Lyrics Writing Challenge #17 - Your Favourite Artist

[john]

Hi Gang

 

As part of songwriter development, your challenge this time, will be to write a song for a specific artist of your choice.

 

 

The first step is to select your favourite living artist, and write a song for them. Your familiarity with this artist should aid this project.

 

There are four possible stages to this project:

 

Stage 1: Select and analyse your artist.

 

Post your analysis in reply to this thread.

 

Stage 2: Optional - Recruit a music writer to write and record the music for your lyrics or write the music yourself

 

Stage 3: Write lyrics for your song

 

Post your lyrics to this board with "#17 Your Song Title - Lyrics" as your topic title where "Your Song Title" is, cunningly, your song title!

 

Stage 4: Optional - Record your song

 

Post your song to the group forums with "#17 Your Song Title - Recording" as your topic title where "Your Song Title" is, dun dun dun, your song title!

 

Your analysis should include:

 

• Name of artist
• Style / genres the artist plays
• Links to some of their music online
• A paragraph description of their typical song topics
• A paragraph description of the typical language used (do they use slang? if so, can you describe it?)
• A paragraph on typical song forms they use. Cite their big hits that use these song forms.
• Include any other analysis information you consider helps you with understanding the needs of your chosen artist.
• Your recomendations for your song with justification based on the above info

 

If you work with a co-writer an analysis can be very useful to help you hit the target

 

 

If at the end of this project any of you would like to submit your song to your selected artist and you would like advice / support and or feedback on proposed communications, please feel free to say and I will see what i can do. You can always use a pen name and use it as an exercise.

 

Partly, this exercise is about writer self-sufficiency, and the skills necessary to learn when you don't have a publisher to represent you.

 

Cheers

 

John

 

@Timbre @Skin @DonnaMarilyn  @McnaughtonPark  @symphonious7  @Peggy @Mahesh  @Pahchisme Plaid  @Ray888 @ALOPRODUCTIONZ

@Rudi

@Lisa Gates @snabbu @Patty Lakamp

 

 

[Pahchisme Plaid]

Hah!  I love that you pose these challenges.  I don't know what it is, but parameters seem to drive me somehow.  I looked at this this morning and felt overwhelmed at first.  Who do I choose? Vince Gill, Selah,  Barlow Girls, Dixie Chicks, Jeremy Camp, Ed Sheehan, Keith Urban... Then I decided. Ah! Kelly Clarkson.  I just love her voice, her passion and I think I can come up with something.  I searched a number of her songs to listen to.  Too much to take in those moments to capture the song forms, so that will come in steps.  I did get a sense of what she sings, but will take some thought to put it into words.  I've got to plan how best to go about getting all that posted here.  I might put it together in google docs and paste it here.  Maybe.  I started a lyric because I wanted to be sure I could get something before committing (you know, instead of the blank brain thing that can happen), but I've still got to do the song format research.  I'll plug that in, move things around if I have to.  She's kinda intense in her topics and emotion.  I guess that's in keeping with her vocal strengths, so I want to work with that.  She's incredible vocally.  How to pull this together with music and (gulp) vocals, another challenge.  May take me awhile.

[Rudi]

ah... we did this pretty much just the same 4 years ago!

 

I choose David Hidalgo and wrote & recorded 'Papa and the Sky' inside a week.

 

 

[john]

4 hours ago, Rudi said:

ah... we did this pretty much just the same 4 years ago!

 

I choose David Hidalgo and wrote & recorded 'Papa and the Sky' inside a week.

 

 

 

Very similar Rudi, but not exactly the same. As they are personal challenges, you can of course pick another target artist.  It’s the kind of challenge you can do more than once.  I added your name to this challenge because in looking back I was reminded that you had tried and enjoyed a few of the challenges that were previously set. I thought you might like to do them again. If you don’t I’ll leave you off the list for the next challenge.

 

I should add, I have recycled some of the better challenges, though generally not the same as the originals, and I have added and will be adding a number of new challenges. It keeps it interesting

[john]

4 hours ago, fasstrack said:

Challenges? Never touch the stuff.

