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8/9/2008 2:27:58 PM
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4/22/2008 10:07:26 PM
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2/17/2008 7:45:14 AM
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2/12/2008 8:47:15 PM
Lyrics or music

2/12/2008 8:46:45 PM
Lyrics or music

2/10/2008 7:33:11 PM
The principle of Creativity

2/12/2008 8:47:15 PM

Lyrics or music
I've always wondered what's more important to a song writer, the music or the lyrics.
And also does the music come first, or the lyrics?

2/13/2008 12:27:59 AM

Lyrics without music is poetry, not song - but these days they call it rap :)

2/13/2008 3:37:28 AM

I find it easier to write the lyrics first and then the music. If I starts with the music it always sounds like there is a movie missing that should go with the music.

Lyrics have their own rythm and mood that one has to follow. In a sense to me is as if the lyrics write their own music, but that's just me....

Vincenzo

2/13/2008 4:24:28 AM

I try to start with the IDEA first, ever since I learned that Dostoyevsky wrote "Crime and Punishment" twice with different plot and characters in each version. He was trying to express the IDEA ,and the story itself was subordinate to what he trying to communicate.

It should be the same for my songs.

Get my idea. Let my mind mull over imagery and styles. Jot down catchy phrases. Noodle with chords, licks, rhythms.

Mull it over some more and let it develop unconsciously. Wait for a "stroke of genius" (whether lyrics or music) and then put my rational mind to work on it.

Re-write, re-write, re-write.

I also consciously try to play things I've never done before, so practice on the instrument really slows things down most of the time.

My process could take a day, a week, a month, a year depending on the song.

I'd love to try co-writing with another artist but have always lived in relative isolation from any musical "scene" and never found the right partner. Working full-time and raising a family also limits the opportunities, but no complaints -- music is always fun no matter how you do it.

2/13/2008 6:12:20 AM

One of the reasons I posted my original comment was a question:
If someone writes lyrics I assume that there is a message in those lyrics. Why then is the music so loud that the words are hard, better yet impossible to understand. It seems to me that music and lyrics are a dancing couple with each doing their share of entertaining and each communicating the dance equally strong. I'm sure you've seen dancing couples where one of the two totally hogs the scene while the other one just stands there, feeling useless and wondering: Why did I ever come out here on the floor with this egocentric maniac?
Well, that's the way I feel when I hear a song where the instrumental tracks are so loud that you can't hear the word, ergo get their message.
In such a case I ask myself: Why did the artist even bother writing the lyrics?

2/13/2008 6:29:08 AM

I know what you're saying Helmut,but feel your opinion is dictated by your own personal taste preference-that seems to be that the main 'message' resides in the lyrics..

For me the music is the message..I often can love a song purely for the feel,inventive chord changes,imagination and atmosphere and not have a clue(or indeed care) what the person is singing about..Thats where the SPIRIT for me resides..

The musicality is what i always trust and intuitively respond to first and foremost..and i can never truly love a song-no matter how great the lyrics-if the music that carries them is asleep and boring..

I find it equally baffling why some people put so much thought and effort into their lyrics but (like alot of modern country for instance) seemingly so little care,skill and imagination into the music and chord-changes...

2/13/2008 7:14:47 AM

Very astute, Steve. Thanks for your personal insights.

2/13/2008 7:18:58 AM

the most fun i ever had writing songs was when my guitarist gave me a tape of music and i just came up with the melody and lyrics at the same time... now, lyrics aren't so important to me, not sure why?

you can see the result if you put 'family album' into search (sorry, no linkage, its a JAWZ page, could be anywhere!), and check out cricket pin up, a lyric about thinking about 'other stuff' when 'on the job'....

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