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Thursday, September 21, 2017

WRITING LYRICS AND DEVELOPING CREATIVITY

WRITING LYRICS
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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? 
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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.
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13 comments:

  1. Will you include songs in your new novels?

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  2. This is awesome. I love learning new things about you.

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  3. Wow, you've really taken on quite a challenge with your musical partner, Vonnie! Love how one talent merges with another. All the best on making beautiful music together! Cheers!

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  4. What a great talent to have. Continue making music with powerful lyrics.

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  5. You're so right about the differences between song lyrics and poetry and prose. Good luck with your collaboration.

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  6. As a musician and a writer, I think the two, words and music, can rarely be a matter of "which one first". Composer and lyricist have to work together, trying out various possibilities until both are satisfied. Although Mozart had a brilliant libretto writer in DaPonte and had no trouble fitting his music to the words supplied to him.
    I've set poetry I love to music. So perhaps text does indeed come first.

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    1. A few people prefer it that way around Lois, but as I write both I'd have to say I prefer the words first but ONLY if I write the music to go with it - not as a collaboration. It's in the interpretation of the words.

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  7. I know what you mean, Vonnie. I don't know if you read my Iris Rainbow, but I wrote a whole song in the story. I phrased it out until the words fit. Maybe I should record it someday. LOL

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  8. Hi Vonnie,
    You're lucky to have someone who knows how to write music.
    Members of our writing club have written lyrics for some musicians for a musical spot in the Bundaberg Crush Festival.
    I'm a story writer, but have written the words to two songs, I can say neither were easy.
    I also try to sing the words, to myself, because others may think a cat was being tortured.
    I don't mind the exerceise, but I think my best best is to stick to fictional characters and events.

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    1. I'm the other way around. I find poetry writing much easier than writing novels and lyric writing the hardest of all!

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  9. Wow, thank you for revealing another aspect of your creativity, Vonnie! So interesting where the author journey leads.

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