 

But I've been digging Paul Simon lately, and wanted to put a word in. I actually am responding to his composing of music. Check out these 2 songs: I Do it For Your Love has a very off-the-beaten path chord sequence (and melody) that seems to float upwards and resolve in a very unusual way. I'm studying it and want to play it as a guitar instrumental.

 

Still Crazy after all These Years has an elongation of 4 bars every chorus (...'And we talked about some old times, and we drank ourselves some beers', etc.) when the first line is only shorter ('I met my old lover..'). Fakeout! The bridge goes to the most unexpected places harmonically after what preceded it, then ends with the line 'It's all gonna fade'---going right into like a 'fantasia' of a Bob James-devised orchestral interlude, a Michael Brecker tenor sax solo---then home. It has that quality of quirky inevitability all inventive composers write with.

 

And speaking of 'putting a word in'---there's this story:

 

The great Art Blakey was on the road somewhere. Found himself behind a hearse in a funeral procession. Figured he may as well follow them, the other traffic ain't moving anyway.

 

Parks at the church, finds a pew. Preacher doing his thing for the survivors. Finally he asks 

 

'Is there anything else anyone would like to say about the deceased?'

 

Blakey raises hand, goes to podium.

 

'Ladies and gentlemen----I didn't know the deceased. But I'd like to say a word about jazz'...

 

  

 

No harm in challenges. It’s not a contest. More about growth as a writer. Were you signed someone at your publisher or label or both, would be in charge of guiding your development. While not the same, it can still be very useful to have someone other than yourself prompting writing or performance in different directions with the aim of broadening experience. These challenges are about learning and a bit of fun, nothing else.

[Pahchisme Plaid]

Kelly Clarkson is PPlaid's analyzed artist

Pop/Rock

 

“Because of You”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ra-Om7UMSJc

ABABABC

 

“Break Away”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-3vPxKdj6o

AABABAB

 

“Behind These Hazel Eyes”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yipoOY56MbM

ABABC with Pre-chorus build

 

“Walk Away”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFCuyLwhUzM

ABABC

 

“Stronger”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xn676-fLq7I&list=RDXn676-fLq7I&t=1

AABBABBCBBB

 

“Because of You” is an intense song that goes between a grave tone and vamping up in intensity/vocal power.  It holds strong emotion throughout the song and is apparently from the perspective of a daughter whose parents’ treatment of each other and her left her frightened and insecure when it comes to adult relationships.  Theme: Scarred emotions

 

“Break Away” is a hopeful song about someone who wants to break from the norm to pursue something more than she’s known.  The Theme is soaring/freedom. It has a power chorus led into by vamping up in the last line (all but the first verse) of each verse.  This song has an alternate ending chorus that bring positive closure in her journey of freedom.

 

“Behind these Hazel Eyes” is a sensory-bound lyric with a theme that expresses the emotion of an unexpected break-up.  It has unstable line numbers with stable line lengths, a pre-chorus build with a partially punchy chorus. It ends on the chorus with a powerhouse vocal contrasted with a soft close in the last line.

 

“Walk Away” has multiple internal rhymes and punchy beginning to the verses.  Verses start out with stable rhymes, but ¾ way through become unstable. It stays sassy throughout.  The theme is surrounding the lean to leave a relationship because she’s disgusted with her love interest’s lack of interest.  She’s basically telling him to leave. Unlike her other songs, this one is steady in intensity throughout with an unusual ending where she yelling out to him like she’s had enough can’t get rid of him fast enough.

 

“Stronger” is generally stable throughout the song.  The theme is “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”.   She is not defeated by ill-treatment or bad relationships in these lyrics, but stands up in self-assertion.  

 

Most of Kelly Clarkson’s songs are about emotions that arise out of relationships.  Her vocals and lyrics emit strong emotion. Most of her songs have a vamp point that showcase her soft voice with her power voice, both expressive of deep or strong emotion.

 

She mostly uses ABABC song form, but also varies in song format among other songs which keeps things interesting.  I took quick note that ones she wrote on her own tended toward a characteristic song form and ones she co-wrote tended toward another.  I haven’t gone back to research the specifics to verify with certainty.

