A
GUIDE TO WRITING LYRICS
by
John Brewster
The
impetus behind this article comes from the experience
of talking to guitarists who have had real problems
in writing lyrics. Though musically gifted, when
it comes to putting words on paper, these guys
have just frozen. It made me wonder what it was
that was causing this blockage. I'm a published
poet and writer who plays guitar as well. Working
with words is what I've been doing since my early
teens. One thing that I know for sure is that
words change music as much as music changes words.
It came to me that there was a need for a 'how
to write lyrics' guide that cut through the fear
and mystique, and put guitarists back in touch
with what they know best: music. To achieve this,
I've drawn up a list of insights that I hope will
help guitarists master the word as well as the
note.
1.
Words are sounds too. The first step in overcoming
difficulties in lyric writing is to realise that
words are sounds too. They are not foreign objects
alien to the music you are composing. In fact,
you could say there are three components to a
song: the music, the words and the sounds of the
words. Words are part of the musical structure
because they are verbal sounds that affect the
notes of a melody musically as well as verbally.
Remember, the human voice is an instrument too.
The sounds of words colour the music you write,
and these sounds are as accessible to you as a
musician as the notes that you play. The point
I am making is that words are part of your musical
vocabulary and must be viewed as such.
2.
Words first, music first? Put this old teaser
to sleep. There is no golden rule about the order
in which you compose. It's entirely related to
the way you work as a creative person. What's
right for you is right if it gets the result.
Whether you write the words or music first, you
are creating shapes that will influence the structure
of the emerging song. These shapes can be verses
or chord sequences, choruses or melody lines,
but they have no priority over each other. The
best songs are those that are the most organic:
songs that hit us literally as natural, holistic
produce. They are real, whatever their background,
because the elements within them hang together
as an integrated whole. Remember, words are spoken
music and music is instrumental speech.
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