My favorite line of all time is, “I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota.” When writing lyrics for anything I look back at Soundgarden’s Outshined lyrics and think badass.
These videos have been extremely helpful! For someone who's neurodivergent in thinking, splitting things up into sections definitely helps. I've been watching your different lyric writing videos and writing them down in my journal and then writing a general thesis for what I'm going to write. They work like formula in a recipe but instead for great food, it's great song lyrics! Thank you very much! This is my go to help channel for writing.
I like lyrics that make me think, that can be interpreted in different ways. "Prosthetic synthesis with butterfly" "Spine is just a string" "Then I got my wings, & I never even knew it" "The rabbit's just a monkey in disguise" "A crown of thorns is hard to swallow" "Fear is not afraid of you" "New cavity moved into my heart today"
i understand why you’d say you shouldn’t use big words but i personally enjoy when people do. some songs aren’t meant to let you get lost in the music, a lot of music is meant to make you think.
The 'monkey suit' concept is a really good one, and I'm looking forward to giving it a go this week Tony. BTW, I checked 'The River' as an example...Wow... Some lyric !!! As always, thanks a million Tony 👍
Such a great channel for songwriting tips. I'm a published songwriter and yet I didn't even know this channel existed. No matter how good a writer one thinks he/she is there's alway room for improvement and here lies the proof. Thank you for having this songwriter's channel. What a blessing.
Best way to improve in most things is to learn off people doing it already, whether theyre used as good or bad examples in those areas, there is always something new to learn 🙂 i agree with what you wrote too
This video is good advice in general, but you're going mostly for songwriting that will be easily accesible upon impact. Pop songwriting, if you will, and while there's nothing wrong with it, you're ruling out more obscure and poetic forms of songwriting as if they were merely attempts to sound clever. I agree, it's very easy to fall into pompous pretensiousness doing that, but some very brilliant lyrics have been written while exploring the realms of the psyche. I don't think Bob Dylan had a fully sketched out concept like Sting does when he was writing "Mr. Tambourine Man". Not every lyric is going to be absorbed and internalized at first listen, some songs hook you with intriguing language which makes you listen again, look up the lyrics, free associate in your mind, become engaged in the creative proccess of the artist. Some songs are not finished until a listener completes them in their head. Again, nothing wrong with trying to be economical with your writing or having a defined idea about what the song will convey, but without puzzling, complex lyrics we wouldn't have "Desolation Row", and that would be a damn shame. Overall, I think the best piece of advice is the last one: write, write, write. Edit: I wrote this rant because I found the video to be very interesting and, as a songwriter, I wanted to share my opinion on the matter, I was not trying to be dismissive at all.
No worries Patricio, great to hear your opinion on it. I don't disagree with you at all. All your points are valid. These tips are really for beginners to help organize and focus those free style ideas. There are so many ways to approach songwriting and of course it depends on the kind of writer you are, the style of lyric you are writing, etc.., but I don't think the ideas in this video are counter to what you are saying. I think they compliment each other. All these tips are tried and tested writing techniques and they work as well as any stream of consciousness approach. As you said, songwriting is as much about communication as expression. Cheers Patricio.
I am a new and aspiring songwriter and I enjoyed this video very much. These are great and useful tips. At the beginning of this year I started a challenge to write one song a day. The challenge is not necessarily to have a complete finished song each day but to write something every day. Rather than focus on quality, I am focusing on getting something onto paper every day. I currently use ruled index cards to write my ideas on and I currently have almost 7 full months of material to draw from, polish and further refine for songs. My husband issued me the challenge and the thought of it was overwhelming to me at first, but thus far I have been faithful to write something each day and it feels great. I know that the best song writers write many many songs that never get heard to come to the great songs that we know and love. I figure that it is a numbers game and the more songs that I write, there will be some gems in the midst. I am really enjoying the process and have already learned a lot in a short time. This video speaks to where I am at inn my skill development so it comes as a welcomje find. Thank you and I look forward to viewing your other content.
thank you Osornio, glad to hear it's helping. You should check out this playlist of daily songwriting exercises, they are some of my favorites for getting creativity flowing th-cam.com/play/PLFTcgOLQMgpJmnqCg4VtaF0PP_rJ6AeH1.html
thank you for this video, i got the information to write me some good songs now even if they're not good at first, i know they will be, thank you and God Bless you !
I disagree when he says it “has” to. Sometimes the idea is something you find as you go. Music in reality is a nature thing, that was then studied. Meaning it cane naturually to people, then that music was studied to find out why it was good/to find the patterns. I think once it becomes a profession that’s when we often start approaching it more technically cause of the reliability.
sure thing Biliphang. anything, in particular, you are having trouble with? like 'making something personal more universal' or 'talking about how you feel about a situation' or something like that?
