Quite often I need two syllables where the melody would require only one note. This need not be a disadvantage, though. Occasionally, singing two short notes instead of one can actually even enhance the song, giving it more variety, thus making it more exciting.
To mark the intonation for myself or for Holger (singer of the "Motorplanet" blues-rock band) I use to print the main stresses in bold letters:
you took me by surprise tonight
I don't recall what I said the other day
maybe I didn't get you right
why don't you just try seeing it my way
In the bridge of my song "Sabrina" I had to put the stress on the wrong syllable of the word "resolve" to make the text match with the melody:
will we find a way?
will we find a way out?
I want to wipe out that day
I want to resolve all doubt
/https%3A%2F%2Fassets.over-blog.com%2Ft%2Fcedistic%2Fcamera.png)