 

I’m thinking a deeply emotional, sense-bound song lyric with any variation of the ABABC song form seems to give the opportunity for vamping up to the song showcases her softer and more intense vocals.  I love the contrast and the manner in which she uses HER instrument.

The song theme should surround strong emotion that arises out of relationships.

 

#17 Not You

Lyrics by Pahchisme Plaid copyright 2018

 

Let ‘em talk,

Yeah

Let ‘em squawk

 

v1

What do they know

Takes laser eyes to

see the grave in their throat

black coal

Beneath sharpened bones

Calcified, petrified

Burning tongues, unsatisfied

 

pre-ch

What is it they want to see?

What? to see me cry?

I won’t

 

ch

I won’t cry

Won’t let em devour my insides

They won’t ever know what it is they suppose they do

prying eyes think they know the truth

But, not you. Not you.

 

v2

How they can crow

Their black beaks balking

Pecking the flesh craving something

Something for nothing

Straw from veins

Blood to drain

Me curled up, alone in pain?

 

pre-ch

What is it they want to see

What? to see me cry?

I won’t

 

ch

I won’t cry

Won’t let em devour my insides

They won’t ever know what it is they suppose they do

prying eyes think they know the truth

But not you. Not you.

 

Br.

You don’t ask

You don’t pry

You just sit there

Quiet

Stitched lips

Your own little rips

Healed in time

I’ll heal in time

Why?

 

ch.

I won’t cry

Won’t let ‘em devour my insides

They won’t ever know what it is they suppose they do

prying eyes think they know the truth

But not you. Not you.

No, oh, oh, oh.  Not you.

 

v3

You know, oh

Sitting at the foot of my bed

Whenever I’ve let go, unchained, emotional

Yeah, your one button eye’s seen it all, (seen it all)

Shallow’s cruel

But not you, no, oh, oh, oh, not you.

 

Not you

Not you

Not you.

-------------------------

Hope I did this right.

[Pahchisme Plaid]

Hey @Rudi, I have no idea who that artist is.  I'll have to check him out.  What I can say is that I like your voice.  Its a bit swallowed up by the music, though.  I'd like to hear the vocals up a bit more.  That or the music down some.  It drowns out your very nice voice.

[ALOPRODUCTIONZ]

• Name of artist= Germaine Williams aka Canibus aka RipTheJacker
• Style / genres the artist plays=CONCIOUS HIPHOP
• Links to some of their music online
• Canibus tells his music in a story form. he sometimes creates personas to tell stories from different perspectives. Canibus is a conscious rapper and speaks on many subjects ranging from history god aliens and wars to talking about love and morals science and technologies. he's an all-rounder really and speaks on most subjects.
• The typical language used is a mixture of hip-hop slang but also includes a very well spoken and articulated vocabulary. kind of like a hip-hop nerd.
• his song forms vary canibus is known to take lyrics to new levels and do things never done before like rapping 10,000 bars structured so his fans can remix and snip his bars into songs. his album rtj2i is an example of this.
• my song will attempt to mimic his style in a story telling form where I will write a letter to Canibus expressing how his music has influenced me 

[Timbre]

John, so to clarify, the title/hook is supposed to be "Your Song Title"?  Reading through quickly the first time, I thought you were reminding us to post our song title, but then I wondered if you meant that the title of our song is supposed to be "Your Song Title" because you are crafty that way.   Please advise.

Here's my analysis. Lyrics to follow. ~T

 

Name of artist: Don Henley

Style / genres the artist plays: Soft rock

Links to some of their music online:

Heart of the Matter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBJUTm9ez0g

Last Worthless Evening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHuobOnn1I

Wasted Time (really Eagles, but Henley’s vocals make it his own!)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11ki68

This love

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2l0ej

Description of their typical song topics: The set of lyrics that I will be using for inspiration are about “love lessons”. There is often a lesson learned from a breakup that can be applied to finding love again. Another theme in his lyrics is the lack of bravado and ego in how he talks about former relationships and searching for love. The result is a combination of confidence and vulnerability in his lyrics that draw you in.

