Writing Lyrics

[Axel Björnsson]

I look at myself as a musician, not a poet. So I don't think too much about lyrics ( I even don't know the whole lyrics of bunch of my favorite songs). Sometime when I'm really down I can write some bitter words but that's it really. One time I wrote lyrics about wanting to have sex with one of my teachers, but you can't use that over and over....

 

So how do you folks write good lyrics? How do you get in the mood? Without drugs or alcohol?

I'm interested...

[josta59]

Is this for real? That's the funniest post I've seen in a long time.

[Chris]

Hey there Axel! Ill write you some lyrics! I really enjoy it, so if you are serious, send me some music and get in touch!

Best, Chris

[Axel Björnsson]

Yeah man im deadly serious... I'll send you link after I upload some songs to mediafire! peace!

[Chris]

Great, I look forward to it. Respect, Chris

[josta59]

I apologize for my remark. I really thought this might be a joke. Sorry for my rudeness.

[Brother Panti-Christ]

I like to write words when i already have music to the song that i'm working on. then you can write stuff that fits in the music, rather than starting with a poem or phrases and forcing them to fit the music. i usually playback the music and babble into the mic, recording the babble if possible. then I listen back to the music and low level babble together, and somehow I start hearing words and rhythms out of the mush. If i get a few lines, then I can usually start a weird story out of it... Using a rhyme dictionary is also helpful, plenty online sites offering that service. and... I do suggest a bit drugs and alcohol, helps slip out of your skin so you don't get too sappy or bitter, or more sappy and more bitter... :)

[Church of Entertainment Hedonism]

I'm usually the other way round. I write most of the lyric first and then starting feeling around for the changes on guitar. For me its all intuitive based on how the words make me feel and what I hear in my head (and there are compromises).

I do occasionally work right side up, or music first. My guitar player is a machine and will send me stuff that is almost whole, like a demo with rhythm guitar, bass and drums, and I will throw it up on garageband, plug in a mic and just babble, recording it as the brother above me described. After 3 or 5 takes I can usually hear a framework for the melody lines and -- because I write all the time -- I generally have a quick sense for syllables and timing, so -- I begin to chip away, picking around the edges of the lyric until I get a line completely worked out. Once I've got the lyrical DNA molecule (or maybe one for each "part" of the song) I quickly fill in the remaining lyrics, trimming and revealing, until the whole thing comes together. It doesn't always lead somewhere interesting; part of songwriting the lyrics is inspiration, but the rest is craft. I try to stay as prepared as possible. I keep a stack of handwritten stories, never-used lyrics and poems by my laptop when I'm writing lyrics, in case I need quick inspiration.

I read a ton. I pay attention to lyrics and tend to look at a song as a marriage between the different parts, including the lyrics, as well as the way they are delivered, in s song. I listen for sneers, smiles, eyeball rolls and other shit normal people probably aren't consciously aware of in a singers voice. I think about how an emotion will color or change a performance of a song and try to project that emotion -- like an actor -- when I am singing it. Again, there are compromises, but for me -- writing songs is almost a religious experience, and I treat the lyrics accordingly.

[Jonathan Hanusa]

I do a lot of the above as well.  Sometimes I'll write a couple cool lines and then think of the music that would fit the tone of the lines.  Other times I just use vocals as another instrument and don't even bother with lyrics.  I can't tell you how many shows I've played where I forgot, or haven't even written lyrics for a song.  Nobody cared, I just mumbled like I knew what I was doing and the energy of the song did the rest. In conclusion, don't stress about lyrics.

[Daniel]

Hey man. Writing lyrics is a funny nut to crack. Everybody's suggestions here are great and you should try them all. You never can tell what's going to work and - for me at least - it's a little different for each song. I've definitely done the "mumbling with authority" thing!

I'll say straight out that I'm not an expert, I only know what has worked for me. I've written songs that I thought were pretty good lyrically and definitely a whole bunch that were pretty bad, even embarrassing. So you know, take this all worth a grain of salt.

Mostly I just try to get in a frame of mind where things flow a bit. I have a couple different tricks I use to get something I like. I try to build a big old woodshed of stuff. Brainstorming basically. It's good to have a backlog of material to choose from or to spur more ideas.

One of my favorite methods of brainstorming is to get relaxed (using ones method of choice), put on headphones and just listen to other peoples music - people/bands whose lyrics I really like. While I'm listening I'll get little ideas that maybe rhyme with what I'm listening to, or maybe follow the same rhythm and I write them down. Sometimes one song will really get the juices flowing and I get a couple pages of stuff out of that one song. Do this a lot with a lot of different songs and build up that backlog. Then I try to forget about all of it for long enough that I don't quite remember what songs I was listening to, and I'm not still 'in the moment'. I almost want to feel like I'm reading it for the first time when I go back so that I can be distant enough to recognize the shitty parts. The most important part is when I go back and start mining that stuff I literally throw out %90 of it and just work with the %10 that makes me think "holy shit did I even write that? That's pretty damn good" and work from there.

On totally different tip, I'll take whatever song I'm working on and just make noises wherever I can. The idea being to just figure out what spots I'm actually capable of vocalizing with. This is like what Jonathan was saying above. I play guitar and sing in my band, so figuring out where I can sing is a big part of deciding what to say. A lot of times in that process certain words or phrases pop out that just sound good. Then it's a matter of building around those spontaneous phrases.

Here's another one. Carry a little notebook with you everywhere you go. It's crazy how all of a sudden shit starts popping into your head in line at the 7-11. Plus people say crazy shit all the time, and I write that down for later. In fact, I would say the best thing you can do is just write shit down constantly hahaha. You're friends will think you're a freak, but fuckem. Generate so much material that you have no choice but to jettison most of it - the gems will shine through.

- on one last thing. It can help if you have a buddy who's taste you respect and who you can take criticism from without getting pissed to bounce ideas off of - or even collaborate with.

Good luck man! Figuring this stuff out is fun and after a while you learn what works for you and things start to click a little bit.

[Drew Smith]

I hate writing lyrics.  What I tend to do is get the song pretty well done already and then pull out one of a few notebooks that I have that I keep tossing fragments, bits of poetry, words that pop into my head, and see what fits.  Sometimes I'll grab a whole page from the book, slice it into pieces, and then toss them in a hat to pull out random pieces and see what I can string together.  Usually, I find that figuring out the song, then the melody line, then the lyrics, works best for me, but even better if I already have stuff floating around that I can turn into lyrics, if that makes sense.

[Church of Entertainment Hedonism]

I love it. The classic Borroughsian "Cut-Up" method! I wonder how man great bands have done the same for at least some of their lyrics. There are some folk who believe that the right "chunk dada dunk da donk de dunk, bwaan ahhhn bahn bum ba!" on the guitars and drums can literally save souls, and a few others beside, who believe that, properly utilized, the cut-up technique can anticipate the future. The Greeks had their "Oracle at Delphi," garage-punks and other rock n rollers have their Oracle at Gibson.

Another tip: Don't just mumble over the music. Hush it, wail it, scream it, bark at it, do whatever you have to to put a full range of vocalizations over the top of the song before you start adding too many words to the mix. I was working on one this morning and the "mumble-with-authoritah" wasn't working for me, so I started vocalizing blasts of brass, Within 10 minutes I managed to dig out a really cool verse for a new song.

[Daniel]

Nice! The cut-up! Keith Richards talks about doing that on one of the tunes on Exile.