Lyric writing

1. Lyric writing Inspiration & perspiration

2. 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

3. 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

4. Lyrics - nuts and bolts • Imagery • Syntax • Perspective • Metaphor • Simile • Relationship with melody & song structure

5. Lyrics and genre • Dance • Hip Hop • Indie • Pop • Soul

6. Three classic lyrical themes • Experiences • Observations • Narrative

7. Bad lyrics . . . • Subjective! • Cheesy rhyme • Over used imagery • What makes you wince?

8. The songwriting equation LYRICS = 10% INSPIRATION + 90% PERSPIRATION

9. Writing better lyrics - INSPIRATION • ‘great lyrics drift in the air’ • A sudden realisation about life / a person • Overhearing a phrase and playing with it

10. Writing better lyrics - PERSPIRATION • Re-writing a song • Are you finished? • Settling aside time to be inspired

11. Write a haiku about one of the people in this scene

12. Examples: Imagery • The postal service: Brand New Colony

13. 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

14. Examples: reality & the unexpected Josh Rouse ‘Come Back’

15. Josh Rouse - Come back I miss my serotoninAnd my days are goin nowhere fastThe language is so foreignAnd I can never understand

16. Examples - lyrics & rhythm • Imogen Heap

17. Imogen Heap - Hide & seek where are we? what the hell is going on? the dust has only just begun to fall crop circles in the carpet sinking feeling spin me round again and rub my eyes, this can't be happening when busy streets a mess with people would stop to hold their heads - heavy hide and seek trains and sewing machines all those years they were here first oily marks appear on walls where pleasure moments hung before the takeover, the sweeping insensitivity of this still life

18. Examples - Rhyme Sufjan Stevens

19. 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

20. 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,

21. Examples - reminiscence & structure Ex Pavement front man Stephen Malkmus

22. Pack up the brats, it's nineteen eighty three You're in a band, Dynamic Calories From York to New York, you were a mild sensation Coverin' costs, sleepin' on floors and havin' flings (baby yeah) Little later you know, it was so atavistic Make le rendezvous, make le rendezvous, make le rendezvous (Ooh ooh-ooh) Times are gonna change, you will be amazed Times are gonna change, you will be amazed Times are gonna change, they will come around for you-oo-oo (I said, baby yeah) Vocal panache, specializing in drama Jangly guitars, angular chops, and those wet, wet drums But unlike that metal that lives on and on You are forgotten like a drab dress Rendezvous, rendezvous, make le rendezvous-who-ooo-oo

23. Examples - Lyrics & melody Annie Stela

24. 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

25. Examples - rhythm, imagery, structure Rufus Wainwright

26. cigarettes and chocolate milk these are just a couple of my cravings everything it seems i like's a little bit stronger a little bit thicker a little bit harmful for me if i should buy jellybeans have to eat them all in just one sitting everything 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 mention everything 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 city go ahead, accuse me of just singing about places with scrappy boys faces have general run of the town playing with prodigal songs takes a lot of sentimental valiums can't expect the world to be your raggedy andy while running on empty you little old doll with a frown you got to keep in the game maintaining mystique while facing forward i suggest a reading of 'a lesson in tightropes’ or 'surfing your high hopes' or 'adios kansas'

27. it isn't very smart tends to make one part so broken-hearted still there's not a show on my back holes or a friendly intervention i'm just a little bit heiress, a little bit irish a little bit tower of pisa whenever i see you so please be kind if i'm a mess cigarettes and chocolate milk

28. Examples: using experience Ian Curtis Joy Division

29. 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.

30. Conclusion • Listen & read widely • Create space to be spontaneous • Reserve time to refine ideas

31. Declaration of my feelings for you Elaboration on those feelings Description of how long these feelings have existed Belief that no one else could feel the same as I Reminiscence of the pleasant times we shared And our relationship's perfection Recounting of the steps that led to our love's dissolution Mostly involving my unfaithfulness and lies Penitent admission of wrongdoing Discovery of the depth of my affection Regret over the lateness of my epiphany Title of the song Naïve expression of love Reluctance to accept that you are gone Request to turn back time And rectify my wrongs Repetition of the title of the song

32. Enumeration of my various transgressive actions Of insufficient motivation Realization that these actions led to your departure And my resultant lack of sleep and appetite Renunciation of my past insensitive behavior Promise of my reformation Reassurance that you still are foremost in my thoughts now Need for instructions how to gain your trust again Request for reconciliation Listing of the numerous tasks that I'd perform Of physical and emotional compensation Acknowledgment that I acted foolishly Increasingly desperate pleas for your return Sorrow for my infidelity Vain hope that my sins are forgivable Appeal for one more opportunity Drop to my knees to elicit crowd response Prayers to my chosen deity Modulation and I hold a high note..