 Description of the typical language used: His lyrics are conversational and lyrical at the same time. They are conversational in that he uses simple words and expressions that are sung directly to some past or current lover. The lyricism comes from so many directions, including effortless, seamless hooks that are never overdone and lines that combine simple words into pearls of wisdom, such as:

I think it’s about forgiveness, even if you don’t love me anymore

To keep it together, you’ve gotta leave it alone

I’m hoping some day you will find, that it hasn’t all been wasted time

 Typical song forms they use: Variations on AB song form

• • Heart of the Matter – AB with evolving chorus
  • Last Worthless Evening – AB with slightly evolving chorus
  • Wasted Time – AB with evolving chorus that mimics refrain
  • This love - AB

[john]

2 hours ago, Timbre said:

John, so to clarify, the title/hook is supposed to be "Your Song Title"?  Reading through quickly the first time, I thought you were reminding us to post our song title, but then I wondered if you meant that the title of our song is supposed to be "Your Song Title" because you are crafty that way.   Please advise.

Here's my analysis. Lyrics to follow. ~T

 

Name of artist: Don Henley

Style / genres the artist plays: Soft rock

Links to some of their music online:

Heart of the Matter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBJUTm9ez0g

Last Worthless Evening

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzHuobOnn1I

Wasted Time (really Eagles, but Henley’s vocals make it his own!)

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x11ki68

This love

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2l0ej

Description of their typical song topics: The set of lyrics that I will be using for inspiration are about “love lessons”. There is often a lesson learned from a breakup that can be applied to finding love again. Another theme in his lyrics is the lack of bravado and ego in how he talks about former relationships and searching for love. The result is a combination of confidence and vulnerability in his lyrics that draw you in.

 Description of the typical language used: His lyrics are conversational and lyrical at the same time. They are conversational in that he uses simple words and expressions that are sung directly to some past or current lover. The lyricism comes from so many directions, including effortless, seamless hooks that are never overdone and lines that combine simple words into pearls of wisdom, such as:

I think it’s about forgiveness, even if you don’t love me anymore

To keep it together, you’ve gotta leave it alone

I’m hoping some day you will find, that it hasn’t all been wasted time

 Typical song forms they use: Variations on AB song form

• • Heart of the Matter – AB with evolving chorus
  • Last Worthless Evening – AB with slightly evolving chorus
  • Wasted Time – AB with evolving chorus that mimics refrain
  • This love - AB

 

I mean you to use your chosen title, whatever that is

[Timbre]

Got it. I was over-interpreting the quotes.~T

[Pahchisme Plaid]

@Timbre, Ooh!  Don Henley.  Good one!  Can't wait to see what you come up with!

 

[Timbre]

Here's my Don Henley-esque lyrics.

 

Looking for You

Copyright © 2018 by Lisa C. Campbell

 

 V1

We’ve been waking up together for a while

You’ve seen my broken places

With jagged edges, empty spaces

But it hasn’t dimmed the light of your smile

 

V2

I’ve been captured by the hope in your eyes

I thought there was freedom

In love ‘em and leave ‘em

But I’m thinking about staying this time

 

Chorus

I can walk away from pleasure

I can turn my back on pain

I’ve been running, it’s true

I’ve been looking for you

 

V3

I can’t promise you forever’s in the plan

But I’m catching a glimpse

Of the life that we could live

And I’ll love you just as hard as I can

 

Chorus

I can walk away from pleasure

I can turn my back on pain

I’ve been running, it’s true

I’ve been looking for you

 

Bridge

Passion never lies

And this wanting never dies

So much to my surprise

I’ve got something to lose

 

Chorus

I can walk away from pleasure

I can turn my back on pain

I've been running, it's true

I’ve been looking for you

 

I’ve been running, it’s true

I’ve been looking for you

[TPistilli]

On 4/28/2018 at 7:51 AM, Timbre said:

Here's my Don Henley-esque lyrics.

