Any song writers out there?

[the_gloaming09]

i look at it this way, you gotta start off from a base and work your way up. personally when I look back at many of the songs I wrote when I was younger i see how mediocre they really are. As i've progressed I definetly think that my writing both melodically and lyrically has improved but could always be better. So basically what i'm trying to say is that although you may want to write the next greatest song, you kinda have to start off low and work your way up. Just look at bands like The Beatles. They started off with such simple songs like Love Me Do, and within a spand of only a few years were able to progress to Strawberry Fields, Hey Jude, Tomorrow Never Knows, etc.

 

personally when writing songs I just mess around on the guitar/piano/other instrument until I find something that sounds good and i build off of that. then usually comes the melody, and finally the lyrics which is very difficult to have match the melody.

[StephenG]

Everyone can write a good song when their in a highly emotive state. But i think the professional song smithers are just naturally good at writing songs, they don't need inspiration.

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What do people mean when they say (songwriter/band) lack subtlety in their lyrics? Any examples and ways of avoiding this would be appreciated thanks x

[hobbestheprince]

What do people mean when they say (songwriter/band) lack subtlety in their lyrics? Any examples and ways of avoiding this would be appreciated thanks x

 

I think that means that the band or artist is writing lyrics that are way too specific and not general and to the point enough. Some people write about something that just goes on and on and on ... but when someone is being subtle it's almost not giving away everything. That's why we can relate to alot of popular songs ... you gotta strain out the specifics and get to the heart of the whole thing.

 

For example if Chris Martin wrote something like, "Oh Apple ... it's been a few years and you're older ..." he might say, "baby, such a long time coming, such a long long time." lol yeah my example is from Gravity, and no I'm not saying he wrote it about his daughter, but that is just making it more general and subtle that coming right out and saying it.

[Fixed]

This is hard.

[Fixed]

Right, I'm really f**king confused. I personally love Chris's biblical imagery:

 

"I hear Jerusalem bells are ringing, Roman cavalry choirs are singing".

 

"Priests clutched onto bibles, hollowed out to fit their rifles, and the cross was held aloft".

 

I came acros someone else's thoughts from another board who said when asked what makes a good lyric:

 

"Not referring to biblical things for the sake of it in the hope of coming across as a bit abstract".

 

So are these good lyrics or not? Does it prove that everything, down to lyrics, melody, chord patterns, and songs in general are all a matter of opinion?

[StephenG]

"Not referring to biblical things for the sake of it in the hope of coming across as a bit abstract".

 

Thats pants, lyrics can be about anything, written in any manor at all. As long as the lyrics don't feel out of place (VLV seems to be full of biblical imagry and the rest of the song is too) and the lyrics over all fit with the music you can break whatever rules you want, write about anything then try and fit a song around it.