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Lyric writingInspiration & perspiration

Lyrics - importance

• Are great lyrics important?

• What do people remember?

• What are the hallmarks of good lyrics

• How to write great lyrics

• Examples of great lyrics

Lyrics inspire

• Communicate the universal in the unique,

• . . . or the unique in the universal

• Lyrics capture “moments”

• You can spot a fake a mile off

Lyrics - nuts and bolts

• Imagery

• Syntax

• Perspective

• Metaphor

• Simile

• Relationship with melody & song structure

Lyrics and genre

• Dance

• Hip Hop

• Indie

• Pop

• Soul

Three classic lyrical themes

• Experiences

• Observations

• Narrative

Bad lyrics . . .

• Subjective!

• Cheesy rhyme

• Over used imagery

• What makes you wince?

The songwriting equation

LYRICS =

10% INSPIRATION

+

90% PERSPIRATION

Writing better lyrics - INSPIRATION

• ‘great lyrics drift in the air’

• A sudden realisation about life / a person

• Overhearing a phrase and playing with it

Writing better lyrics - PERSPIRATION

• Re-writing a song

• Are you finished?

• Settling aside time to be inspired

Write a haiku about one of the people in this scene

Examples: Imagery

• The postal service: Brand New Colony

The Postal Service

• I'll be the grapes fermented, Bottled and served with the table set in my finest suit Like a perfect gentlemen

I'll be the fire escape that's bolted to the ancient brick Where you will sit and contemplate your day

• I'll be the waterwings that save you if you start drowning In an open tab when your judgment's on the brink I'll be the phonograph that plays your favorite Albums back as you're lying there drifting off to sleep...

• I'll be the platform shoes and undo what heredity's done to you... You won't have to strain to look into my eyes I'll be your winter coat buttoned and zipped straight to the throat With the collar up so you won't catch a cold

Examples: reality & the unexpected

Josh Rouse

‘Come Back’

Josh Rouse - Come back

I miss my serotoninAnd my days are goin nowhere fastThe language is so foreignAnd I can never understand

Examples - lyrics & rhythm

• Imogen Heap

Imogen Heap - Hide & seek

where are we?what the hell is going on?the dust has only just begun to fallcrop circles in the carpetsinking feeling

spin me round againand rub my eyes,this can't be happeningwhen busy streets a mess with peoplewould stop to hold their heads - heavy

hide and seektrains and sewing machinesall those yearsthey were here first

oily marks appear on wallswhere pleasure moments hung before the takeover,the sweeping insensitivity of this still life

Examples - Rhyme

Sufjan Stevens

Our step mom we did everything to hate her She took us down to the edge of Decatur We saw the lion and the kangeroo take her Down to the river where they caught a wild alligator

Sangamon River it overflowed It caused a mudslide on the banks of the operator civil war skeletons in their graves, They came up clapping in the spirit of the aviator

The sound of the engines and the smell of the grain, We go riding on the abolition grain train Steven A. Douglas was a great debater, But Abraham Lincoln was the great emancipator

Chickenmobile with your rooster tail I had my fill and I know how bad it feels Stay awake and watch for the data No small caterpiller, go congratulate her

Denominator, go Decatur, go Decatur, It's the great I Am abominate her, go Decatur, why did we hate her? It's the great I Am

Denominator, go Decatur, anticipate her It's the great I Am Appreciate her, appreciate her, Stand up and thank her,

Examples - reminiscence & structure

Ex Pavement front man

Stephen Malkmus

Pack up the brats, it's nineteen eighty threeYou're in a band, Dynamic CaloriesFrom York to New York, you were a mild sensationCoverin' costs, sleepin' on floors and havin' flings (baby yeah)Little later you know, it was so atavisticMake le rendezvous, make le rendezvous, make le rendezvous (Ooh ooh-ooh)

Times are gonna change, you will be amazedTimes are gonna change, you will be amazedTimes are gonna change, they will come around for you-oo-oo (I said, babyyeah)

