[fendertele]

Hey guys ive been writing music for 15 years now and im able to get across my feelings in the music, infact sometimes i feel the music gets across how i feel better on its own than when i try to add lyrics to it, so i end up with 100's of instrumentals.

The problem i have is ive had a lot %^&* going on in my life in the last few years and it would feel good to get it out in my songs as im not great and talking about it to people and i feel it would be a major weight off me if i could let it out in this way.

But i keep falling on this style of writing " I feel....... I wish........ I Would....." it gets it out okay but it doesnt do anything for the song it just sounds like someone telling someone else there problems one at a time.

I would like to know how i can get it out but in a clever or not so obvious way but not ventruing to far away from the actual feelings and also not in a 3rd person way.

Guys like Morrisey and Elliot Smith are two that seem to be able to take a feeling and make it something that people are interested in hearing about and not just some guy telling his problems over and over, as it would be okay for one song but then if im doing it in every song ...

cheers for any input.

[espeach]

Hi Fender...

I understand what you mean, and i suppose i am one of those guilty for pouring out the problem in a song...

Thing is maybe you should.  write them all as they come get all the emotions out on paper as though you're telling someone else... you don't have to put them to any instrumental just write them out.  That way you can start getting them off your chest... once they're on paper you can then manipulate them however you feel necessary..

Alternatively you can write it as though your having a conversation with yourslef rather than another person.

Bare in mind that songs, if you go back in history were just a musical way to tell stories, pass down history, teach lessons and morals... so writting out the problems as though you're telling somone about it isn't soo bad.

You say you're not very good at talking about your problems to others... I'm like that too and at first i didn't like writting  things down for fear of someone else reading it like i didn't want people to know that i was feeling such and such... would you say it's fair that the same is true of you?  I ask only because once i got over that part, i found the rest easier...  I'm still wary of anyone i know reading or listening to my songs tthats why i only post them on the internet where no one really knows me  does that make sense./...

in any case as i said before, write them as they come and if you're not happy with them start manipulating it as you go...

What ever the $%(£ was i hope you're through the worst of it...

Peace

[tone]

I think it's common among songwriters to find it hard to talk about their feelings, and it's maybe one of the reasons we feel compelled to write.

I would say if you're having trouble writing about the things you want to express, remove yourself (the 'I', the first person) from the scenario.  Invent some characters, even if they're just 'you' or '(s)he'.  You may find a little removal is just enough to create the space you need to move forward at the moment.

The other method I can think of is to write a story (more a scenario really) and use it as a metaphor for how you feel.  For example I recently wrote a song about jumping into a freezing river to collect an un-named object. It was a metaphor for trying to live up to someone's expectations.

Good luck, and thanks for joining the forum

[TheRem]

I also find it hard to put my thoughts and feelings into words and also ended up with instrumental music... so there are times I ask my poetic friends to share their poems and I provide the melody.

When I'm happy I CAN'T create good lyrics but if I'm having a miserable time, the words just flow.

But it's ok to make instrumental music, that's where the "feel" is anyway.

[Eltoniobonio]

Lyrics are the bane of my life. In my experience, the first thing that comes to mind is usually the best. If i sweat over a lyric it sounds cheesy and corny. I reckon i end up with about 50% of my songs being instrumental. So i guess, they're meant to be that way. I'm in the middle of one of these episodes now. I need a lyric and an instumental break. You guys must be like me, i eat sleep and breathe trying to wrench it out of my subconscious. It's in there but it don't want to come out. With regard to the song i'm struggling with right now, if worst comes to worst, i'll record a cheese laden lyric if i have to and hope something comes along later and move on to my next song which is an instrumental anyway so i'll have no worries.

[rossanne]

I find it hard to stop being so obviously self-referential and list-like too. I guess at the moment I try to wrap it up in metaphor or simile. I find that the most satisfying because it calms me down and lets me look at the rubbish situation I'm in in a more detached way. For instance, I was feeling bad, I started thinking about CBT, and I found it frustrating because it's never seemed to work for me. I was looking for imagery that felt right, so I wrote 'they say reign in your thoughts like you're training a pack of wild dogs'. That kind of thing. I don't know if it helps. There's this book about songwriting that talks about listing colours and images and specific words and things that just seem to fit. Just to get you stared. It' a good book actually, I'll message you the title if you like - don't know what this forum is like on advertising?

And if non of that helped, I find I keep going back to what my granddad said to me - 'In order to get anything good, first you've got to waste a lot of paper.' It was pretty depressing at the time, but now I think he's right for better or for worse! I waste A LOT of paper, and still don't know if it's good enough

[mihkay]

I can't really help you with any easy tips. I have the same issues with writing emotionally and I was never any good at poetry.
I still don't really do it well but, the only thing I can say is, I found it easier to write lyrics when I stopped censoring myself and stopped worrying about being embarrassed. I did this by giving the words to the  character of "singer of the song". It was not me singing but person in the song.
I hope that makes some sense.
Also, be honest. Don't try and make your feelings universal. Make them personal. I have only really done it once. My song " Fool in Love". If you listen to the last line you can here my voice cracking with the emotion. http://www.jamendo.com/en/track/665883

Finally, I add a quote from one of the best songwriters ever....

"You could write a song about some kind of emotional problem you are having, but it would not be a good
song, in my eyes, until it went through a period of sensitivity to a moment of clarity. Without that
moment of clarity to contribute to the song, it's just complaining" (Joni Mitchell)

Mihkay

[TNMC]

I have to admit that i find it quite easy to write how i'm feeling, a lot of my lyrics are personal in that way. Even if i am writing about someone else or someones elses problems or issues i find it easier to put myself in thier shoes and imagine how they would be feeling. The 1 thing i do really struggle with though is feel good lyrics, i do tend to focus on negative issues i guess i enjoy wallowing in self pity to feed my creative side lol! The suffering we must endure for the sake of our art ha ha.Seriously though, i do find it easier to write about heartache or sadness rather than joy and happiness but i always thought a lot of songwriters were like that. Andy says a lot of what i write has a meloncholy feel to it, i was gutted when gorrilaz released the song meloncholy hill, i really wish i had thought of that title i could have had a ball!
I tend to write a set of lyrics in one go or at least in a short period of time, i think if the idea captures my imagination then it just spills out until i'm empty. Sometimes i end up with way too many verses but then we can edit them down. I have in the past even been able to use some of the unused lines in different songs. For me the idea is the key, if the idea is good or even just painfully honest then the lyrics will flow.

Liam.

[sarahtaylor]

Hi,
i struggle to put feelings in words to but what i tend to do it write down thatfeeling such as anger, then get a thesauraus and look up other words for it, and then you create more words, and start to create metaphors or similes for what you are feeling. really bad example but if you are angry with someone for making you feel rubbish, write something like 'im a volcano burning up cause of you' or just swear and curse alot

[robin]

Metaphors , similes are all good for getting across how you feel without it being as obvious as telling someone your problems, a lot of good songs are done this way
For example .. I dunno.  "An old wooden ship, creaking and leaking" could represent a relationship that is wearing thin and falling apart
It is worth studying poetry and techniques, it's helped me alot! And give me confidence in not second guessing my lyrics all the time.