To use a term that has surfaced, I will say "fake", fake lyrics, fake songs. To me, I'd say, all that music you hear today, those kids playing that bebop pop slop is all fake*. These people just sit in front of a microphone and attempt to copy the power and the wisdom and the greatness of Adele, they sit in front of they microphones and blab. They blab all day, just blabbing whatever comes out of they're mouths. No rhythm no reason, just blab, trying to be Adele, and copycat off of her. You can blab all day long and maybe something will sound cute. Blab lyrics cute lyrics. Then, still copying Adele, if it has a flare or a twist, but Adele is real. She is writing the books. Cutesy music, cutesy lyrics, but they can't beat Adele. She is the Original. There have been two mega-monolithical periods in history that have occurred because of music. There is the B.B. and the A.B. period, then there is the B.A. and the A.A. period. These two periods have altered mankind and social life as we know it and as we shall see it. B.B. is Before the Beatles, and A.B. is After the Beatles. While B.A. is Before Adele and A.A. is After Adele. The year 1961 BB, and 1962 AB. 2007 BA and 2008 AA. All that pop today is fake music Songs are songs when they are made as Sting is saying, with an idea prior to the writing. A story, an intent. Music can draw lyrics out of you in it's own creative inspirational way. But to sit in front of a Mike with no thought or idea and just blab and derive something false out of that. That's is ignorance at its purest shape. * Okay, I need to amend my above statements; in general that is still rampant, and I perceive it won't go away, but...! What I said is true, for about the first 10 years after Adele's first two albums, and cheap copying was everywhere, but now, after 11-12 years, the youngters who grew up on Adele are starting to make genuine music following her lead. So, though some if it isn't on the Adele level, they are earnestly making palatable music which I am proud (for Adele). It's almost incomprehensible the influence Adele brought to the planet Earth. That's my perception and I'm sticking to it. But I hate the fakers. For years that went on. Ick, intolerable.
@@bioof4 I take it that you are referring to Blitz never being Adele. As for, no, you are right, I couldn't want to be. She did it right, said once and done. Everybody who has ever been lost in love knows that she gave us every inch of how we have felt, and sung it I that same unerring way. And further for me, I had to listen to her so she could "lay my "ship" bare". I had to face my sins through her scorn. I accepted it, every ounce that she laid down. "Where love is lost, your ghost is found." Ouch. I bow my head to that dear lady But the love side is there, too. On another note: they say, "it ain't over until the fat lady sings". Well, brother, we need to watch out, because the fat lady is singing. No offense to Adele, of course. More of her to love
Calling it "fake" is a weird way to describe the songs of today. Sorry but generations would keep on changing, and also it's in nature of people to change as times goes on. Yes, the songs these day people might listen are gibberish with no actual meaning or whatsoever they can still enjoy it! It's not necessary for a song to have detailed meanings or put all of their feelings into. As long as the majority of people of this era enjoying it then it's a success! None can be Adele yes. None can copy a person as whole. But you also have to know that songs are pretty much... recycled here and there around. Specially in pop songs u might listen to a song and u would find another song with also the same BPM and both are sounding the same. People gets inspired, it's very common. You can't find your talent properly if you're not taking inspiration first before! So hey buddy, don't feel mad on this generation people enjoying to gibberish music! Music would change ot get recycled that's how it is. They aren't fake music listeners, they're still music listeners if they enjoy them :)
I refuse to make sense when writing. Sense and meaning are subjective. And If I happen to make some kind of sense, then so be it. I simply take words that I find visually and sonically attractive, strange and interesting, arrange and phrase them in a way that hopefully sounds like another language or something so incomprehensible that you are most often left to guess what I'm saying.
DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE CHEAT SHEET for plenty of songwriting ideas for beginners HERE: mailchi.mp/58918357b8ca/ten-lyric-writing-tips-for-beginners
Signed up but no cheat sheet came through 😥😥
@@drumlocaltv6800 did you check your spam folder ?
@@SongWritersChopShop Yep, checked everything - any chance of still getting hold of it?
@@drumlocaltv6800 sure thing, email me at tony@songwriterschopshop.com (that's not a link btw) and I'll send it on to you.
I also signed up but no cheat sheet came through 🥺🥺🥺🥺
My favorite line of all time is, “I’m looking California and feeling Minnesota.” When writing lyrics for anything I look back at Soundgarden’s Outshined lyrics and think badass.
When Sting speaks, I listen
Yeah because it's hard to understand what he's saying 🤣
"When sting speaks" sounds like a really good song title
“sting speaks” “stinging” “speaking sting” “stings speak” “sting”
These videos have been extremely helpful! For someone who's neurodivergent in thinking, splitting things up into sections definitely helps. I've been watching your different lyric writing videos and writing them down in my journal and then writing a general thesis for what I'm going to write. They work like formula in a recipe but instead for great food, it's great song lyrics! Thank you very much! This is my go to help channel for writing.
