[in best droxford impersonation]Just contact Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan about this.[/end of best droxford impersonation]
I've got lots of tips. 1. Abstractly pick a song. Any song. Not even a favorite. Grab one of your moms cds that you have never listened to and then blindly pick the 6th song on it. Look up the lyrics and then use that as a template for rhyme scheme, syllable outline, and overall structure. Don't listen to it though, just use it for basic structure. 2. Write the song in paragraph form without being concerned about rhyme or measure. Just write a story that delivers the message you want. 3. Start making the paragraph fit into the abstract song structure. 4. Through this whole process you should start making patterns, licks, and a melody. Once the song is "done" start mashing it all together. 5. At some point in the song go a TOTALLY different direction and force that in as well. I usually do this in the bridge...I'll abandon my chord structure or timing or just dump the drums completely. It adds character. On all of my songs on myspace: www.myspace.com/apolloxviii I followed this pattern.
I read this somewhere on the net so it must be true: Pretend someone is paying you to write a song for a movie. Watch a movie and write a song to go with a section of the movie. The movie provides the characters, tone, visuals, etc; you provide the lyrics. As practice, take a song you like and write another verse for it. Buy a rhyming dictionary. Start keeping a daily journal. This forces to put your life experiences down in words.
It's easy, break up with your BF/GF/Wife/Husband.. and dig all that depression inside of you. then just start talking about what you did. baby...yesterday we went to the park and then thats when i decided to break your heart I wanted to tell you all along that im doing this, just to make a song im not wrong! (yes you are) im right (no you're not) and i'll do it tonight! Then you just add the chorus in: (preferbly something about you like about her, but something didn't go too well) chorus my song means more than you my song means more than you, its true (repeat x2) You said my life was lame, but im starting to show my popularity and my fame, was more than you know Then you have to end it with a moan, or a gesture of the pain you are suffering ohhhhhhhhhHHHhh thank me later
one word for you my man - HEROIN! nature's inspiration! all the great musicians have been junkies at one time or another and they did their best work while addicted to smack.
If you want some help in book form, try Shelia Davis' The Craft of Lyric Writing. It's been out for years and is used to teach lyric writing techniques at music schools. It leans a little heavily on older cliched styles of lyrics, but it does help to jump start ideas and give you a framework for how to organize your thoughts and put them into a more poetic format.
