true nuff, but I feel like lyrics also have a completely different purpose then poetry & must be sort of anthemic in some ways I guess...I do agree that they can get away with more but people that listen to songs I guess don't always pay attention to lyrics, or don't read poetry so I guess less is nesecarry to communicate a message, or it's communicated differently. Poetry I feel has a very specific audience in mind where lyrics tend to broaden to mass appeal & understanding unless they themselves are targeting a specific crowd with specific expectations.
I think writing lyrics is sort of ultimate constraint. you are provided with not only a rhythm, which though completely flexible amounts to some meter. Rhyme i think is important for the sake of agreeablity and musicality, and also there is the mood that the song establishes. I think it would actually be a good excersise to take a tune that you know and write words to it. truthfully, what i write as lyrics ussually i wouldn't try to pass as serious poetry. alot of my rhymes i think are trite because i am thinking more about the way it sounds than what it means. at the same time, when i have a tune that i write and really really like, i sometimes just leave them be because i don't feel i have words worthy of the tune. or subject matter that is flexible enough for the constraints. sometimes a song writes itself from the chorus first, in fact that is ussually where it starts, everything loosely revolves around it, and the verse could seemingly have nothing to do with it, except in the context of the chorus, which maybe saves in wordiness. Speaking of wordiness those are my scattered thoughts on writing lyrics.
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i've never really written lyrics and this probably doesn't help but i feel like lyrics can get away with a lot more if the tune is catchy.
true nuff, but I feel like lyrics also have a completely different purpose then poetry & must be sort of anthemic in some ways I guess...I do agree that they can get away with more but people that listen to songs I guess don't always pay attention to lyrics, or don't read poetry so I guess less is nesecarry to communicate a message, or it's communicated differently. Poetry I feel has a very specific audience in mind where lyrics tend to broaden to mass appeal & understanding unless they themselves are targeting a specific crowd with specific expectations.
shit that last one was me accidently posting under Mer. i need to get my own computer...
-ian
I think writing lyrics is sort of ultimate constraint. you are provided with not only a rhythm, which though completely flexible amounts to some meter. Rhyme i think is important for the sake of agreeablity and musicality, and also there is the mood that the song establishes. I think it would actually be a good excersise to take a tune that you know and write words to it. truthfully, what i write as lyrics ussually i wouldn't try to pass as serious poetry. alot of my rhymes i think are trite because i am thinking more about the way it sounds than what it means. at the same time, when i have a tune that i write and really really like, i sometimes just leave them be because i don't feel i have words worthy of the tune. or subject matter that is flexible enough for the constraints. sometimes a song writes itself from the chorus first, in fact that is ussually where it starts, everything loosely revolves around it, and the verse could seemingly have nothing to do with it, except in the context of the chorus, which maybe saves in wordiness. Speaking of wordiness those are my scattered thoughts on writing lyrics.
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