For all you vocalists out there...a simple question.

Dragan Kalasa · Post by **Dragan Kalasa** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

When making lyrics for your songs, do you notice if there is a word or phrase you tend to use/say alot in different songs?

Team Transylvania · Post by **Team Transylvania** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

yes, the word is "fuck".

byndrsn · Post by **byndrsn** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

Team Transylvania wrote:yes, the word is "fuck".

You beat me to it!!

Bloodsong · Post by **Bloodsong** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

words that sound like "away" or end in "ay". they're easy to ennunciate for me.

RLeahey14 · Post by **RLeahey14** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

yeah i noticed that a lot of my lyrics tend to have a certain pattern so i try to stay away from that, but its nice to know that someone else does the same thing

Team Transylvania · Post by **Team Transylvania** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

Ive only written one set of lyrics thats appeared on an album. It was the verse and chorus to the condemned song "Vigilante".

"The scum of the earth deserve to die.
Laid to rest in shallow graves of fire.
Burned at the stake for their mistakes,
Attending their own funeral pyre.
The smell of justice fills the air,
As the screams of the damned get louder.
I take pride in my craft of madness...
Cleansing society with an iron fist"

Thats the verse. Andrew does a badass job of singing it. Sounds really sinister.

J Michaels · Post by **J Michaels** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

UNEARTHA7XMatt · Post by **UNEARTHA7XMatt** » Monday Mar 03, 2008

I find myself going back to alot of the same issues in my lyrics but I dont have too many phrases that I over use. On our first set list I had alot of things going on in my life that really came out in the lyrics but with these newer songs they are geared towards some better things in life. No more dwelling on the past!

bassist4life2004 · Post by **bassist4life2004** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

i noticed this same thing a lot with some bands, like 3 doors down for instance use the phrase "This Life" in almost 7 songs.

I get really picky when it comes to songwriting, there is one word that i use a lot "mindlessness" because thats what i see when i look around and look at the world. other than that, i dont have one phrase that i use all the time. I caught myself putting the same phrase in 2 or 3 different songs one time, and became conscientious about doing that ever since.

When I'm in the process of writing a guitar riff, say for instance, a chorus, i tend to sing lyrics over it just to find a pattern, and a lot of the time i find that i use the same things over and over again. When the melody of the song is found, thats when i write the lyrics because i have something solid to refer to.

Most of my songwriting comes at weird times, or I'll be walking around all day singing something that ive never heard before..those seem to be the catchiest songs.

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

"Mung."

r:>)

Barfight · Post by **Barfight** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

the word "hurrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh" is used a lot.

along with

"borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh"

and

"huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrow!"

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

I really do my damndest not to repeat anything lyrically. Anyone who's ever cowritten with me will tell you, I'm a dick about not going for a cheap rhyme... that's part of the challenge of writing a pop song... you have to say things in a relatable way without saying something the exact same way everybody else does, otherwise it's hackneyed. The Nashville writers variously call it,"Moon/June/Spoon" or "Love/Stars Above."
The similarities in my writing are usually in rhyme scheme and meter. I'm also a stickler for something called "scan." That's the ability to sense the rhythm and/or phrasing just by reading the lyric, without knowing the melody. I have no idea why my songs "scan," I never meant that, it just happens that way. It may be my church background, gospel hymns usually scan well, and church music is extremely influential in my songs, I don't know for sure.
I have had bits of songs surface in other songs... we're working on an original bluegrass song in Mama Corn called,"Wait A Little Longer," and a few lines were unfinished, so in order to get the arrangement down, I first sang nonsense syllables during those lines, then replaced them with lines from a song I wrote 10 years ago... the band like them, so they stuck. The old song had never been performed publicly, so who knew?
I have recurring themes for songs. I've noticed many of my songs have the protagonist at a crossroads in life, a "jumping-off" point, like wanting to move on, or wanting to make a relationship more permanent. Leaps of faith, I guess. I really never meant for there to be a joining thread, but it happened. That's the beauty of being somewhat prolific... you notice patterns that are all about the writer... you.
Songwriting is a journey, and the longer the journey, the better you get... as long as you stay focused on the journey. It helps to do other creative things, too, though. I write dumb stuff in an online forum.

--->JMS

Eldorado · Post by **Eldorado** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

You are awsome John.

bassist4life2004 · Post by **bassist4life2004** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

Barfight wrote:the word "hurrrrrrrrrrrrraaaaaaaaaaaaaaagh" is used a lot.

along with

"borrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh"

and

"huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurrrrrrrrrrrow!"

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!

CHICKSINGA · Post by **CHICKSINGA** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

When I write lyrics I try to veer away from the typical "love story" approach. I've written a few "love songs" (back when I was trying to write "hits") but I tend to write a little darker from a point of view that a woman might not normally write about. My song "Revenge" is a good example:

"Revenge"

Tell you a story of a woman out on her own
Crossin' the land, Clint Eastwood in drag
Spoke in a civil tone
Don't ask for explanations of her wrath
She got no smile if you cross her path

Chorus:
Rock hard was her blue-steel gaze
And level she held her eyes
She'll tell you her mission - I don't think you'll be surprised
Revenge, Sweet Revenge

Her man left her hanging, tattered dreams sat undone
Cursin' his soul and bidin' her time
Got her hands on a cold heart gun
To some she was crazy, but try to understand
Justice was somethin' she held in a tremblin' hand

Chorus

Now think of a reason a woman might lose her mind
Pack it all up and sell it all out just for a chance to find
The most satisfaction a girl could ever have
A way to get even without going quite mad

Chorus
(there's a recording of it at http://www.garageband.com/artist/tracemoranband if anyone's curious)

Trace
BluesMoon

DirtySanchez · Post by **DirtySanchez** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

Darth Tatum wrote:words that sound like "away" or end in "ay". they're easy to ennunciate for me.

lol
Godsmack Lyrics haha!

