Maybe someone can inspire me

[sweetsugar]

Hey guys, I've been recording music for like, 2 months now, I'm usually pretty happy with the musical aspect of it, and I know I can sing pretty good. But I'm having the hardest time writing lyrics. It's like I have no inspiration, and for that fact, no motivation to even get my stuff straight and record it and try to get good lyrics. It seems like all the songs I write are about the same girl and they all end up with pretty much the same message. Some of the people I let listen to say the lyrics are ok, but I hate them. Maybe it's just me. I'm not a very poetic person, usually when I write something its straight to the point with very few metaphors. I pretty much write what I feel in a very straight forward kinda way. After I write it when I go back and read it or listen to it, everything sounds so pathetic. Maybe you guys could give me some decent advice.....................or maybe I am just pathetic, and that's why my lyrics end up that way.

[pUnkKid174]

to you=dont try to write something by force, because it probably wont turn out very good at all...

[CROMagnon]

the best thing any lyricist or poet or writer of anything can do is to read, read widely, from all time periods, read lyrics, read poetry, read other languages (to get a sense of sound, you don't have to understand what it's saying, just how the sounds work), just read any and everything

who knows, you might end up writing something that has nothing to do with the girl

just read, but don't try to force anything, read and see if anything hits you/makes you think

that's my opinion

[worldstheory]

I want to hear something you've recorded. Is anything up on the internet for downloading?

[punklet2101]

I agree with CROmagnon. Read books and other poetry and everything. Wilfred Owen's poetry has inspired me a lot. I love to read memoirs too... "A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius" by Dave Eggers was good.

[STRATMASTER1985]

:singer: hey man i get "writers block" all the time. and even though i might not know if there's any way to fix your problem, i do have some pointers that may help u out. :lol2:

one the biggest problems is just thinking about it too much, and dwelling on if it's good enough or not; like do i need to add more? or should i tweak the melody a bit? or is this what i want people to think?

....instead of just worrying bout how professional it has to be just loosin up and be happy that u can share music w/ the world. But if it sucks then make a change; don't be afraid to ask a friend for a second opinon :iamwithst , & don't be afraid to explore more. :hippy:

and u should try listening to what inspired u to make music in the first place.
overall just try not to think of it so much like ur doin right now and juast have fun.
........on a side note a "good melody" is always nice.

stay fresh & get laid in the shade :sun_smile

[mondeoman]

My best friend writes the lyrics for his band and what he basically does is make up stuff. He says 99 (more like 85)% of his lyrics aren't about anything. He just comes up with good phrases and words and puts them together. I do that too when I'm writing a song. I just think of some words that go together well or a phrase I think sounds good and go with it.
Hope that was useful.

[richter915]

you should write one about the draft...I would be scared as balls going to war...just do it from the POV of a soldier on the front line of battle just thinking about why he hates the fact that he's hear, what's at home for him, what might happen if he's captured, how he doesn't want to kill but is forced to for a reason he doesn't believe in...then end the song with his death or something. that would be kool methinks.

[sweetsugar]

I want to hear something you've recorded. Is anything up on the internet for downloading?
We are building a website but nothing is posted there yet. It's
www.player-2.net

the rest of my band is in georgia.....so we play internet tag with the music we write, it takes awhile to get anything accomplished

[sweetsugar]

Thanks for all the tips so far guys. I do read alot, but its like, robert jordan books, and i don't wanna come out sounding like some metal band singing with dungeons and dragons themes. That would just be wierd. I guess I could try the not writing about anything deal.

To stratmaster.....I gotta 98 american standard strat, i love it, however all i play now is my 65 SG and my acoustic. I love the SG more than any guitar i've ever picked up.

[CROMagnon]

well read stuff besides robert jordan

[igotthemic]

To stratmaster.....I gotta 98 american standard strat, i love it, however all i play now is my 65 SG and my acoustic. I love the SG more than any guitar i've ever picked up.

watch out, because i'm gonna come to your house at night and steal your SG...amazing guitars, the only problem being the fact that i have no money to buy one. *sigh* i'm a poor loser...

[YearsGoneBy]

just dont write about a girl and that relationship, think about other things in life that you are really happy or upset with. maybe that could help get some poetry come out

[worldstheory]

To stratmaster.....I gotta 98 american standard strat, i love it, however all i play now is my 65 SG and my acoustic. I love the SG more than any guitar i've ever picked up.The guitar I ordered is an SG-style. It's an Epiphone G-310, and it's WHITE. It will be my first electric guitar, and it should arrive in two or three weeks (it's on order).