Cheers kvlt, great to hear your getting some value from it👍
I like lyrics that make me think, that can be interpreted in different ways.
"Prosthetic synthesis with butterfly"
"Spine is just a string"
"Then I got my wings, & I never even knew it"
"The rabbit's just a monkey in disguise"
"A crown of thorns is hard to swallow"
"Fear is not afraid of you"
"New cavity moved into my heart today"
manson always knew how to write captivating lyrics imo
The fear one is by Linkin Park. The last one is by Deftones.
i understand why you’d say you shouldn’t use big words but i personally enjoy when people do. some songs aren’t meant to let you get lost in the music, a lot of music is meant to make you think.
Melanie Martinez is fucking amazing at this. You’ve got to have a lot of practice though I think.
The 'monkey suit' concept is a really good one, and I'm looking forward to giving it a go this week Tony. BTW, I checked 'The River' as an example...Wow... Some lyric !!! As always, thanks a million Tony 👍
Such a great channel for songwriting tips. I'm a published songwriter and yet I didn't even know this channel existed. No matter how good a writer one thinks he/she is there's alway room for improvement and here lies the proof. Thank you for having this songwriter's channel. What a blessing.
Best way to improve in most things is to learn off people doing it already, whether theyre used as good or bad examples in those areas, there is always something new to learn 🙂 i agree with what you wrote too
This video is good advice in general, but you're going mostly for songwriting that will be easily accesible upon impact. Pop songwriting, if you will, and while there's nothing wrong with it, you're ruling out more obscure and poetic forms of songwriting as if they were merely attempts to sound clever. I agree, it's very easy to fall into pompous pretensiousness doing that, but some very brilliant lyrics have been written while exploring the realms of the psyche. I don't think Bob Dylan had a fully sketched out concept like Sting does when he was writing "Mr. Tambourine Man". Not every lyric is going to be absorbed and internalized at first listen, some songs hook you with intriguing language which makes you listen again, look up the lyrics, free associate in your mind, become engaged in the creative proccess of the artist. Some songs are not finished until a listener completes them in their head. Again, nothing wrong with trying to be economical with your writing or having a defined idea about what the song will convey, but without puzzling, complex lyrics we wouldn't have "Desolation Row", and that would be a damn shame. Overall, I think the best piece of advice is the last one: write, write, write.
Edit: I wrote this rant because I found the video to be very interesting and, as a songwriter, I wanted to share my opinion on the matter, I was not trying to be dismissive at all.
No worries Patricio, great to hear your opinion on it. I don't disagree with you at all. All your points are valid. These tips are really for beginners to help organize and focus those free style ideas. There are so many ways to approach songwriting and of course it depends on the kind of writer you are, the style of lyric you are writing, etc.., but I don't think the ideas in this video are counter to what you are saying. I think they compliment each other. All these tips are tried and tested writing techniques and they work as well as any stream of consciousness approach. As you said, songwriting is as much about communication as expression. Cheers Patricio.
I am a new and aspiring songwriter and I enjoyed this video very much. These are great and useful tips. At the beginning of this year I started a challenge to write one song a day. The challenge is not necessarily to have a complete finished song each day but to write something every day. Rather than focus on quality, I am focusing on getting something onto paper every day. I currently use ruled index cards to write my ideas on and I currently have almost 7 full months of material to draw from, polish and further refine for songs. My husband issued me the challenge and the thought of it was overwhelming to me at first, but thus far I have been faithful to write something each day and it feels great.
I know that the best song writers write many many songs that never get heard to come to the great songs that we know and love. I figure that it is a numbers game and the more songs that I write, there will be some gems in the midst. I am really enjoying the process and have already learned a lot in a short time. This video speaks to where I am at inn my skill development so it comes as a welcomje find. Thank you and I look forward to viewing your other content.
These are great videos for beginners, thank you!
Thank you.. so much.
I'm so glad you made this videos, at this moment I don't have someone to work with so this really help me to explore my creativity
Thanks : )
thank you Osornio, glad to hear it's helping. You should check out this playlist of daily songwriting exercises, they are some of my favorites for getting creativity flowing th-cam.com/play/PLFTcgOLQMgpJmnqCg4VtaF0PP_rJ6AeH1.html
GREAT information, as always - thanks!
cheers Bill, great to hear you found it useful. thanks
thank you for this video, i got the information to write me some good songs now even if they're not good at first, i know they will be, thank you and God Bless you !
Really good video man , I often get hit by either writers block or write a lot of stuff I absolutely hate
cheers man. what do you get stuck on the most, words or music?
Thank you for sharing the knowledge Tony :)
This is so helpful. Thank you so much ❤️
No worries Deepanjali, Glad it helps.
Thanks you so much for this information 🙏❤
No worries NewBj, glad you got some value from it 👍
Love this channel!!
