some nonsense that fits the rythem/melody of a piece -like a dumb phrase or something just so i can remember the melody line again, fully intending to change the words later ... kind of like a "stand in" lyric till i find the right words... but somehow those dumb throwaway lyrics just stick! i can NEVER (almost never) find another phrase that fits as well or that grabs the mood of the chords as well...and it's not that i like weird oddball goofy lyrics i really don't, but ive lost some really good melodies and progressions because they got together with some weird lyrics...and i just couldn't separate them from the melodies...
now i take more care in finding the right words for a melody because ive learned that those throwaway lyrics don't like being replaced...
heres a good example...
little blue frogs and brown frogs and green frogs, step on them all the long day long...
little blue frogs and brown frogs and green frogs, step on them all day long...

whataya do with that? 
i dont wanna hurt no frogs... where the hell did that  come from??!! 

[aziltz]

i do the "stream of conciousness" thing and it seems to work, kinda like John Rzeznik from the goo goo dolls, it seems to turn out alright. 
the songs i write with an intended topic usually suck.  I usually start with a progression or a hook line and build on that, but i get the best results from just recording some progressions into ableton live and then recording vocals and singing what comes out first.

examples at www.myspace.com/dreadingmonday

[Traintrack]

Well she got her daddy's car and she cruised to the hamberger stand now...

Re-write a good song, Everyone else does.  Ask Elvis Costello, he admits to it.

By the way there are people who are songwriters and people who write songs... There are only a few great Songwriters in the whole world. Think about it.

[LoudGreg]

I find what holds me back sometimes is that I want to be clearly understood. But then I find it's easier to continue if I let go of that idea because there are so many songs where the lyrics could mean anything you want them to mean. You don't actually have to make a BIG statement to have a good song.

Lennon's "For the benefit of Mr. Kite" was taken from an add for a carnival. (COOL !!!)
"Yesterday" was actually called "scrambled Eggs" before McCartney changed the lyrics when he realized he had a good song. Point is he wrote a song about Eggs, just to do it. Because that's what was coming into his head at the time. Hendrix wrote about anything from Astromen to Sand Castles.
Robert Plant wrote about Vikings & Kashmir.
Pete Townsend & Ray Davies wrote stories about everyday people.

There's an endless supply of topics out there...........................

My next song is going to be about a Modded DS-1, or maybe Wah inductors or something...........

[phaeton]

I just suck... Really I do.  If i sit down and *try* to write lyrics, nothing happens.  I can write the hell out of instrumentals though (i've got some stuff I'm about to send to a 'stock music' library, atm).

But then there are those times, and I must admit that they are extremely rare, where it just happens.  I don't know why.   

[Quackzed]

cool thats alright man really. doubled the vocals (yes!) and those angular licks in the middle rock, solo is reckless yet melodic... lyrics are simple and straightforward everyone can relate to that!
very cool, you gotta play her that song, it will get you laid!

[LoudGreg]

"Hey Hey what can you do"
(blues riff)
"Hey Hey what can you do-oo"
(blues Riff)
"I said what can you do"
(blues riff)
"To a Five thirty five Q" 

"New inductor in you"
(blues riff)
"a new inductor in you-oo"
(blues riff)
"a ....................................


OK I'll stop.

[jonathan perez]

holy hell, he wrote a song about wahs.

WONDERFUL!!!!

[rockgardenlove]

Hey, the wah song isn't bad

[Quackzed]

someone should do a jingle for DIYSTOMPBOXES  :- hendrix did a jingle for "radio one" it's pretty funny, he has this fake white guy voice he uses...google it!

[phaeton]

cool thats alright man really. doubled the vocals (yes!) and those angular licks in the middle rock, solo is reckless yet melodic... lyrics are simple and straightforward everyone can relate to that!
very cool, you gotta play her that song, it will get you laid!

Who?

[calpolyengineer]

On a more serious note, I come up with a phrase I like and go to the Rhyming Zone to find words that rhyme and come up with other phrases that match what I'm trying to say and end with a word that rhymes.

I try to take somewhat of a different approach. I think it adds so much character to lyrics when the listener expects a rhyme at the end of a line and doesn't get one. Its one of those instances where what you DON'T do really makes it special.

-Joe

[Quackzed]

dylan was my first experience with non ryming, and i still remember it's impact.. when i heard like a rolling stone... who IS this!?? i gotta hear more of this!!! little did i know i was listening to one of the most influential and prolific songwriters ever...
...simese cat...
..you discover that...
...where it's at...
...everything he could steal..<----? 
how does it FEEL!!! <----- 
   just breaks the scheme and lets you hang... then brings you right back again!

[mac]

Well, I am not jon anderson or neil peart, but I read a lot since a small kid. I agree with Kerry M on this.
I like instrumental music but I guess that I could write some decent lyrics... in spanish of course

mac

[calpolyengineer]

On that note let me just lay it out there that I adore Yes, from every aspect.

-Joe

[syndromet]

Or you can do it like YES did, and just mix up a lot of words into sentences with no meaning, and claim your lyrics are to "deep" for the regular guy.  The hippies would understand it anyway....

Lost in their eyes as you hurry by
Counting the broken ties they decide
Love comes to you and then after
Dream on on to the heart of the sunrise
Lost on a wave that you’re dreaming
Dram on on to the heart of the sunrise
Sharp-distance
How can the wind with it’s arms all around
Me
Sharp-distance
How can the wind with so many around me
I feel lost in the city