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i wasn’t quite sure when i should put this thread, so i just put it here. :-
but i’ve been working on writing songs and i just can’t seem to be getting the hang of it. i’m not asking for any pointers, but i was just wondering where does it all come from. is someone naturally born with the "gift" of songwriting or does one achieve it sooner or later? i’d like to hear what you guys think.
I’ve tried it a few times and I’m probably where you are. I always write a line or two that I like and try to build a song around it but then it goes nowhere or in a day or two I think it’s the stupidest thing ever. I’ve thought a lot about why this happens to me but other people are so proud of their less-than-stellar songs. I think it comes down to me being more self-conscious about what others are going to think. I over analyze my lyrics to a point that I can’t help but hate them. I’m pretty sure songwriters just have more of a "I don’t care what they think" attitude about it than I do.
I’ve been writing songs for a while now. Everyone writes differently, I don’t think there is a specific way to do it. I start out with a bass line or chord progression. Then I flesh it out with other parts. The words always come last. Thats just how I do it. I guess they key is to never stop, and try new things, eventually you’ll progress. Don’t beat yourself up too hard, remember you’re always your worst own critic.
Yeah, I agree with everything that has been said so far. If you’re writing something and it’s sounds good to you, then keep it. Don’t make the song for the public, make the song for yourself. If you like it, then other people are going to like it too. Take the quote from J…..(don’t know the actual words he said but it was pretty much) We’re just writing music that we want to hear. So forget everyone else and everything you have heard about how it’s supposed to sound or look or feel or smell etc. and just create. Then you’ll get what the song really is. Try writing in different styles too, sometimes you’re not as good at writing the music J writes or Green Day 67 or Mindless Self Indulgence (woo!) but maybe you’re good at writing country tunes…..hey, you gotta start somewhere. Once you get the feel of how to just make a song happen (so to speak) then you can write any kind of tune. Learn playing all kinds of music, even the stuff you don’t like. Never hesitate to learn something new or different. I could go on and on, but I’m cutting it off now…..keep at it, you’ll get the hang of it, unless you give up, then you’ll never do it. (Dr. Phil should have said that
).RJ
Yeah I got nothing really to add to that, when I first started writing songs I would think they were great at the time then I would look at what I jotted down the next day and think it sucked. At the moment I’m just jamming alot with friends and really enjoying it, we’re just making music for ourselfs usually when we’re baked. I think I’m gonna concentrate on writing some ‘real’ songs though over summer and hopefully I won’t get concious about them and throw them away. It’s definetly hard and I do think some people are born with it, I mean I dont think anybody could write a song as good as Little Fury Things
"punk rock means freedom" you can make whatever sounds good to you. just because you got 30 people at your gig and Green Day got 200,000 doesn’t mean your a worse song writer, your technique is just less commercial. it can sound sloppy but as long as it has a bit of emotion or passion in it, you’re not doing too bad.
It seems like everyone has that problem; where they write something down and then later on hate it. You just have to get over the self hatred before you can really move on and write stuff. In my case, however, I don’t start with lyrics. Lyrics in my band come last and are usually a vauge idea or statement thats shouted over and over or mumbled…it’s different for everyone.
The best way I come up wth lyrics is by recording (even with a five dollar recorder) a version of the song with my band or by doing overdubs with no lyrics (obviously without lyrics if I haven’t came up with them yet). This lets me hear the song through headphones at 3am about 40 times and I get tunes in my head and start adding words instead of hums. I never really take lyric writing that serious as far as writing words of inspiration. That’s really not what I want to do, I use my voice as another instrument. The songs eventually take on meanings, but not really in the beggining just because I don’t care what I’m saying. Besides my not caring, *Another Girl Another Planet* how many words can you understand in a song like Flight of the Porkchop? or Choco Nightmare….even a more popular Grits?
Look at it in the way that Kurt did. That’s pretty much what everyone else is saying on here anyways….even a couple quotes from Kurt were thrown in here. Not everyone is going to like what you do, don’t try to please the public as a whole. If you do try that, you’re going to be very dissapointed.
Green Day…now there is a punk band, one album made $70,000,000.00 in a year. Sooooo punk. I hate that they’re all over the place now, I mean…if they really don’t mean to be, then fine…you know, if they just put out an album, made a few videos, toured etc. and it made people crazy, then cool. However, what’s up with changing their image? Do they HAVE to fall into that Panic at the Disco craze? They used to be so good. What happened to songs like Christy Road? Their first two albums were so good, and then Dookie was a great album…but now…..eh.
Anywho…..screw what other people say about your music (Irony, hehe). Write something that seems good to you….then play it really really loud.Randy Jane.
i think a good idea if you’re embarresed or you hate your lyrics is to make sure they aren’t personal. If they are personal you start worrying if people interpret the real theme. Maybe if thats the case you should just try some weird or wacky lyrics. as long as it sounds good its k. they dont have to be meaningful
I like this thread everyone?s so helpful and I agree with all that has been said. I don?t have much to add except write stuff you’ll have fun playing, remember you are your worst critic, and if you have a band get input from them. There is a lot of good advice about song writing that I?ll probably remember and post here.
I can’t really say it comes naturally, but it helps if it does. The best I can really tell you is to get some sort of music theory education.
My songwriting process usually goes like this: I start playing a riff I like, or my friend plays me one. I write it into a music composition software, like finale, and then I build on it and write for the instruments we have in our band. Lyrics either come before I start writing, or after, or I take some lyrics that I’ve been thinking about and then add them to a song.
I write songs. Usually it begins with some riff I’ve invented. After one riff all these other riffs just start to come up to mind. Soon I have enough riffs for one song. Then I just write the bass stuff, lyrics and structure of the song. Usually it’s very hard to write a song if I really try. If I don’t really try and just play something, it is much easier.
"JouluPam " wrote:Usually it’s very hard to write a song if I really try. If I don’t really try and just play something, it is much easier.yeah, what the fuck is up with that?
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