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Author Topic: Composing Lyrics  (Read 8248 times)

thermodynamics

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Composing Lyrics
« on: 14 Aug 2006, 20:51 »
I've just started a band with some of my mates, and we are in the writing/recording stage. we have the music tracks down for 7 songs (out of which we will pick 4 to be on our ep), but no lyrics.

if i had to describe genre (which i sorta don't like to do, but for the sake of convienence...), we are new wave revival / lo-fi / dance rock / prog.

my problem is, all the other bands i have been in have wanted serious/introspective/dreary lyrics, and i have produced material accordingly.   it seems that now, when i need catchy, fun, meaningless lyrics, i can't come up with anything??!! everything ends up being over dramatic or too 'anti-what the band now is supposed to be'.  

does anyone have suggestions as to coming up with fun lyrics?

if you write lyrics yourself, what process(es) do you use?


any help or suggestions would be awesome. thanks qc peoples.




if you really care, here is our music page.
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logosmonkey

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #1 on: 14 Aug 2006, 21:12 »
I would suggest listening to some pavement or beck.. or Meat Puppets... Malkmus, Beck and Kirkwood all have a wonderful way of painting pictures about nothing... I'm not saying copy them but listen to the way they string together their non-sequitors and rhymes....some of it means absolutely nothing and sometimes that's the best way because the listner will invairably place their own meaning on it and that in turn makes for a deeper interaction with the audiance.
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ImRonBurgundy?

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #2 on: 14 Aug 2006, 21:32 »
i am a dancing log
i am in a bog
i am sat on by a frog
there is also fog
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Quote from: tommydski on 07 Aug 2008, 10:08
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Brian Majestic

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« Reply #3 on: 14 Aug 2006, 21:51 »
A good tip is to write a song about a silly subject - dancing with mummies, going to a public park and finding people having sex in the bushes, how the town of Berkley is full of hypocrites, etc.
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KharBevNor

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« Reply #4 on: 14 Aug 2006, 22:34 »
I always start writing with a title and a concept. Both of these may change completely by the time the lyrics are done, but I find them essential. I almost always write music to lyrics, so I'm not going to make any suggestions about good methods to fit stuff in to the music you've got.

As for fun stuff, er...
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Night Rocker

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #5 on: 14 Aug 2006, 22:55 »
i say, pick and damn thing and start making lyrics to it. Insperation: walk in a park, overheard conversations on a bus, subway, ect. Stay up 24 hours and make a song after you go to sleep. Or just go to the old fall back and get stoned and write songs about it

remember kids, drugs are bad!
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donovangelonardo

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« Reply #6 on: 14 Aug 2006, 23:41 »
Make your lyrics whimsical, but with dark undertones.  Maybe it'll satisfy your urge for gravity and levity at the same time.  Do I have any examples or practical advice? Nope.  Just lofty suggestions :-D
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Rubby

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« Reply #7 on: 14 Aug 2006, 23:49 »
You can make light of any situation if you try.
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ruyi

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #8 on: 15 Aug 2006, 01:01 »
get really sleep deprived with your bandmates and do stupid things together.
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Scytale

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #9 on: 15 Aug 2006, 02:26 »
Hmm I used to play Doom, so the process I used when writting is probably no good for you, I would try to compose the music first and aim for a certain "vibe", then I'd write lyrics targeted towards that "feeling". When it came to the delivery of the lyrics I was lazy and just delivered them in a droning monotone suited to the tempo of the music. When inspiration was hard to come by I'd quote Neitszche or Kierkegaard, its unoriginal and cliche as hell but...

LSD helped the Beatles out, probably not the answer though.
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TrueNeutral

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #10 on: 15 Aug 2006, 03:43 »
See, I have the exact opposite. I couldn't be serious if I wanted to. I have songs about penguins, sockpuppets and contageous smiling.

The only serious lyrics I ever wrote was after a Mother Love Bone binge when I wanted to write something in tribute to Andrew Wood.

The way I went about writing lyrics, I would go through all the pictures in my harddrive and write down thoughts that those gave me. For example, I wrote a song called "It Hurts N Stings" about nettles, but it was originally inspired by an avatar I made of an 'Elf Only Inn' comic.
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Kai

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« Reply #11 on: 15 Aug 2006, 06:28 »
Quote from: ruyi
get really sleep deprived with your bandmates and do stupid things together.



I agree with this.
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Quote from: Mr. Doctor on 21 Sep 2009, 12:01
but the music sucks because the keyboards don't have the cold/mechanical sound they had but a wannabe techno sound that it's pathetic for Rammstein standars.

Luke

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #12 on: 15 Aug 2006, 11:21 »
I wait for a random bombshell of inspiration. The last song I wrote came to me when I was taking a shower at 10:30 at night, the lyrics having been minutely inspired from a movie I'd watched two nights prior.

There is no rhyme or reason to my inspirations, but the results are just fantastic.
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TrueNeutral

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« Reply #13 on: 15 Aug 2006, 12:06 »
Quote from: Luke
The last song I wrote came to me when I was taking a shower at 10:30 at night,


This reminded me, you will ALWAYS have ideas in the shower, toilet, on the bike/in the car and possibly in bed. I suggest you keep a small notebook or something near so you can write it down when it hits you/you finish your business.
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Misereatur

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« Reply #14 on: 15 Aug 2006, 12:08 »
And make sure it's water-proof.
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Quote from: KharBevNor on 20 Feb 2008, 18:41
FREE JAZZ ISN'T FREE!

