FOUNDATION SONGWRITING Lesson 2

WRITING LYRICS 1: GETTING STARTED

In This Video, the tutor gives five pieces of advice for the beginner song writer:

1) Identify common Themes

What do people usually write songs about? Here are a few ideas:

Love - True love, Love lost, Unrequited Love

Coming of Age - Personal Growth, Changes, Self exploration, Nostalgia

Death - Loss of a Loved One, Fear of the Unknown, The Afterlife

Rebellion - Teenage Angst, Societal Expectations

Disillusion - Activism, Social Justice

2) Search for Stories

You want your song to tell a story, so make sure you have a clear idea about the story you want to tell before you start. There are lots of sources of inspiration out the; it could be something that happened to you personally, or a friend, or something from a news story or a movie.

3) Study Rhyming Schemes

Two of the most common (and simple) rhyming schemes are

A, A, A, A (where every line rhymes) and

A, B, A, B (where every second line rhymes)

4) Study Song Structures

This video identifies four key components of a song

The Verse (Tells the Story)

The Chorus (Provides a 'hook', and summarises the main theme)

The Bridge (Provides contrast and interest)

The Coda (The ending of the song)

5) Make Your Story Relatable

Great songwriters can give the listener a sense of the context, characters and emotion in the song without being too specific. If you can make the story a universal one that people can relate to, you're more likely to appeal to more listeners.

GETTING STARTED 2: WRITING GAMES

Good song writing takes practice. In fact it takes LOTS of practice. Writing a song can be a daunting task, and it is often easy to feel overwhelmed and experience the dreaded 'writer's block'. It's a good idea to free up your writing and get valuable writing practice through games and exercises to hone your skills.

EXERCISE 1: ZOOM OUT

Listen to 'Fake Plastic Trees', and study the lyrics below. In this song, Thom Yorke starts by describing an object (Green Plastic Watering Can) then gradually 'zooms out' to describe it's setting and how it fits into a story. What do you think the song is actually about? How does the watering can relate to this theme?

FAKE PLASTIC TREES

VERSE

A green plastic watering can

For a fake Chinese rubber plant

In the fake plastic earth

That she bought from a rubber man

In a town full of rubber plans

To get rid of itself

CHORUS

It wears her out

VERSE

She lives with a broken man

A cracked polystyrene man

Who just crumbles and burns

He used to do surgery

For girls in the eighties

But gravity always wins

CHORUS

And it wears him out

It wears him out

Wears him out

VERSE

She looks like the real thing

She tastes like the real thing

My fake plastic love

But I can't help the feeling

I could blow through the ceiling

If I just turn and run

CHORUS

And it wears me out

It wears me out

CODA

And if I could be who you wanted

If I could be who you wanted

All the time

Now write your own 'zoom out'

Pick an object, and describe it (using at least one adjective)

'Zoom Out' to describe the objects surroundings.

Create a character - who owns the object? How do they feel about it?

What does the object represent to them?

This exercise is great because it's really simple, but can lead to some really deep writing. It's best if you do this exercise as quickly as possible, so that you're not editing yourself to much, and repeat the exercise several times. Keep all of your work in a folder or booklet, so that your can draw on them in the future.

EXERCISE 2: RHYME AND REASON

In the video at the top of this page, we looked at simple rhyming schemes, using 'Yesterday' by Paul McCartney as an example of an 'AAAA' rhyming scheme. Watch the video, and study the lyrics below.

YESTERDAY - PAUL McCARTNEY

VERSE 1

Yesterday

All my troubles seemed so far away

Now it looks as though they're here to stay

Oh, I believe in yesterday

Suddenly

I'm not half the man I used to be

There's a shadow hangin' over me

Oh, yesterday came suddenly

CREATE YOUR OWN AAAA RHYME

1) Pick four words that rhyme together. You could make up your own, pick four words from a rhyming dictionary, or take one of the collections below.

2) Choose a theme (pick one from the 'list of common themes at the top of this page)

3) Write 4 lines (ending each line with one of your 4 words) to say something about your theme. You can use your words in any order.

Again, do this exercise as quickly as possible, and repeat the exercise several times to get the most out of it. Try taking the same four words again, and pick a different theme.

SOME RHYMES YOU COULD USE:

1) Dead, Head, Bed, Instead

2) Inspiration, Investigation, Indication, Invitation

3) Today, Away, Dismay, Pray

4) Cool, Rule, Tool, Fool

5) Prove, Move, Groove, Remove

6) Time, Crime, Rhyme, Dime

7) Hope, Cope, Smoke, Elope

8) Try, Cry, Die, Why

9) Meeting, Eating, Greeting, Beating

10) Open, Broken, Token, Spoken

A variation on this game that you can play with a group is 'consequences'. In a group of four, pick your theme and each of you pick a word from a set of rhyming words. One person writes the first line at the top of the piece of paper (ending the line with their rhyming word), then folds the paper back so that their line can't be seen. Hand it to the next person in the group, who repeats this process, until everyone in the group has written a line. Unfold the piece of paper and read out the finished result.

EXERCISE 3 - SYNESTHESIA

This exercise requires your to put yourself in a place or situation, and describe it in detail. A classic example of this sort of writing is "What A Wonderful World", made famous by Louis Armstrong.

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom before me and you

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

The colors of the rainbow so pretty in the sky

Or also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shaking hands, saying "How do you do?"

They're really saying, I love you

I hear babies crying, I watch them them grow

They'll learn much more and I'll never know

And I think to myself

What a wonderful world

Yes, I think to myself

What a wonderful world

CREATE YOUR OWN SCENE

1) Pick a scene from the pictures below, and imagine that you're there

2) Use the 5 senses to describe the scene in detail

Everything you can SEE

Everything you can HEAR

Everything you can FEEL

Everything you can SMELL

Everything you can TASTE

3) What character is the narrator? (who are you in this scene?) Why are they there? How do they feel about the scene

AIRPORT

PARTY

PROTEST

SUNSET

EXERCISE 4: FISHING FOR SONG TITLES

Starting with a catchy title can be a great way to write a great song. Often the title will supply the lyrics to your chorus, as repeating the title of the tune is a really good way to ensure people remember what your song is called when they're searching for it on youtube or spotify. Luckily, the source of good song titles are all around us.

Here are some great ideas for finding a catchy song title.

MAKE A NAME FOR YOURSELF!

Using the ideas in this video, make a collection of 10 song titles from each of the ideas outlined in this video.

Over the next week, carry a pen and paper with you (everywhere!) and write down any phrases that particularly appeal to you. You will need to collect:

10 Book Titles

10 Newspaper Headlines

10 Lines from Movies or TV

10 things you've overheard in conversation and

10 of your own ideas (you could generate this out of 'free writing' or just think about events or phrases that have significance for you).

CLICK FOR FOR SONGWRITING LESSON 3

Page updated

Report abuse