songwriting: lyrics
AIMS:
Lose fear of failure
Explore lyric writing techniques
Practical lyric writing
Write your first line
Lose fear of failure
Explore lyric writing techniques
Practical lyric writing
Write your first line
Wop bop a loo bop a lop bam boom!
Well we busted out of class, had to get away from those fools, we learned more from a three minute record baby than we ever learned in school
I'm a street walking cheetah with a hide full of napalm
I dreamed about killing you again last night and it felt alright to me
I was working as a waitress in a cocktail bar
Let me take you down, cos I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Now if there's a smile on my face, it's only there to fool the public
My name is John Lee Pettimore, same as my daddy and his daddy before
Darkness at the break of noon, shadows even the silver spoon
Which lyrical techniques are in evidence here?
Writing is a process.
Waiting for inspiration is time consuming and wasteful.
Write from the heart if you want to
You always write from the heart, it just might not be interesting
If you can't write from the heart trick yourself into writing from it...
Profound isn't necessarily good.
Waiting for inspiration is time consuming and wasteful.
Write from the heart if you want to
You always write from the heart, it just might not be interesting
If you can't write from the heart trick yourself into writing from it...
Profound isn't necessarily good.
Be someone else
Overhear speech
Cut up technique
Automatic writing
Read the news
Examples?
EVERYONE! Automatic Writing:
You have one minute to write as much as possible. Don't edit. Don't think.
Be someone else:
Go for a wander ON YOUR OWN. Spot a person who you don't know who interests you. Be observant. Make notes about their appearance. Let this form an idea of who they are and what their life is like. Now, treating your song like a short story, make something happen to this character and write about their reaction.
Overhear speech:
Go for a wander. Be observant and listen out for phrases or comments you hear as you wander. If you hear anything that sounds noteworthy or interesting make a note of it. Think about the story behind the phrase. Who is speaking? Why? Where are they from? What do they do? Build a narrative around the song. Write some more of your own.
Cut up technique:
With the books you have been given find random words and phrases. Close your eyes, turn to new page. Point at random to a space on the page keeping your eyes closed. Make a note of the word or phrase. Do it again. Keep doing it until you have enough words for a first line. It doesn't matter if it's gibberish. Sing it along with a musical phrase. Change it. Turn it around until it fits syllabically with your melodic idea. Remeber 'Yesterday' by the Beatles began with the lyric 'Scrambled eggs'
Read the news:
Take a phrase or headline that interests you and build a lyric around it. It doesn't have to be political but it could be. It doesn't have to be a protest song but it could be.
ALWAYS KEEP A NOTEBOOK
You have one minute to write as much as possible. Don't edit. Don't think.
Be someone else:
Go for a wander ON YOUR OWN. Spot a person who you don't know who interests you. Be observant. Make notes about their appearance. Let this form an idea of who they are and what their life is like. Now, treating your song like a short story, make something happen to this character and write about their reaction.
Overhear speech:
Go for a wander. Be observant and listen out for phrases or comments you hear as you wander. If you hear anything that sounds noteworthy or interesting make a note of it. Think about the story behind the phrase. Who is speaking? Why? Where are they from? What do they do? Build a narrative around the song. Write some more of your own.
Cut up technique:
With the books you have been given find random words and phrases. Close your eyes, turn to new page. Point at random to a space on the page keeping your eyes closed. Make a note of the word or phrase. Do it again. Keep doing it until you have enough words for a first line. It doesn't matter if it's gibberish. Sing it along with a musical phrase. Change it. Turn it around until it fits syllabically with your melodic idea. Remeber 'Yesterday' by the Beatles began with the lyric 'Scrambled eggs'
Read the news:
Take a phrase or headline that interests you and build a lyric around it. It doesn't have to be political but it could be. It doesn't have to be a protest song but it could be.
ALWAYS KEEP A NOTEBOOK