Vocal panache, specializing in dramaJangly guitars, angular chops, and those wet, wet drumsBut unlike that metal that lives on and onYou are forgotten like a drab dressRendezvous, rendezvous, make le rendezvous-who-ooo-oo

Examples - Lyrics & melody

Annie Stela

can i pull this from the air? do i have the strength to fight? or will i hold my tongue til it passes through the warm and balmy night?

and a mother sets the table cleans the dishes with her hands passed down through the poking and the prodding and the "don't let this get in the way of your plans"

oh, when it hits me all i can do is just breathe again

can i hope for something more? can i hope for something real? standing tall in the backyard praying to my trees for something to feel

and i hear him pulling up i hear the door slammed in the slow whistle of his cigarette and i all i want is to peel the paint the paint from his skin

and i can't let it go can't let it go this is the last time i'll feel it there i can't let it go because i know even if i shut my blinds he's still out there still out there

Examples - rhythm, imagery, structure

Rufus Wainwright

cigarettes and chocolate milk these are just a couple of my cravingseverything it seems i like's a little bit strongera little bit thicker a little bit harmful for me

if i should buy jellybeans have to eat them all in just one sittingeverything it seems i like's a little bit sweeter a little bit fatter a little bit harmful for me

and then there's those other things which for several reasons we won't mentioneverything about them is a little bit stranger a little bit harder a little bit deadly

it isn't very smart tends to make one part so broken-hearted

sitting here remembering me always been a shoe made for the citygo ahead, accuse me of just singing about places with scrappy boys faceshave general run of the town playing with prodigal songstakes a lot of sentimental valiums can't expect the world to be your raggedy andywhile running on empty you little old doll with a frown

you got to keep in the game maintaining mystique while facing forwardi suggest a reading of 'a lesson in tightropes’ or 'surfing your high hopes' or 'adios kansas'

it isn't very smarttends to make one part so broken-hearted

still there's not a show on my backholes or a friendly interventioni'm just a little bit heiress, a little bit irisha little bit tower of pisa whenever i see youso please be kind if i'm a messcigarettes and chocolate milk

Examples: using experience

Ian Curtis

Joy Division

Confusion in her eyes that says it all. She's lost control.And she's clinging to the nearest passer by, She's lost control.And she gave away the secrets of her past, And said I've lost control again,And a voice that told her when and where to act, She said I've lost control again.

And she turned around and took me by the hand and said,I've lost control again. And how I'll never know just why or understand,She said I've lost control again.And she screamed out kicking on her side and said, I've lost control again.And seized up on the floor, I thought she'd die.She said I've lost control.She's lost control again.

Well I had to 'phone her friend to state my case, And say she's lost control again.And she showed up all the errors and mistakes, And said I've lost control again.But she expressed herself in many different ways, Until she lost control again.And walked upon the edge of no escape,And laughed I've lost control.She's lost control again.She's lost control.

Conclusion

• Listen & read widely

• Create space to be spontaneous

• Reserve time to refine ideas

Declaration of my feelings for you Elaboration on those feelingsDescription of how long these feelings have existedBelief that no one else could feel the same as IReminiscence of the pleasant times we sharedAnd our relationship's perfectionRecounting of the steps that led to our love's dissolutionMostly involving my unfaithfulness and liesPenitent admission of wrongdoingDiscovery of the depth of my affectionRegret over the lateness of my epiphany

Title of the song Naïve expression of loveReluctance to accept that you are goneRequest to turn back time And rectify my wrongsRepetition of the title of the song

Enumeration of my various transgressive actionsOf insufficient motivationRealization that these actions led to your departureAnd my resultant lack of sleep and appetiteRenunciation of my past insensitive behaviorPromise of my reformationReassurance that you still are foremost in my thoughts nowNeed for instructions how to gain your trust againRequest for reconciliationListing of the numerous tasks that I'd performOf physical and emotional compensation

Acknowledgment that I acted foolishlyIncreasingly desperate pleas for your returnSorrow for my infidelityVain hope that my sins are forgivableAppeal for one more opportunityDrop to my knees to elicit crowd responsePrayers to my chosen deityModulation and I hold a high note..