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Originally Posted by sleepy jack
k, people post whatever & we can argue out certain things.
1. Repeatin words
Its not really that bad I suppose, but if I see one word multiple times in a poem/song when another word can replace it, it just makes it sound less pretty. It works sometimes, (for instance in the goo goo dolls name "a tired song keeps playing on a tired radio) but alot of the times, it doesn't.
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Good examples of this technique working; "She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah" (The Beatles), "I do I do I do I do I do" (ABBA), "Baby, baby, baby, baby oh baby" (The Carpenters).
It's not so bad, if you use the technique in the "right" way.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sleepy jack
2. Revising
Alot of people don't do this, but typically after I write something I let it sit for a day then I go back and make notes on random verses "change word, make this flow etc..). Then I go back the next day and fix it, just so it can be more finished when i posted. I don't always do this, but it typically makes the lyrics better.
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I find that when you're "On Fire" (ie, you don't have writer's block), it works much better to "splat" the lyrics down exactly as you feel them and change nothing.
When you write the music around the lyrics, the music expresses everything that needs to be changed about the words.
If you're lucky...
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Originally Posted by sleepy jack
3. Writers Block
If i'm in a writers block, I don't just stop writing till I feel like im out of it. I try and write a bunch of things every day even if they suck just to keep in practice and to have some things to look back on.
I also try and get inspired, after reading a book I typically have something to write or if I walk through nature and take in the trees and the water and other such things. 'Cause alot of times, at least for me its not so much a writers block as a lack of inspiration.
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WB and lack of inspiration are the same thing, and you're right. Discpline and hard work are the ticket out of the doldrums. Man, you've got more discipline than I have - I'm jealous!
If things suck, I get angry then give up. For a while, that is - when you're a writer, you feel compelled to write, even if you're going through a bad spell and just write poop. You simply have to do it because that's what you do. Or maybe that's just me...???
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Originally Posted by sleepy jack
4. Influenced
Alot of people draw influences from certain writers (I do), and I use to just draw influence from writers in certain genres. Like, you can be ignorant of being influenced by a songwriter that you listen to alot, just cause you don't see it, it still could be there and if you just keep that to one genre, your writing is most likely just going to read like lyrics from that one genre. Which is why you should broaden your horizons.
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Genius steals.
Beethoven "stole" from Mozart and Haydn in his early work. Didn't do him any harm later on.
Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin are legendary for stealing other people's music - as are Metallica. Seems funny that Metallica then get all heavy on people who "steal" their music, but let's not go there...
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Originally Posted by sleepy jack
5. Writing About Your Feelings
Something that I do myself sometimes, & kind of annoys me. Is when you just say your sad over something, and don't really go into it. Explain why your sad, what made you sad and stuff. Actually get into and let the reader expierence what your feeling.
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First point of strong disagreement;
This can be disastrous!
Often when I read lyrics that go "deep" into someone's feelings, I get completely sickened - like I'm searching through their dirty clothes basket or something, and seeing suspicious stains and other things I really don't want to see, thanks very much.
I'd rather make my own mind up - I prefer lyrics that are open, and paint a canvas for my imagination to run riot in - I don't really want the words to do the work for me, or it's like I'm not "playing" the music, it's trying to "play" me.
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Originally Posted by sleepy jack
6. Originality
First of all, you wanna avoid cliche lines, and to be honest just nu-metal lyrics for the most part to see cliche lines. Linkin Park, KoRn, Slipknot and all that. Like, "walls are closing in", "im falling" and pretty much any metaphors where you use the word 'darkness' are cheesy and cliche. Being cliche can work, but most of the time it just doesn't.
If you wanna be original, don't describe the way someone else would describe a certain emotion. Write about how you feel about a certain thing, like how would you describe being sad or being dumped or something? Not how Green Day would describe it.
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People use cliches because they work. That is the purpose of cliches. See above quote "Genius steals".
The thing with nicking someone else's ideas or styles is that you only have to do it a couple of times, and you can spread your net widely - and your own style begins to evolve quite quickly, if you've got the writing bug (ie, you're in the habit of writing).
How often have people said "Muse's early work sounds a bit like Radiohead", "Marillion's early work sounds a bit like Genesis", etc.
This usually does not hurt the band one iota.
In music, particularly, you cannot avoid cliches, even if you think that is what you are doing, because of the necessity to fit your style in with what is currently popular if you want to stand the remotest chance of flogging your stuff - so don't avoid 'em, embrace them!
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Originally Posted by sleepy jack
7. Language
Swearing for swearings sake, is kind of weak. It can really add feel/emotion to a song if used right 'cause whenever I read a swear word I attack it to a feeling, anger or something.
When you write, you don't have to use big words, 'cause they don't automaticaly mean intelligence. If they're used wrong, then it just looks out of place and with small words, its kind of bland to read just words you hear frequently or are just well your typical words. You can still use little words and stray from every day words. Like, instead of saying "the chair broke" say "the chair splintered" or shattered or something. Its not some complicated rare word, but its not so overused.
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Depends what you are writing and how you want it to come across.
Listen to "So What" by Crass (or Metallica's lame cover of it on the $5.98 Garage Days Revisited EP). Every other word of that song is obscene (hence no linkage as I respect other people's rights to NOT have obscenities flung in their face) - it is utterly revolting in places, but but the point of the song is never lost.
Then listen to "Fugazi" by Marillion. Not only are there long words, but there are many obscenely clever phrases with multiple meanings, references to Shakespeare, early 1980s Northern Ireland, and satirical social commentary among other things.
Where are the poets, indeed
Then listen to "Script for a Jester's Tear", also by Marillion.
No reason, except that the lyrics are amazing, and get better the more you listen to them because of their complexity and depth.
And they're nothing like Genesis, by the way...