how do you tell if your meter is right

"cry out, shout out" are my latest (lunch time) lyrics. I polished them today. Amazingly, I found that shortening lines that even before seemed too short to produce an even meter actually improved their flow.

the lines

"now they lay off workforce while their profits swell"

and

"your girl left you a while ago"

... are supposed to match the same tune. I actually deleted a word in the second line to make it match better! Originally, it read "your girl friend left you a while ago". Somehow the shorter line flows better although the syllable counts - 11 versus 8 syllables - seem to suggest the opposite. Yet again, the stresses prove to be more important than the syllable counts. Quite obviously, in the longer first line you'll have to have more - yet shorter - notes:

.. - - .. - - .. -  (11 syllable/notes)

versus

- - - - - - - - (8 even notes)

So, what is my method - if you could call it that? Quite simply, when I write and re-write lyrics I have a tune in my mind so I can 'hear' if and how the words match. Since I 'hear' or envision the lyrics sung I also try to smoothen parts that might become tongue twisters. Instead of

"don't give up when things are hard to take"

I've chosen

"don't give up when it's hard to take"

... because the tune in my mind is rather fast. I can always change lines a bit once there is a proper tune.

Since there seem to be lyrics writers who do not write music as well, and sometimes not even are imagining tunes while they write, I have a tip how they can check the meter or flow (or prosody) of their lyrics: simply try to rap them, i.e. speak them rhythmically. If that is easy, then your meter should be fine. By the way, again and again, I've found that rappers are excellent - if not the better - lyricists :-)

Should you be interested in the complete lyrics to "cry out, shout out" check out my homepage. You find them at the top of my 'latest lyrics' at the moment . Eventually, they'll be moved into the archive (01/2013).

I forgot to wish you a happy new year in my last post which was also the first post this year. Sorry for the neglect!

I wish you a happy and healthy New Year with a flush of creativity!

Bernd