How Do You Write Your Lyrics?

[Colonel]

Since I write for a living, I try to write on a song everyday. It may be the only song I finish that week, or I migh have three in the demo can in a day.

[Colonel]

My songs come in the form of a complete story. This could come from an idea or something someone saids in passing that "hooks me."

Then I write in three parts, prefix, suffix, and main part.

[AnneC]

I've found in my writing that after I have a general idea of what I want the music to sound like, it dictates my subject matter. From there I give it a working title and a phrase that fits and build on that. Usually once I have that base phrase, it's easier to flesh out the rest.

[FinnArild]

I usually have a hook and/or a melody line going before I start on the lyric. Then I think about the theme for the lyric - what sort of ideas does the music give me? Do I have anything in particular I want to write about?

After that it is work - hard work. I work out line for line, trying to get the idea and story out. There's a lot of rewrites! I frequently use the following tools:

http://www.rhymezone.com/

http://www.dictionary.com (thesaurus part is invaluable)

and sometimes:

http://www.brainyquote.com/

I also use google and wikipedia a lot to find possible interesting, usable facts around what I write about.

Then I try the lyric out on people - my wife, friends and songstuff. Often I rewrite stuff even on recording day.

Edited November 28, 2007 by FinnArild

[thelevellers]

I am a bit random I guess, it depends what comes first for me! Sometimes as I jam up a bit of music the lyrics and/or rhythm pop into my head at the same time (Stopping the World is a kind of example of this, except that I almost completely changed both lyrics and music by the time I finished it!)... Then again there's times that I write the lyrics and try and fit music to them (like Recent Past) which I find can be really hard! But possible if given time... Especially as I have a large collection of unused riffs and half finished pieces of music that I can refer to for inspiration, or to make use of finally...

But as far as the actual lyrics writing goes I tend to write my best lyrics when I get an idea and work on it in my head for a week or so, kinda in the backgorund (in lectures etc ) and playing with different ideas for the story. Then one night (usually around 2-3am ) I'll suddenly make a good connection and write like a crazy fool 'til it's finished!

Oh, and I'd agree with Finn Arild on the use of the internet - It's a brilliant resource, especially when you have as bad a mind as me when it comes to words :S I know loads when I read them in a book, but I don't tend to use 'em so they aren't on the tip of my tongue...

Rohan