Hope ya'll like this...

Well,
Im 21... A budding song writer but I have a small problem. I think it's a common enough thing but when I try to song write all I seem to end up with is poetry. Heheheh... Beautiful, stirring poetry...

Seriously though, if anyone has ever had the same sort of dillemma i'd be interested in how when you sit down with a note pad and start writing what you do??? Don;t worry about ''song structure'' and the ''science'' of it. Iv read enough of the same books for that. Heheh...

Just an example of what ends up coming out.


Over on the offing, far from the shore,
Our Nemesis, our eternal effervescent epiphany sits bare chest as a whore,
Tangled through and through,
This long, winding road sprawls the distance we travel with our heavy load,
Bubbling pools murmur sweet nothings and pass,
Long forgotten dreams like streams,
Always the same but ever changing,
Swim along side and do nothing but bide,
Our time here is short and we are vast,
Minds like the stars, akin to the gods,
Lacking however hindsight as that epiphany,
Bubbles it does.

You could try scatting. Record yourself 'singing' some vocalizations/nonsense syllables set to whatever tune you are wanting to write lyrics for (or just off the cuff, freestyle). Then, when writing out your lyrics, try following the vocal pattern of your scatting.

I like to utilize more than just one method for songwriting. Most of the time I come up with a riff, or intro/verse/chorus, then I grab my lyrics book, which could be called poetry too, and start fitting the lyrics into the song, and make subtle adjustments. Sometimes I will take a completed guitar par/song and sit and listen to it. Then I write what comes to mind, as an evocational reaction to the music.
The 'poetry' you mention is kind of a byproduct to the creative process, imo, and the way it lines up is somewhat poetic. Occasionally, I have had some lyrics and I record them with a specific beat, then I will add music afterwards.
Anywho, I don't think we should stick to a single method. We should let things flow, then try to arrange them.
Yea, I can dig your lyrics too.

Peace,
spec

reply to post by TuXXXeR


Hey, my friend. I like your style. Try and hold on to that gift as long as you can. I am a song-writer and I used to love bringing words like that out. But now I am older it gets harder and harder to do; the conscious mind wins out and the structure sets too firmly the thoughts.

I have often thought about the whole process of writing creatively, whether that be prose, poetry or song. It is a kind of channelling I guess. A writer called John Fowles (God rest his soul) wrote a short book called "The Tree". His main thesis in this book was that we should always allow for the original and wild side to be expressed. He used the metaphor of the gardener; the one who is always trying to tame and shape nature into order and impose a conscious pattern upon what is growing from the wild.

Nowadays I can't write a song too easily by writing it down. I use conscious streaming straight into the microphone. It is amazing what comes out and there is indeed quite a myriad of meanings that can be found in such expressions. If I write a composed piece it always ends up too wordy and too set in concrete, narrow in definition.

I know that greatest songwriter of all, Bob Dylan, used and uses conscious streaming so much as a technique.

Keep it free and flowing long as you can and don't let the order of the conscious mind bog down the essence of your creative soul.

Bless ya and wish you much Inspiration.

reply to post by TuXXXeR


You my friend have stumbled upon a new form of art known as flowetry or def poetry, It's basically a poem read over a beat......
A few artists have been doing this over the years...
Here's an example although she doesn't recite over a beat:

Kalunom, I do that all the time. That would be my main method of trying to fit lyrics to music.. Ill just drive my car and even just bop bop, dooby dooby doo bop bop do wowshee ka pow along to my music.

speculativeoptimist, I have so many songs in lyrical form and am currently trying to get as good at the guitar as possible but it's taking more time than I thought it would when I started but if I come up with a nice melody il open my book and see if something fits. The best recording equipment I have is ''Windows sound recorder'' so if I commit anything to audio it sounds awful. Ough... One needs money and a band.

houseoftheangels, Funny that you say that Bru... When I was a kid id always be writing poems for girls and all that malarchy and it just rolled off the toung id be thinking it so fast my hand couldn't keep up but even now, three years after school I find it alot harder to just pour it out of the noggin. Thanks for the comment.

Serizawa, Heheheh... Hmmmmm... I hope I haven't. Im reminded of Jeffery in the Fresh Prince of Bel Air reciting poetry at Will's school under the alias De la Ghetto. Priceless.... CANONS to the left of me..... CANONS to the right!!!