Worst lyrics ever.

4:33 · Post by **4:33** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

Brittany dumped you? RRRAAAAAGGGHHH!!

Mom took away your Playstation? EEEAAARRRRGH!!

Uncle touched your bathroom thing? BINK DUBBADUBBA BINK BINK!!

Team Transylvania · Post by **Team Transylvania** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

A little bit of "Hide the shampoo bottle"

Dragan Kalasa · Post by **Dragan Kalasa** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

CHICKSINGA wrote:When I write lyrics I try to veer away from the typical "love story" approach. I've written a few "love songs" (back when I was trying to write "hits") but I tend to write a little darker from a point of view that a woman might not normally write about.

That's one thing I can not do. Love songs. Not that I wouldn't do them, but for some reason I just can't let my words tell a love story. My wife yells at me all the time, "Why do you always sing about death, sadness, futility (not fertility...lol)?" I've tried...oh yes, I've tried. And they sound cheesier than a Kraft Mac and Cheese commercial.

But...my big thing on my lyrics is stuff that ends in -tion or -ation I love it...lol.

DrumAndDestroy · Post by **DrumAndDestroy** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

we write about booze, drugs, sluts, and booze and sluts...oh and hating hippies.

Naga · Post by **Naga** » Tuesday Mar 04, 2008

I'm not a big songwriter. I do get my twists going though. When the urge hits me, I just start putting out whatever's going on in my head. I've written a couple bloody vengence songs, a few "This sucks" whiny songs, and even a love song or 2 over time. But I don't force anything either... I go days with no inspiration, and then all of a sudden, I get this burst of stuff that I have to get down. I don't even know if there's a pattern. Guess I should try a little harder, huh?

songsmith · Post by **songsmith** » Wednesday Mar 05, 2008

Dragan Kalasa wrote: That's one thing I can not do. Love songs. Not that I wouldn't do them, but for some reason I just can't let my words tell a love story. My wife yells at me all the time, "Why do you always sing about death, sadness, futility (not fertility...lol)?" I've tried...oh yes, I've tried. And they sound cheesier than a Kraft Mac and Cheese commercial.

I've written a lot of lonely songs, despite the fact that I seldom feel lonely. Country music is full of heartbreak songs, and I've written lots of those, too, though I've been married for 15+ years. You don't have to currently be going through an emotion to write about it, you just have to either remember it vividly, or be able to sense it's depth in someone else, then write about them. I'm sure you could write a love song, you obviously feel those emotions, or you wouldn't have gotten married... it's a question of taking a good look at how you feel.
I won't accept the doom and gloom explanation. Metalheads write the best ballads. There's darkness and light in everyone, and if she's your light, there's no excuse not to write her a love song. Writing her a song and singing it to her, and watching the tears fill her eyes... it's a beautiful thing.
Plus, she'll almost definitely hook you up with the good lovin' that night.

--------->JMS

J Michaels · Post by **J Michaels** » Wednesday Mar 05, 2008

songsmith wrote: I'm a dick about not going for a cheap rhyme...

I call BULLSHIT! You know you've gone for the "fire / desire" thing before....

And the whole reason I cannot get into Godsmack more than I am is because the first song they had out, Whatever has the dumbest fucking lyrics ever in an otherwise pretty bad tune :

"I don't need your shit today / You're pathetic in your own way"

GAWD! Talk about wimping out and taking the easy rhyme... ugh.....

J Michaels · Post by **J Michaels** » Wednesday Mar 05, 2008

As for writing my own stuff....

I haven't found any particular lyrical device that I like so much that I keep coming back to it. I have found, however, that I work at least one "25 cent" word into almost all the songs - not intentionally, but they do seem to show up.

For example -

In "Prosperity?" there's the line "disenfranchised by corruption"... that's a good one

In "Beyond the Veil" is the line "security in conformity -- duplicitous"... I like that one.

But the best one, in "The Call" (the tune I posted about here a few months ago), I use the phrase "Usurpers of Heaven" - where else have you seen "usurpers" in a song?

LOL - it's become a bit of an inside joke... "Oh, OK - what word is J gonna use this time?" But I really don't set out to use fancy words - they just kinda appear in the context of the song......

Anyway - interesting thread.....

BDR · Post by **BDR** » Wednesday Mar 05, 2008

J Michaels wrote:where else have you seen "usurpers" in a song?

Treebeard, the head Ent from "LOTR: The Two Towers," used the word "usurpers" in a song:

"Knawing, biting, breaking, hacking, burning. Destroyers and usurpers."

r:>)

ROCKPAGE

For all you vocalists out there...a simple question.

For all you vocalists out there...a simple question.

hmm,