lyrics.

this is going to seem like a stupid question, but uh.

how does one write good lyrics?

i think i'm fairly intelligent, and can put words together well, but every time i try to actually write lyrics for tracks i'm making, they come out so, so terribly. is it a matter of having a melody and then writing words to fit? or is it the other way around? am i just stupid? is it a natural talent? do i need to get an english major?

halp.

it seems much easier when you have the melody or progression first, even if it isn't set in stone. you can always tweak the music later as the lyrics evolve into a song with direction, create some interplay as you would with any other instrument/element. try keeping it simple. I think John Maus' "mantras" as the basis of songs are pretty

interesting http://rougesfoam.blogspot.com/2009/07/heaven-is-real-john-maus-and-truth-of.html

what's so terrible about your efforts so far? the lyrics or how they work with the music? you could try covering five songs you think are good to understand how they're constructed.

well, the problem isn't so much the melody, i guess. i'm good with melodies. it's just that every time i try to write lyrics, i always end up cringing because they're either really trite, or just pretentious and stupid. i usually just end up drenching them in reverb and hoping that nobody can understand what i'm saying.

i can never write words that don't sound fucking stupid. i can't even listen to old tracks where i sing or have written words.

that's why i stick to music, i figure i can say more with music than words anyway, even though it doesn't help OP

Start reading poetry or listen to a lot of music with good lyrics to get the idea. It's something that takes a lot of time [not unlike writing the music itself].

i'm probably not going to win any poetry awards.

  On 9/13/2009 at 4:38 AM, echidna said:

this is going to seem like a stupid question, but uh.

 

how does one write good lyrics?

 

i think i'm fairly intelligent, and can put words together well, but every time i try to actually write lyrics for tracks i'm making, they come out so, so terribly.  is it a matter of having a melody and then writing words to fit?  or is it the other way around?  am i just stupid?  is it a natural talent?  do i need to get an english major?

 

halp.

Being able to put words together well is all it really takes to begin with. It also implies that you've put together words in a different medium, i.e. poetry, prose, academic papers etc. The same skills can be put to use in writing lyrics, it just takes a little bit of experience with actually writing lyrics to write non-cringeworthy ones.

For me my initial medium was poetry, i was writing in junior high, got published in a few local magazines, that was pretty much the end of it. When it came to writing lyrics, i figured i'd just do what i was used to and just tweak it rythmically a bit. Big mistake. It's a completely different process. It's also a different voice you have to acces. When writing prose you're just you, when writing non-fiction you're a style manual with garnish, when writing poetry you're kind of... you with your eyes closed. When writing lyrics you're you with your ears WIDE open. It very much pertains to giving the music a voice, you have to be somewhat of a translator. If you think of it as a trade-off of depth or content for rythm or melody, you're just gonna make it dumb (maybe even, GASP!, U2-dumb) trading off too much or pretentious and awkward trading off too little. But once you realise that rythm and melody tells a story in itself you're pretty much there. And then all the big words find their own place, and all the onomatopoeias you'd normally think little of will start working their way into your flow blabla.

Articulation is key too. If you're a shitty singer don't bother, or just have someone else sing your lyrics. 

Finally, don't be so conservative. Every fucking subject's been pretty much done, you can really go childish, or cryptic, or personal and intimate. Make fucked-up little chants about jokes only you and your friends get, or the like. Or just leave cringeworthy stuff soaked in delay, have it duck out other channels and you'll have yourself a Growls Garden rip-off.   

Sorry if this was tl;dr, or if it sounds way too abstract (although i assure you, when something above sounds like a metaphor it isn't, you pretty much have to literally go through those thought processes at least once to understand). It's just that i've been there.

I once did a track and the lyrics were, "she has a face, a face thats slightly melting. wowow its melting from the bone, oh no, there goes her nowowse".

So ye I have no idea...

me me me

Here. Its so shit and out of tune! ENJOY!!

edit! oh fuck, it seems i have done 2 tunes with similar lyrics! ,,,,,,,..........,,,,,@!!did02ihd

  On 9/14/2009 at 2:41 AM, placidburp said:

I once did a track and the lyrics were, "she has a face, a face thats slightly melting. wowow its melting from the bone, oh no, there goes her nowowse".

 

So ye I have no idea...

 

me me me

See, these would've been really cool without the wowow stuff. Or is this dubstep you've written for? 

  On 9/14/2009 at 2:35 AM, Lube Saibot said:

Being able to put words together well is all it really takes to begin with. It also implies that you've put together words in a different medium, i.e. poetry, prose, academic papers etc. The same skills can be put to use in writing lyrics, it just takes a little bit of experience with actually writing lyrics to write non-cringeworthy ones.

 

 

For me my initial medium was poetry, i was writing in junior high, got published in a few local magazines, that was pretty much the end of it. When it came to writing lyrics, i figured i'd just do what i was used to and just tweak it rythmically a bit. Big mistake. It's a completely different process. It's also a different voice you have to acces. When writing prose you're just you, when writing non-fiction you're a style manual with garnish, when writing poetry you're kind of... you with your eyes closed. When writing lyrics you're you with your ears WIDE open. It very much pertains to giving the music a voice, you have to be somewhat of a translator. If you think of it as a trade-off of depth or content for rythm or melody, you're just gonna make it dumb (maybe even, GASP!, U2-dumb) trading off too much or pretentious and awkward trading off too little. But once you realise that rythm and melody tells a story in itself you're pretty much there. And then all the big words find their own place, and all the onomatopoeias you'd normally think little of will start working their way into your flow blabla.

 

Articulation is key too. If you're a shitty singer don't bother, or just have someone else sing your lyrics. 

 

Finally, don't be so conservative. Every fucking subject's been pretty much done, you can really go childish, or cryptic, or personal and intimate. Make fucked-up little chants about jokes only you and your friends get, or the like. Or just leave cringeworthy stuff soaked in delay, have it duck out other channels and you'll have yourself a Growls Garden rip-off.   

 

Sorry if this was tl;dr, or if it sounds way too abstract (although i assure you, when something above sounds like a metaphor it isn't, you pretty much have to literally go through those thought processes at least once to understand). It's just that i've been there.

not tl;dr at all. this is awesome, actually; anything that can help me see outside myself and give me some sort of insight is 100% appreciated.

i'm totally a shitty singer, also, but i still get satisfaction out of singing my own stuff.

  On 9/14/2009 at 1:59 AM, hahathhat said:

i try and keep it simple

 

i'm probably not going to win any poetry awards.

if i had an exotic accent, there'd be no problem!

fake one -- i've been using halo voice chat to perfect an over-the-top long island/guido accent

  On 9/13/2009 at 4:38 AM, echidna said:

this is going to seem like a stupid question, but uh.

 

how does one write good lyrics?

 

i think i'm fairly intelligent, and can put words together well, but every time i try to actually write lyrics for tracks i'm making, they come out so, so terribly. is it a matter of having a melody and then writing words to fit? or is it the other way around? am i just stupid? is it a natural talent? do i need to get an english major?

 

halp.

you're overthinking it man, and probably worrying too much about what other people are gonna think about it.

song is about putting words to what you're feeling. write about what you feel, write TO yourself.

if you've got a musical ear, learning rhyme helps