Lyrics in Progress

... or writing, come to think of it? Do you have to serve the meaning of your lyrics on a plate? Don't think so. Most certainly not, if you're not even sure yourself  ;-)

I wrote two verses and a bridge around an entry in my scrap book today. It's not a nice text, mind you:

you tried to talk
you tried to explain
but all your efforts
were always in vain
when you looked in their eyes
when you tried to draw near
what you kept spotting
was this sparkle of fear

if no-one understands
if all reason makes no sense
this could only mean for you
it's better if your future ends

you tried to lie low
even hiding away
so you'd not have to
hear what they would say - 'cause
when you looked in their eyes
when you tried to draw near
what you kept spotting
was this sparkle of fear

if no-one understands
if all reason makes no sense
this could only mean for you
it's better if your future ends

but then, why should you pay
doing yourself away
why shouldn't you stay
change the script of the play

if no-one understands
if all reason makes no sense
this could also mean for them
it's better that their future ends

****

I've titled the lyrics "no reason" - but I might change that. I may also swap the two verses. But all in all I consider them done.

Happy Easter -

and watch out for weirdos!

"Watch out" is the - maybe provisional - title that I have given my lyrics. I scrapped the "mad storm", replacing it with "watch out", an expression I could also use in other places where only two syllables were required. After Stasy in principal signalled consent with my concept I added another verse:

no excuse
nothings's left
once we've drained our cup

left alone
on our own
close to giving up

The chorus is varied towards the end, so I wrote another part, thereby 'rescuing' the 'flood' that I had scrapped before:

Oh
a flood will rise
and wash away our delusions, wipe out our mem'ries

That's it (I think). I will post the complete text on my home page.

Two suggs - but I'm not quite happy yet:

LIFT:

strong winds start blowing from the sea [adds next to nothing]
black clouds are looming _  [a syllable is missing at the end; might work, though]

OR:

heavy waves that hit the shore [a syllable - upbeat - is missing at the beginning; should work, though]

black clouds above the sea

CHORUS:

a storm will rage
the oceans roar

...

"shore" would add another rhyme to "roar" and "pour". Might work nicely, after all. I'll check and double-check (that is: listen the music several times while envisioning my words sung to it).

Maybe I should make the first line of the lift "heavy waves WILL hit the shore" - that would make it a grammatically complete sentence and also be consistent with the use of the future tense in the chorus.

Stasy - my songwriting partner from Hot Mama - wrote that he would like to discuss the subject of the song. Normally, such announcements are bad news ;-)

I received this musical - what shall we call it - draft... The sound is sooo ugly. Scratching Midi-noise with Sonja singing and squeaking "la la la - lalalala - la"... Although Hot Mama have an idea as to what the song might be about they didn't tell me. Now I'm waiting for some inspiration...

First step: identifying and marking the relevant parts. Basically, the song seems to be

verse - chorus - verse - chorus - [solo] - (extended) chorus

Maybe there is actually a lift before the chorus. I'll have to split it into sections anyway as it's 24 seconds long - the last chorus even lasts 34 seconds. I will look at the repeated lines seperately. They'll probably have to make the hook. Did I tell you that I normally begin with writing the chorus? Well, now you know ;-) There are exceptions, there always are, but not many.

Not much room for story-telling as there are only two verses lasting 16 seconds each...

Singers are weird people. When they don't like the lyrics you've written for them they simply cut off the communication. You never hear from them again. That happened with Rastin, Katharina, Ethan, Yasmin, and now Fabio - so it doesn't seem to be gender-specific. I've written for guitar players who also sing - no problem. Kai didn't like what I wrote, and he said - or rather wrote - so. That's fine. Holger, Craig, Martin, Marian, or Stanislav take their picks - that's even better. Yet the 'vocals-only singers' suddenly seem unable to correspond. Well, Flamur actually sung one song that has my lyrics, but after that he kind of vanished into thin air as well. Is it cowardice? I've got no idea.

Now that I'm no longer restricted by the tune I will rewrite the lyrics I wrote for Fabio so they look and flow better as 'lyrics-only'. And I will ask future partners if they play an instrument or produce songs themselves. If the answer is "no" to both questions I'll forget about writing for them.