Writing Lyrics - Progressive Rock Music Forum

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Johnny_Tsunami View Drop Down

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Joined: June 11 2009
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Topic: Writing Lyrics
Posted: July 27 2009 at 23:53

Yeah so, how come whenever I write any lyrics I like it initially but then a day or two later, I shutter at how cheesy it sounds? Does anybody else have this sort of problem? Tell me what you guys do when writing lyrics or think up song topics/

I likes musics

JLocke

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Joined: November 18 2007
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Posted: July 28 2009 at 00:57

Honestly, if you have to force it, then don't do it. If it means something to you in the moment, but then may not speak to you later, that shouldn't matter.

In my opinion, you should never second guess yourself if you're happy with it initially, because whatever was special about it to you the first time will also seem special to whoever hears the words later. Everybody hates their own work to some degree, I think. LOL

And always remember this; most lyrics suck before the melody is added to them.

progkidjoel View Drop Down

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 01:50

p0mt3 wrote:

If it means something to you in the moment, but then may not speak to you later, that shouldn't matter.

This is the EXACT reason.

I've experienced just this with some... Insanely cheesy lyrics I've written, but I always keep them.

Basically, what you right is what you feel when you write them.

Paranoid_Eyes View Drop Down

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Joined: July 25 2009
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Posted: July 28 2009 at 02:22

Yeah, keep your lyrics, no matter how cheezy they sound- even if they seem bad now you'd be surprised when you look back at them in 2-3 years time

Happy as fish, gorgeous as geese

Vompatti

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 03:32

I have to disagree with you people. If it sounds cheesy, it probably is. Even if it doesn't sound cheesy at first, it probably is. The best advice I can give is to read carefully what you've written and try to think what it is about it that makes it sound bad. That way you can avoid making the same mistakes again.

Johnny_Tsunami View Drop Down

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 06:55

Thanks for the advice guys, this is why I love this website!

I likes musics

Passionist View Drop Down

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 12:06

There's really nothing wrong with cheesy lyrics. I mean, you can sell thousands of records playing the same hard rock riff and just singing "do me well, baby" or "dress me down, baby" or "love me like you mean it!" and then shout yeah yeah, honey, yeah rock it, yeah, give it to me, yeah, rock'n'roll. And basically that's it, 89% of all the hard rock music there is.

And then, for example, The Flower Kings is completely based on cheesy lyrics. There are only a few artists that base their music on clever lyrics, and even less listeners and fans that listen to lyrics, they just sing them along. seriously

The Pessimist View Drop Down

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 12:25

p0mt3 wrote:

Everybody hates their own work to some degree, I think. LOL

You can say that again.

"Market value is irrelevant to intrinsic value."

Arnold Schoenberg

JLocke

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 13:03

Vompatti wrote:

I have to disagree with you people. If it sounds cheesy, it probably is. Even if it doesn't sound cheesy at first, it probably is. The best advice I can give is to read carefully what you've written and try to think what it is about it that makes it sound bad. That way you can avoid making the same mistakes again.

But see, that's when you start running into trouble, because rather than trusting that initial 'inspiration' moment, you're going to go back and muddle with it due to nothing else but cold feet and lack of trust in your own work.

I'm not saying to just write anything you want without caring; I'm saying to only write when it feels right, and then after that, not to question your actions again.

That's just my opinion, though.

StyLaZyn

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Posted: July 28 2009 at 13:09

Never throw lyrics away. Simply archive them and read them back on occasion for new ideas. Sometimes old cheesy ideas get better with time.

mono

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Posted: August 07 2009 at 02:27

This happens at first, but you have to mature your writing. So write a lot of lyrics, and read yourself many times, and things will get better.

https://soundcloud.com/why-music Prog trio, from ambiant to violence
https://soundcloud.com/m0n0-film Film music and production projects
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Conor Fynes View Drop Down

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Posted: August 07 2009 at 04:10

Be conscious of your environment. Sometimes I'll take a notebook and walk to the lake near my house and just sit down and start writing whatever I want there.

HolyMoly

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Posted: August 07 2009 at 15:24

Johnny_Tsunami wrote:

Yeah so, how come whenever I write any lyrics I like it initially but then a day or two later, I shutter at how cheesy it sounds? Does anybody else have this sort of problem? Tell me what you guys do when writing lyrics or think up song topics/

I've had this same problem. Back in my teens and early twenties, I could write lyrics much more easily, because I wasn't as self-critical - of course I look back now and cringe, but at least at the time, the lyrics were honest emanations of what was going on in my head. I seem to be too cynical now to allow myself the indulgence of writing honest lyrics.

So... I write joke lyrics. Then if they stink, I can at least play the irony card. I'm good at song parodies too.

Aside from joke lyrics, I've tried writing songs whose only criterion for topic choice is: is there any point I want to make with this topic? If the answer is "no", then I deem it ok to continue. (Example: a song called "Hotel Fire", about a hotel fire, something I've never witnessed and have no particular feeling about). Often, I'll start with a pointless topic, and find a neat tie-in to my own life along the way, rather unexpectedly. I enjoy launching from a random starting point and seeing what shape the result takes - kind of like doing a random scribble on a piece of paper, thinking "this looks a little like a dog", and adding details consistent with "dog". A lot of my creative process works this way.

Edited by HolyMoly - August 07 2009 at 15:28

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Hyardacil

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Posted: August 08 2009 at 06:12

I often enough have the same problem. This has actually led me to not writing lyrics at all.

I haven't for some time at least. I hope to someday start writing again. I have some ideas. Ideas that sound good in my head, actually. But I get the feeling that I don't want to ruin a good idea - y'know. I don't want to put that good idea to cheesy lyrics. I want it to be written well. So I save the good ideas and write worse ones. That doesn't teach me much in terms of writing though...
I can't give the ideas to someone else to write either. I KNOW they wouldn't get it down just as I'd want them to.

"I am sitting in your eyes..."

geddyx12112 View Drop Down

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Posted: August 09 2009 at 14:38

Well, I write the lyrics for my band, and when I do I just write what I feel and I look at it again the next day and underline things that could be changed, then I try and figure something out to replace it then or in the future, sometimes a friend will give me feedback on what we should put, then we eventually replace all the cheesy lines with good ones, so in the end i's a pretty solid piece.