Here's my method of writing songs. I sit there and freestyle a bunch of chords (if you know how to tell which chords are found in each key, then this should be easy). Then after a while, something will click, and I'll realize that I just put together a semi-catchy chord progression. At that point, I'll be so caught up in the moment, that my brain just automatically apply some random words to it, with a melody that adheres to the chords I'm playing.

Sometimes, later I'll be analyzing the notes in the melody I made up impromptu, and I'll realize that the original chord progression I came up with in the first place doesn't really fit this melody, so I'll pick a different chord that fits better. So basically, the chord progression defines the melody, and vice-versa, the melody defines the chord progression.

What I have right there is a very inspired HEART of a song... and then I can build the rest of the song up around it.

[sweetsugar]

cool,

I got the SG for $600, some guy sanded the paint and refinished it and replaced the tuning pegs, it's got the original P-90's, it's NUTZ

it reminds me of an old baseball bat from like, 1945

I'll never get rid of it.

Weeeohooooo I got promoted to Specialist today, thats a $230 a month payraise from Private First Class

[YearsGoneBy]

Here's my method of writing songs. I sit there and freestyle a bunch of chords (if you know how to tell which chords are found in each key, then this should be easy).

how do you do that?

[MaybeOneDay]

Just the take the happy, fun, party route and write about getting wasted and banging chicks. That's the way to do it, trust me.

[worldstheory]

how do you do that?
Well, first of all, you have to know all of the notes in the scale of the key you're playing. For instance, all of the notes in the key of D Major are D - E - F# - G - A - B - C#. Each of these notes is numbered with a roman numeral. (D is I, E is II, F# is III, and so on.)

Now, you can also use these roman numerals to number the chord that has that note as it's root. (In our example, the chord in the key of D Major with D as its root will be numbered "I", the chord with G as its root will be numbered "IV", and so on.)

Now here's how you find out what chords you can use in the key of D. The first, fourth, and fifth chords are major. All of the other chords are minor (except for the seventh, I think it might be Diminished, but for simplicity's sake, we'll call it minor).

So, sticking with the roman numeral motif, an uppercase roman numeral (I) is a major chord, and a lowercase roman numeral (i) is a minor chord. So in any key, the chords are as follows:

I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii

In our example, this would mean that all of the basic chords in the key of D are:

D Major - E minor - F# minor - G Major - A Major - B minor - C# minor

Keep in mind that these are just the basic chords. There are all kinds of other chords like Suspended, Seventh, Major Seventh, Minor Seventh, that I won't get into. So anyways, if you are aware that you have the above seven chords to choose from when randomly putting chords together, then you will put together a chord progression that adheres to one musical key, and is therefore "musically correct" (for lack of a better term).

Make sense?

[YearsGoneBy]

Well, first of all, you have to know all of the notes in the scale of the key you're playing. For instance, all of the notes in the key of D Major are D - E - F# - G - A - B - C#. Each of these notes is numbered with a roman numeral. (D is I, E is II, F# is III, and so on.)

Now, you can also use these roman numerals to number the chord that has that note as it's root. (In our example, the chord in the key of D Major with D as its root will be numbered "I", the chord with G as its root will be numbered "IV", and so on.)

Now here's how you find out what chords you can use in the key of D. The first, fourth, and fifth chords are major. All of the other chords are minor (except for the seventh, I think it might be Diminished, but for simplicity's sake, we'll call it minor).

So, sticking with the roman numeral motif, an uppercase roman numeral (I) is a major chord, and a lowercase roman numeral (i) is a minor chord. So in any key, the chords are as follows:

I - ii - iii - IV - V - vi - vii

In our example, this would mean that all of the basic chords in the key of D are:

D Major - E minor - F# minor - G Major - A Major - B minor - C# minor

Keep in mind that these are just the basic chords. There are all kinds of other chords like Suspended, Seventh, Major Seventh, Minor Seventh, that I won't get into. So anyways, if you are aware that you have the above seven chords to choose from when randomly putting chords together, then you will put together a chord progression that adheres to one musical key, and is therefore "musically correct" (for lack of a better term).

Make sense?
yeah, thanks

[infinityends]

the best thing for me is to literally just write what i feel. thats just me. i'm in a band and write like 99% of the music and some of the lyrics. its best to find something, someone, anythignt hat inspires you. inspiration can be from anything. things you love/hate/despise/care for/want to be/want to kill/ or whatever. what makes you feel like writing?

[worldstheory]

I got the SG for $600, some guy sanded the paint and refinished it and replaced the tuning pegs, it's got the original P-90's, it's NUTZ

it reminds me of an old baseball bat from like, 1945

I'll never get rid of it.I gotta say... that sounds awesome.