WRITING
LYRICS
♪♯
Recently I embarked on a new journey with a
like-minded partner. David writes the music; I write the lyrics. Now David is
different from most composers. He likes to have a bunch of words in front of
him before commencing to write music. So, my lyrics come first.
And let me tell you, as a poet from way back, writing
lyrics is very different from writing poetry. You need to have an appreciation
of music so that some sort of song sings through your head as you write the
words. Will the words sound out of place when set to music? Is the rhythm of
the words conducive to the synapse transmission to music rather than just
sound?
♯♫
We write all sorts of songs, some with a view to
providing them to our local singing group. As we singers are all over 50 (and
that’s a polite euphemism), we are tolerant of not-quite-right rhythms and
phrases. But David and I also produce songs
best tackled by a soloist and accompanist such as Dark & Light, our present
offering. David has roamed all over the keyboard with this one so I’ve
suggested a little less minor angst and more…well, light.
And sometimes my words puzzle David and he suggests
not that I change them, but that I switch them around for clarity. I’m still
learning, you see, that poetry and novel writing is not at all the same as soaring
lyrics that can’t wait to be sung.
And then there’s words like Constantinople that need a
stress on the first two syllables and demisemiquavers for the …ti-no-ple. But I
leave the hard yards to David. After all, he chose to fit his music around my
words and boy, is he paying for that little brainstorm. One day he’ll compose a
stupendous song that I have to fit the lyrics to in the more normal fashion. Challenges,
challenges… Creativity is never-ending.
♪♯