I am a music republican.

TynansAnger

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« Reply #15 on: 15 Aug 2006, 13:15 »
I think when in doubt, go with Frank Black

"He bought me a soda, he bought me a soda and tried to molest me in the parking lot YEP YEP YEP" may be the greatest lyric ever penned.
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Night Rocker

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« Reply #16 on: 15 Aug 2006, 14:35 »
watch School Of Rock. it may give you inspiration to play or give you an idea where to look for the idea. and no i dont care if you guys think its sucks. i am quite fond of it.
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Valrus

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« Reply #17 on: 15 Aug 2006, 15:10 »
How could anyone think School of Rock sucks?
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E. Spaceman

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« Reply #18 on: 15 Aug 2006, 15:35 »
Quote from: donovangelonardo
Make your lyrics whimsical, but with dark undertones.  Maybe it'll satisfy your urge for gravity and levity at the same time.  Do I have any examples or practical advice? Nope.  Just lofty suggestions :-D


Many twee bands spring to mind. Particularily Architecture In Helsinki and The Boy Least Likely To
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Soidanae

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« Reply #19 on: 15 Aug 2006, 18:02 »
Muse's Muse can be quite helpful.

http://www.musesmuse.com/
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I believe these are the days of lasers in the jungle, lasers in the jungle somewhere.  Staccato signals of constant information, a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires, and baby, these are the days of miracles and wonders.

lovejunky

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« Reply #20 on: 15 Aug 2006, 20:00 »
Find something that you feel strongly about and then just think about it for a while.  The last song I wrote was about my friend going to jail but it's really upbeat cuz I was thinking about the fun we had before he got arrested that night.  Last song before that was neurotically inspired by this comic strip that drew us all here together and can be found here: http://forums.questionablecontent.net/viewtopic.php?t=11737
 (sorry for the shameless plug)

EDIT:changed url
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Brian Majestic

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« Reply #21 on: 15 Aug 2006, 21:43 »
Quote from: Kai
Quote from: ruyi
get really sleep deprived with your bandmates and do stupid things together.



I agree with this.



Yes, but don't all bands do that in general, often with alcohol involved?


Still, I guess it brings to mind an excellent song title based on this past weekend: "Skinhead Pissing in the Kitchen Sink"
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TrueNeutral

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #22 on: 16 Aug 2006, 03:15 »
Quote from: Soidanae
Muse's Muse can be quite helpful.

http://www.musesmuse.com/


I once wrote a song about a kid who misunderstood Muse as Moose and was always looking a Moose so he would get talent.
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Soidanae

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« Reply #23 on: 16 Aug 2006, 06:32 »
Did he ever find one?
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I believe these are the days of lasers in the jungle, lasers in the jungle somewhere.  Staccato signals of constant information, a loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires, and baby, these are the days of miracles and wonders.

öde

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Composing Lyrics
« Reply #24 on: 16 Aug 2006, 06:49 »
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TrueNeutral

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« Reply #25 on: 16 Aug 2006, 06:56 »
Quote from: Soidanae
Did he ever find one?


He did find a Moose but he was really disappointed when he realized talent isn't just something that happens, it's something you have to work for.

SEE SILLY THINGS CAN HAVE A MESSAGE TOO. A MESSAGE!
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Lines

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« Reply #26 on: 16 Aug 2006, 07:39 »
i think you should write a song to or about geometry. and kittens. and anything that may seem completely random.

if you're really in a crunch, do this:

write down a bunch of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, put them in a hat/whatever, and pull out three and then write a song about the three words you pulled out. it's kind of amazing what you can come up with, especially when you use words you find ammusing. or you can write them down on a big sheet of posterboard and then throw some darts and use the words your darts landed on. (one of my professors made us do this for a project and it was a lot of fun and it really does create ideas.)
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:grumpypuss: :grumpypuss: :grumpypuss:

Night Rocker

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« Reply #27 on: 16 Aug 2006, 12:07 »
Quote from: iamyourpirate
i think you should write a song to or about geometry. and kittens. and anything that may seem completely random.

if you're really in a crunch, do this:

write down a bunch of nouns, verbs, and adjectives, put them in a hat/whatever, and pull out three and then write a song about the three words you pulled out. it's kind of amazing what you can come up with, especially when you use words you find ammusing. or you can write them down on a big sheet of posterboard and then throw some darts and use the words your darts landed on. (one of my professors made us do this for a project and it was a lot of fun and it really does create ideas.)



Seconded.

and now to repeat my comment, Watch School of Rock.
also:pick your favorite something and write about it.  like my favorite food is pizzza. i could write a crazy story about me, the pizza guy and some other wacky character thrown in. Its all cool if you have a big imagination.  Let the thought wave of your favorite thing wash over you
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Lines

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« Reply #28 on: 16 Aug 2006, 13:09 »
write about pizza girl! or pizza girl theme song. oooo.
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Night Rocker

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« Reply #29 on: 16 Aug 2006, 13:27 »
i want even thinking along those lines! i was justing eating some pizza and i found it amazing
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