Literally all of the songs I attempt to write sound like they were made by a two year old attempting to rhyme for the first time (I swear I didn't mean for that to conveniently rhyme, it just happened lol). There's one song that I wrote but now everytime I think of it I feel bitter and lonely and I don't want to sing it ever again so I'm trying to write something different, probably something revolving around my fear and trust issues but I want to make it sound happy. The problem is I'm absolutely terrible at writing anything, especially rhymes… so if anyone can help, please do…
Coming at it from the perspective of someone who puts music to lyrics, I'd say it's super important to have consistent syllables/rhythm. I could work with a text that doesn't rhyme at all, but it would be incredibly difficult to work with a text where the syllables don't fit a consistent pattern that I can easily set a melody (which would logically have quite a bit of repetition) to
Idk this isn't very helpful for the actual "how to write poetry" bit but if it's meant to be song lyrics rhythm makes everything a whole lot easier
yeah
(sorry, this probably isn't all that helpful… I do know there are some amazing poets on this site though! (cough @Riorlyne cough) so if it's about that aspect to it then maybe they can give some advice?)
No, that's super helpful! Can you give me some examples of how to write syllables with a constant pattern?
You don’t have to rhyme. My songs never rhyme. I like to start out by writing down an explanation of something that I feel like it’s a letter to someone else, and then take my favorite bits and try to create a cohesive narrative. Also, maybe practice writing in like iambic pentameter or something to get a feel for written rhythm.
Sure! It happens in most songs that don't involve a lot of heavy rapping, so I guess I'll just pick any random lyric
It starts
With the unexpected loss of something dear
The warmth
That comforted and cradled just disappears
Here you've got the same pattern of syllables:
First, two
Then eleven more that match in how they're said
And as this particular song continues, it's obviously not the most rigid of structures:
The cold
Seems to grow in my soul, it's consuming me
Confused
And I'm losing myself in the storm
Growing jaded
Being pushed, being pulled, I'm unraveling
(there's two followed by eleven, then two followed by nine, then four followed by eleven)
but you can tell it's part of the same song because it has the same sort of feel of it
Okay wait I have a plan, idk if it'll work though…
- Write out all of my thoughts and feelings regarding the subject of the song
- Turn it into a freestyle poem
- Change some words so that there can be consistent syllables (that's probably going to take forever)
- Attempt to make some of it rhyme in some form
Sure! It happens in most songs that don't involve a lot of heavy rapping, so I guess I'll just pick any random lyric
It starts
With the unexpected loss of something dear
The warmth
That comforted and cradled just disappears
Here you've got the same pattern of syllables:
First, two
Then eleven more that match in how they're said
…
that's what makes songs sound like that?
Yeah! That's also how parodies are made to sound like the original - yes the melody, but the melody only works if it matches the syllable pattern
oh my god
oh my god this changes everything
I'm just sitting here listening to music and counting the syllables of lines and now I know part of the reason my songs suck so freaking bad
It works every time! Watch this:
A song I'd rarely heard before
Six times this week or maybe more
As PBS keeps trying to renew you
Celtic Thunder and Leonard C
All night intoning solemnly
The baffling lyrics they call "Hallelujah"
boom
you know you're singing it in your head
(I didn't write this, Hallelujah is literally one of the most frequently parodied ones out there)
holy shit, you're right
so the song I'm writing has got the chord progression and I know what I want to sing about… now I just need to come up with a syllable pattern, a strumming pattern, and write lyrics for it…
Hey that's amazing!
(can I ask about it or would you prefer I didn't?)
yeah, go for it. It's not the greatest idea or sound for a song, but I'm not too concerned with it sounding perfect lol
(Those are the best kind of songs though
The ones where you can tell they were written for fun and without any kind of anxiety)
So what's it about? What sort of tone are you going for?
I forgot exactly what the chord progression is, it's on the ukulele and I think it goes C, Em, Cm, C7, F, and G. I'll probably end up changing it at some point.
It's got sort of a soft/happy sound, but the lyrics are pretty sad in my opinion. It's sort of an apology song to my friends and family for being so closed off and distant, and that the reason I do it is because I'm too afraid of getting hurt again, or hurting them instead
Excellent! I do love a good half cadence (depending on what key you're in I guess)
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what that means…
It's got sort of a soft/happy sound, but the lyrics are pretty sad in my opinion. It's sort of an apology song to my friends and family for being so closed off and distant, and that the reason I do it is because I'm too afraid of getting hurt again, or hurting them instead
I see
That's…. that's actually a really cool decision to write it as an apology
I don't think that's something I've seen/heard a lot and I'm here for that
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what that means…
no worries I'm just a music theory nerd
it matters little as long as it sounds good to you
I'm ashamed to admit that I don't know what that means…
no worries I'm just a music theory nerd
it matters little as long as it sounds good to you
I'm kinda curious now, though
It's got sort of a soft/happy sound, but the lyrics are pretty sad in my opinion. It's sort of an apology song to my friends and family for being so closed off and distant, and that the reason I do it is because I'm too afraid of getting hurt again, or hurting them instead
I see
That's…. that's actually a really cool decision to write it as an apology
I don't think that's something I've seen/heard a lot and I'm here for that
thanks… not sure how it'll turn out exactly lol
Cadences are like musical punctuation/grammar rules. Even if someone doesn't understand grammar, they'll still intuitively understand that some things sound awkward or unnatural, which is why I don't think understanding this one set of music rules is essential to good songwriting.
Me complimenting you on using a half cadence is like a beta reader complimenting your use of a semicolon, basically
But in this case a beta reader who only vaguely remembers having learnt about semicolons in the past but isn't quite sure if they identified it correctly
The way I try to write songs is just to write down everything I want to get out of my head, all the thoughts and ideas, and think of a word that rhymes with the last word of each thought
Then I pick my favorites and put them all together
But the thing is, I've never written a chord progression or anything because I can only write lyrics, not compose music
Any ideas on how to help with that?
