My song-writing approach

It's always fascinated me to hear how other writers go about their work. So much of it is intuitive and trial-and-error, but over time, certain tendencies and approaches emerge. Here are some reflections on how I write lyrics.

I have songs that tell stories and songs that don't. There's not much I can say about the songs that don't tell stories. They can be songs about feelings or just loosely related thoughts and word-play. Generally I'm less excited and sure of these kinds of songs...

...Because it's tough to get very far without a mechanism to latch on to - be it a character, a plot, a joke, or a vibe. I ask myself "Do the words add up to something and contribute to an overall picture?". Sometimes cutting words out is the best way to make the ones that are left better. When all the lyrics add up, it gives a song strength to stand on its own and be more interesting than me singing about how I feel or think or what I did on Tuesday night.

When the words and music interplay to enhance one-another, well, that's usually just dumb-luck.

For songs that tell stories, I often think in terms of 1) Telling an ordinary tale in an extraordinary way, or 2) Telling an extraordinary tale in an ordinary way.

On one hand, I might use lots of words in a song where nothing really happens. My song "New Umbrella" (*lyrics below), for instance, is an internal thought-monologue of a man while he realizes that an ex-fling is at the same social function. There are really only two pieces of plot-action: Man recognizes woman's laugh, and Man sneaks a peak to confirm it is her. The rest of the lyrics are all about how he interprets his predicament - specifically the temptation to pursue romance with this woman even though he knows it means trouble - and concludes with him wishing there was an easy way out of it.

On the other hand, sometimes I'll try to communicate a complex idea or story by telling it as simply as possible. The lyrics I wrote for LUCA's song "Lifted Away" (*lyrics below) tell a morbid narrative about a girl who escapes an abusive relationship. She writes (like in a diary) about her abuse to disassociate herself from it in a kind of psychological defense. The twisted abuser old man finds the writings and relishes in her re-telling of his offenses. She finally plans and executes her escape - The man reads about how she poisoned him, and comes to grips with his fate. What could (and maybe should) be told in a 2 hour Hitchcock movie is sung in just a few stanzas (over some spunky riff-rock, if I do say so myself).

I hope ya'll enjoy the tales as much as I enjoy tellin' em.

Peace,

gwa

"New Umbrella"

So it comes to this and that and everything in between that I’m thinking
That I’m stronger to resist the temptress but I’d just as soon avoid the tempting
As it happens here’s your turf so I’ve no right to try to talk you into leaving
But you’ve got me in a bind and my will’s running outa time the clock is ticking

Through the chatter of the room somehow one voice seems to rise above the clamor
I know I’ve heard that laugh before but in a way this time sounds strange I think she’s faking
And though I try to keep my eyes fixed on the politicking gentlemen I falter
And sure enough she’s there and I do my damnedest not to stare but I can’t help it

What's a Mississippi man do with a missy with a plan to clip his wings
She’ll Let him go and he’ll come on back cuz he’s attached and she’s pulling all them strings
She kept in touch without a word by being nothing but herself for no one else
Hence her being so polite for all the folks who see the world in black and white

Well she’s not the only one but she’s one of a kind and they’re few and far between
See I haven’t settled down cuz the one in my arms is the woman of my dreams
So please don’t donate too much charity to the happy hobo living wild and free
Cuz then he’ll haveta do your thing and find some rain to try his shiny new umbrella

Oh but when the storms come all I’ll need is a fire to dry my tired feet
So I won’t follow salt thrown over shoulders into memories
See I Don’t believe in luck but I’d be happy to take some if its just laying around
For a minor commotion or a sly diversion so I could bid adieu without ever having to talk to you


"Lifted Away"

Birds in flight Sucked into the engines of airplanes
Feathers falling

Dipped in Ink Having been found by the girl
Who writes it

She’s A writer
But more so of her history than a fairy tale
She’s A dreamer
Thinking that the girl and she are something other than the same

And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
And every line that she puts behind her is a little bit of pain Lifted away

She’s Revealing
How the old man puts the nightmare in her dreams

He’s Been reading
And getting off another time to her hurried hand

And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
And every line that she puts behind her is a little bit of pain Lifted away

She’s had enough And taking it upon herself
Puts her payback in his cup

He’s Unbelieving
And reading what she did he knew she got the best of him

And it flows from her aching bones till the distance grows and She’s Lifted Away
The bastard's gone so it won't be long until she's moving along and Lifted away

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