Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Ok so Ive been thinking, everyone goes on all the time about how it's really shit when bands don't write their own music and just perform songs which are written for them but how bout we think about it from the songwriters point of view....If you were really good at writing lyrics, but couldnt play any instruments, couldnt come up with a good melody and were utter baws at singing, what other way is there to promote your ability than to employ other people to put music to your lyrics and perform your work for you, is that really so bad??I'm not trying to make some big set-in-stone statement here cos it's still something I've just been turning over in my mind but I just wondered what everyone else thought about this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phoenix_down Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 i never thought about this way. and one of my favorite bands use songwriters to help them quite alot...so yer..interesting point Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Camie Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Yeh but in order to write a song you must be able to play at least one instrument. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Originally posted by Aileen:couldnt come up with a good melody you can't really write good lyrics without having a good melody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest neil ex Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 yeah you can. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psydoll Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Originally posted by Aileen:what other way is there to promote your ability than to employ other people to put music to your lyrics and perform your work for you, is that really so bad??You could be a poet? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Re: Re: what does everyone think...Originally posted by Scott 5FD:you can't really write good lyrics without having a good melody. Originally posted by Camie:Yeh but in order to write a song you must be able to play at least one instrument. Thats utter balls....of course you can write good lyrics without playing an instrument..lyrics dont necessarily come in conjunction with music.Psydoll you may have a point there, but poetry isnt really all that well credited these days is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest phoenix_down Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 plus a poem is different from a song. i can write song lyrics but i couldnt write a poem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 yes, but you could have lyrics and it would be really hard to fit them to music, without any knowledge of melody or a musical instrument.wooden tit? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 just because you dont play a certain instrument doesnt mean you cant grasp the general conception of how it would sound if put to the lyrics you have written. i could write lyrics, and imagine how i'd want them to sound as a track but wouldnt be able to put it together really cos i cant play anything or sing....do u see what i mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 hmmm...but you'll find that your gonna change parts of your lyrics to fit with the melody or the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 or change the music to fit with the lyrics perhaps.....?surely either way it works Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sye Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 I write lyrics and melodies for our band and dont sing. I think the lyricist should have an active involvement with the music to make sure the song has the right feel and mood for what they are writing about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Originally posted by sye:I write lyrics and melodies for our band and dont sing. I think the lyricist should have an active involvement with the music to make sure the song has the right feel and mood for what they are writing about. but do you play an instrument? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Originally posted by Aileen:or change the music to fit with the lyrics perhaps.....?surely either way it works it depends.sometimes i find it easier to change the lyrics rather than the song, but it can work the other way round aswell.i tend to always have the music and/or melody written first, then i put the lyrics to the music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 ok scott but say you only wrote lyrics, and that was all you were capable of, would you be happy to work alongside someone else who could put those lyrics to music and if the result reflected the feeling behind the lyrics then have them performed in that way? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sye Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Originally posted by Aileen:but do you play an instrument? Yes indeed. Its slightly different but my point is that even if you don't play an instument, as you have said, it doesn't mean you can't grasp the concept of music! The lyricist could still get involved, even if its just to suggest that something doesn't seem right to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Originally posted by Aileen:ok scott but say you only wrote lyrics, and that was all you were capable of, would you be happy to work alongside someone else who could put those lyrics to music and if the result reflected the feeling behind the lyrics then have them performed in that way? no, i don't think i would like that, becuase even if the person performing it tried to emulate the feeling behind the lyrics, i would feel wierd because they would mean something personal to me.i'm the main song-write for my band, and i try to make the lyrics personal, but not too personal because i wouldn't feel comfotable with Ruari (vox) singing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 so then whats your opinion of bands who play music which has been written by someone else? like some manufactured pop band or something..? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 bands that play songs written by someone else are telling another person's story, so to me thats a tad fake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest WhatItIsToBurn Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 Re: Re: what does everyone think...Originally posted by Scott 5FD:you can't really write good lyrics without having a good melody. You utter fag. Of course you can. People write poetry. then they can write a meoldy around their poem. Jackass. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Scott 5FD Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 what a nice guy.if you read later into the thread, i kinda come to the conclusion that you can write lyrics without a melody. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Afro Droid Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 It's an interesting point, I used to think that bands that used songwriters where either manufactured shite or had run out of there own ideas (Aerosmith anyone? The band that wrote 'Dream On' and 'Walk This Way' doesn't need external songwriters), but some of my favourite song writers have written for other artists - Butch Walker for Avril Lavigne, Ginger for the Backyard babies and Alice Cooper, hell, even Fish of Switchblade/Festr/Mangu fame harbours ambitions of making a living from such work. I guess a good song is a good song, however you want to slice up the royalties. From my own perspective, I only have basic guitar skills at best, but there have been a number of times I've hummed a riff or a melody to who ever I was writing with, and they've added their own parts in, and thus a kick ass song is born... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest tv tanned Posted April 19, 2004 Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 The classic example is, of course, Richey James, who could not sing, dnace or play musical instruments. Yet was one of the greatest lyricists of the twentieth century.He compensated by getting talented musicians like JDB and Sean Moore to compose the songs, and then harnessed the fact that he looked fucking sexy with a guitar to allow him to play in the band. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aileen Posted April 19, 2004 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2004 the way i see it, i get annoyed when people get really political and arsey about music and how it was performed or how it was produced and how talented the band/artist/songwriter etc is....for me, if I like a song, I like it, end of story....this is probably why I have such randomly diverse taste in music! and probably why i dont get AS annoyed when bands dont write their own stuff Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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