 

Looking for You

Copyright © 2018 by Lisa C. Campbell

 

 V1

We’ve been waking up together for a while

You’ve seen my broken places

With jagged edges, empty spaces

But it hasn’t dimmed the light of your smile

 

V2

I’ve been captured by the hope in your eyes

I thought there was freedom

In love ‘em and leave ‘em

But I’m thinking about staying this time

 

Chorus

I can walk away from pleasure

I can turn my back on pain

I’ve been running, it’s true

I’ve been looking for you

 

V3

I can’t promise you forever’s in the plan

But I’m catching a glimpse

Of the life that we could live

And I’ll love you just as hard as I can

 

Chorus

I can walk away from pleasure

I can turn my back on pain

I’ve been running, it’s true

I’ve been looking for you

 

Bridge

Passion never lies

And this wanting never dies

So much to my surprise

I’ve got something to lose

 

Chorus

I can walk away from pleasure

I can turn my back on pain

I've been running, it's true

I’ve been looking for you

 

I’ve been running, it’s true

I’ve been looking for you

Great lyric! Can't wait to hear it put to music. Very well done.

[Glammerocity]

I chose Rickie Lee Jones, who writes about eccentric characters, so I just knocked this one out quickly about a guy known locally as Showbiz Niz, whose CV is as enviably extensive as his stories. He was possibly best known for his time as the Proclaimers' MD.

 

Imagine a Rickie Lee Jones swinging groove and her semi-spoken vocal a la Danny's All-Star Joint.

 

Showbiz had a head that was round like a ball
And a gap in his teeth like that mad Newman cat
He tipped back the glass of his Velvet Elvis
And tilted his tall story hat
"Did I ever tell you guys," he began with a wave
And everybody shut up for a while
"We were stuck in New York with a truck full of gear"
And that gap centre stage in his smile

 

So he spun us a tale nobody believed
But it could've been true all the same
Cos nobody cared and they'd tell it again
For that was the reason they came
And they sat in the court of the ball-headed man
Soaking the tales of the biz
"Sirs," he would cry and glasses they'd raise
To the man they all knew as Showbiz

 

Then he slung on his dobro and quiet was quick

The gospel he just had to preach

The laughter subsided, the cool took a stool

The bar was where he liked to teach

So he sang us a song from the times of the past

With a bloodline in 12 bars of E

The legends of old nobody believed

But it was alright with me

 

 

The Velvet Elvis was a cocktail he invented, which was half Champagne and half Buckfast fortified wine, a cheap beverage drunk by young Scottish thugs. The truck reference was about a time he says he was to blame for the Proclaimers' gear being stolen in NY. His adage was, "Never let the truth get in the way of a good story."

[Timbre]

20 hours ago, TPistilli said:

Great lyric! Can't wait to hear it put to music. Very well done.

Thanks for reading and the encouraging feedback. The music is coming slowly, but it's coming.~T

[Kimberly Shires]

This challenge looked really fun. I am not sure if the group is still discussing it, but it sounded like a great exercise to study an artist that you admire in order to make you a better writer. I have certainly learned a lot from my analysis, which ignited some good ideas. I choose Hozier. Incidentally, about a week after I choose him, I had the pleasure of see him in concert and then actually meeting him (where he signed my songwriting notebook). It was pretty surreal to meet the artist that I was actually studying. This assignment let me appreciate that moment even more. I have not finished the song yet but will post it when I do. Below is my analysis.

Artist: Hozier

Style: Blues/Rock/Folk

Description of song topics: Fundamentally, most songs are about a relationship between two people. Love and sex are often expressed through religious, mortality or political metaphors.

Typical Language: His songs are lyrically complex and poetic with elusive references that allow the listener to take their own personal meaning out of the song. Based on interviews with the artist, it seems that writing is therapy for him, but as a private person, it appears he writes in code. It is all very vulnerable. He expresses what he needs to for his own therapy but allows the listener to hear it for their own therapy. 

Lyrically, Hozier applies a cohesive rhyming structure, but tends to choose words that sound similar rather than strictly rhyming eg freezing and breathing or wretched and precious. Hozier places a strong emphasis on the lyrics. According to interviews, the lyrics come first and the music is used to express the lyric.

Typical Song form: Hozier typically writes a verse, pre-chorus and a chorus and repeats 2-3 times. Examples include Someone New, Shrike, From Eden and Cherry Wine. Occasionally he includes a bridge or an out take. He tends to modulate to a new key when including a bridge and often makes use of the harmonic minor tones to add tension. Someone New is an example of this. Other than bridges, he does not tend to modulate keys. Hozier often frames his verses with the dominant chord rather than the tonic.

