Sterix

I suppose my main reason for being here is collaboration. I've been writing song lyrics for longer than I care to remember and it was slowly starting to dawn on me that I am not in fact going to live forever (I'm trying but I think I'm going to fail!) and I kept dwelling on what would happen to my work once I'm gone. It seems a shame for them to die with me (the lyrics themselves may not but the tunes that go with them - the ones I can remember at any rate - are all stuck in my head for the most part so unless I get them down in some physical format they're gonna die with me). I should just point out that I'm not planning on going any time soon. Though I do have type-1 diabetes and that's not making it easy for me! Sorry for the sidetrack but it is kind of pertinent to my being here. Which, as I said, is mainly collaboration. I'm more than happy to write lyrics for other people's music. I'm a member of another forum where I've managed to bag myself a few collabs, but not as much as I'd like. Or, at least, not in the way I'd like. What I'd really, REALLY like is for someone willing to turn some of these tunes in my head and turn them into real songs. I can't play anywhere near well enough to produce anything myself and my singing voice is good when the karaoke machine is modding it to high hell but not when I'm sat at my computer. So I'm hoping that, once I start posting some lyrics, someone here will like one of them enough to want to hear the tune that goes with it and then say, "This needs to be recorded, mate. May I?" At which point I'll probably bite their hand off! "Uh, yeah!".

Am fine. Welcome to the forum.

When I first started writing songs, I couldn't tell you why. I just did and it was something I enjoyed and thought I was fairly good at (sometimes). It was also a fairly private affair, something for just myself. I was 14 when I wrote my first few songs, though I was 17 when I started writing them consistently. Fast-forward 30 years and I've written thousands of songs (I wrote a thousand of them the first year alone - most pretty terrible but a tenth of them had potential I'd like to think). I also started to dwell on the fact I'm getting on in years and that I'm not really going to live forever. And I thought about my songs, and I thought about how I don't want them to die with me and I'd love to share them with the world. A legacy, so to speak. Something to remember me by when I'm pushing up the daisies. I found a forum and I'm not really sure what my expectations where. Put my lyrics out there? Certainly. Maybe find some way of turning some of them into actual, physical songs? It would be nice (actually, a darn sight more than nice!) but probably a fairy tale. Fame? Um... I'm possibly arrogant enough to want that... And then I discovered "collaboration" - me writing lyrics to other people's tunes that actually had music laid down already. And I discovered I could do that (if I do say so myself). I also discovered the negative side of that - working with "Muppets" is probably the kindest term I'd use - and, even when working with the "good" people, it's not always (or ever) easy... So, where before I was doing it for personal pleasure, now there's more to it. It's ego pure and simple. I know I'm a good lyricist and I want the world out there to know it too. And I think I've got stuff in my head that world should really get to hear.

Hi Dave, I'm new to this forum but not new to forums in general. Sounds like the "moderator" is not a very good one (I'm being polite in my phrasing there) and needs to be taught how to moderate and protect their forum properly. Are there any rules to this other forum stating what is and what isn't accepted politcy, and what is expected of both members and moderators? And is the moderator just that - a "moderator" and not an admin? At times like those (thankfully they don't happen that often) I'd report the moderator to their "boss" for failing to do their job properly - or at least to ask for mediation. Me personally though, I would "threaten" the moderator with reporting both themselves and the "plagiarist" to the original writer of that song for possibly copyright infringement. Remind them that they're not as anonymous as they think behind their forum names and that real songwriters have suits and corporations - hence money - behind them and they will come down like a tonne of bricks if they think someone's ripping them off. Politely though (when I say "threaten" I don't mean go all psycho on their backsides!). Show them you're the mature and responsible one, and let them know you have the interests of their forum at heart, as well as protecting your own propery.

Hi Michan, I have recorded some of them (occasionally I can sing - though usually at karaoke when I've had several too many and my voice has been machined all to death!). I occasionally record a vocal when I'm writing a new song - when I really like the tune/melody that is - but I'm just not that organised to be honest. I do mean to do redord vocals for the ones I can rememeber at some stage (have done a few) as I'm getting on now and coming to the realisation I'm not going to live forever, so if I want my songs to I'd better-well do something about it myself). My priority at the moment is actually collecting them all together - I have hundreds of them (I've written up - or rewritten - 3-to-4 hundred song lyrics in the last year alone. I've got tonnes of papers/scans to go through yet (most being rewritten, if only a little, as I've matured as a writer since most of them were written. Hi Peggy, looking forward to meeting new people and, hopefully, one or two musicians in need of a wordsmith.

Hi. My name is Martin and I'm from Oldham, England. I'm a lyricist and have been writing songs for over 30 years. I do write them to music - but only in my head as I don't play any instrument well enough to play/record them (I have a synthesizer and a recorder but I can't play either more than putting a couple of notes together). So I have had to remember them in my head (given I have a terrible memory it's surprising how many I can recall!). Last year I joined my first songwriting forum and recently I've managed to convince a few people my lyrics are worthy of their music and done a few collaborations (mainlly one-off songs, although I'm writing most of an album for one particular group). But I'm hungry for more so I thought I'd look to other forums to see if anyone was interested. So here I am. Hello!