Other analysis: Hozier often adds tension to his songs by creating a style change between sections. For example in Cherry Wine, the verse is very melodic with a classical style guitar accompaniment, the pre-chorus is punctuated by a strong strum, veering away from the more classical style. He often creates tension by juxtaposing melodic vs rhythmic.

Hozier does not typically include an instrumental section.

Recommendations: The song I will write will include verse, pre-chorus and a chorus. My lyrics will be almost wholly framed as a metaphor. I will create tension between each section by varying the style. I will not modulate to a new key and I will likely use the key of Em, as he seems to favor this.

Cherry Wine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdSCCwtNEjA

From Eden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI0wUoCLnLk

Someone New

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJSsAr2iu0

Shrike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWLqdAJbu0A

 

[Peggy]

23 hours ago, Kimberly Shires said:

This challenge looked really fun. I am not sure if the group is still discussing it, but it sounded like a great exercise to study an artist that you admire in order to make you a better writer.

Hi Kimberly,

 

Oh yes, challenges are open! Looking forward to seeing your work.

 

[john]

On 10/15/2018 at 7:18 PM, Kimberly Shires said:

This challenge looked really fun. I am not sure if the group is still discussing it, but it sounded like a great exercise to study an artist that you admire in order to make you a better writer. I have certainly learned a lot from my analysis, which ignited some good ideas. I choose Hozier. Incidentally, about a week after I choose him, I had the pleasure of see him in concert and then actually meeting him (where he signed my songwriting notebook). It was pretty surreal to meet the artist that I was actually studying. This assignment let me appreciate that moment even more. I have not finished the song yet but will post it when I do. Below is my analysis.

Artist: Hozier

Style: Blues/Rock/Folk

Description of song topics: Fundamentally, most songs are about a relationship between two people. Love and sex are often expressed through religious, mortality or political metaphors.

Typical Language: His songs are lyrically complex and poetic with elusive references that allow the listener to take their own personal meaning out of the song. Based on interviews with the artist, it seems that writing is therapy for him, but as a private person, it appears he writes in code. It is all very vulnerable. He expresses what he needs to for his own therapy but allows the listener to hear it for their own therapy. 

Lyrically, Hozier applies a cohesive rhyming structure, but tends to choose words that sound similar rather than strictly rhyming eg freezing and breathing or wretched and precious. Hozier places a strong emphasis on the lyrics. According to interviews, the lyrics come first and the music is used to express the lyric.

Typical Song form: Hozier typically writes a verse, pre-chorus and a chorus and repeats 2-3 times. Examples include Someone New, Shrike, From Eden and Cherry Wine. Occasionally he includes a bridge or an out take. He tends to modulate to a new key when including a bridge and often makes use of the harmonic minor tones to add tension. Someone New is an example of this. Other than bridges, he does not tend to modulate keys. Hozier often frames his verses with the dominant chord rather than the tonic.

Other analysis: Hozier often adds tension to his songs by creating a style change between sections. For example in Cherry Wine, the verse is very melodic with a classical style guitar accompaniment, the pre-chorus is punctuated by a strong strum, veering away from the more classical style. He often creates tension by juxtaposing melodic vs rhythmic.

Hozier does not typically include an instrumental section.

Recommendations: The song I will write will include verse, pre-chorus and a chorus. My lyrics will be almost wholly framed as a metaphor. I will create tension between each section by varying the style. I will not modulate to a new key and I will likely use the key of Em, as he seems to favor this.

Cherry Wine

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdSCCwtNEjA

From Eden

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI0wUoCLnLk

Someone New

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bPJSsAr2iu0

Shrike

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWLqdAJbu0A

 

 

Good analysis Kimberley. I look forward to you posting the finished song!

 

About time I posted a new challenge!

[Kimberly Shires]

On ‎10‎/‎19‎/‎2018 at 1:21 AM, john said:

 

Good analysis Kimberley. I look forward to you posting the finished song!

 

About time I posted a new challenge!