Chhers Iain, really appreciate that.
Really like your style, accent and approach on this channel man 🤙
cheers Jack, really appreciate that👍
This video and your channel in general very helpful, thank you so much, Tony! 🙌🏻
cheers John, really glad you're getting some value from the content.
You have real good content Tony. Thanks.
Cheers Bo, glad you are getting some value from it.
A lot of wisdom in these videos :)
thanks, coach!
No worries, hope you get some use from them.
@@SongWritersChopShop it's amazing, thank you.
@@revengebyxid Nice!
Never a miss!!
cheers Busisa.
Excellent video/thanks
cheers Bob, glad you got some value from it👍
Thank youuu😽😽
Thank you brother!
no worries James.
I disagree when he says it “has” to. Sometimes the idea is something you find as you go. Music in reality is a nature thing, that was then studied. Meaning it cane naturually to people, then that music was studied to find out why it was good/to find the patterns. I think once it becomes a profession that’s when we often start approaching it more technically cause of the reliability.
Your brilliant man.
Cheers Josey, really appreciate that 👍
Love your analysis - new sub inbound! 😊
Nice one Gafyn👍
thanks
I love this!
Cheers BlueGuise, glad you got some value from it.
Superb mate. You really make me pick up the pen. Keep it up
cheers Lee, glad it's helping. Now get to writing already.
These videos are awesome... Cheers man
appreciate that Mochyn
Just dropping in to say thank you for this video. Felt like I was bouncing off a friend. Keep up the great work
Cheers Lucas, glad you got something from it👍
6:30 where is "this video"?
épico
Haha! Charade you are!
Catch u nx time
your a genius
Cheers mo_ochan 👍👍👍
i'm a fiction writer and i know i'm not bad at it, how is it that i find songwriting an impossible task
Feed the algorithm
Much appreciated Patrick 👍
3:27 drivers license was not a monkey suit .it was actually drivers license
Yep I know. I was showing how something like a driver's licence could be used as a monkey suit. Apologies if that wasn't clear. Well spotted 👍
not the mouth smacking lmfao
where's the fre cheet sheet
there's a link in the pinned comment.
Please make a video on how to put personal experiences in a song🙏
sure thing Biliphang. anything, in particular, you are having trouble with? like 'making something personal more universal' or 'talking about how you feel about a situation' or something like that?
@@SongWritersChopShop how do you make it interesting
McCartney definitely didn't write as many Beatles songs as the Tavistock Institute. Just sayin
Hi
👋
Me and my Monkey!
2am, decided to become Billie Eilish
Narrator sounds Irish
What... are... you... talking... about???
'a cup of ambition'. . .no, that always made cringe
To use a term that has surfaced, I will say "fake", fake lyrics, fake songs. To me, I'd say, all that music you hear today, those kids playing that bebop pop slop is all fake*. These people just sit in front of a microphone and attempt to copy the power and the wisdom and the greatness of Adele, they sit in front of they microphones and blab. They blab all day, just blabbing whatever comes out of they're mouths. No rhythm no reason, just blab, trying to be Adele, and copycat off of her.
You can blab all day long and maybe something will sound cute. Blab lyrics cute lyrics. Then, still copying Adele, if it has a flare or a twist, but Adele is real. She is writing the books. Cutesy music, cutesy lyrics, but they can't beat Adele. She is the Original.
There have been two mega-monolithical periods in history that have occurred because of music.
There is the B.B. and the A.B. period, then there is the B.A. and the A.A. period. These two periods have altered mankind and social life as we know it and as we shall see it.
B.B. is Before the Beatles, and A.B. is After the Beatles. While B.A. is Before Adele and A.A. is After Adele.
The year 1961 BB, and 1962 AB. 2007 BA and 2008 AA.
All that pop today is fake music
Songs are songs when they are made as Sting is saying, with an idea prior to the writing. A story, an intent. Music can draw lyrics out of you in it's own creative inspirational way. But to sit in front of a Mike with no thought or idea and just blab and derive something false out of that. That's is ignorance at its purest shape.
* Okay, I need to amend my above statements; in general that is still rampant, and I perceive it won't go away, but...!
What I said is true, for about the first 10 years after Adele's first two albums, and cheap copying was everywhere, but now, after 11-12 years, the youngters who grew up on Adele are starting to make genuine music following her lead. So, though some if it isn't on the Adele level, they are earnestly making palatable music which I am proud (for Adele). It's almost incomprehensible the influence Adele brought to the planet Earth. That's my perception and I'm sticking to it.
But I hate the fakers. For years that went on. Ick, intolerable.
Congrats or congratulations. Ain’t reading that
@@billz4692 I struck a guilty nerve, eh.
@@billz4692 he rambled on about how pop artists today try and copy Adele that was the moral of the story [you will never be Adele]
@@bioof4 I take it that you are referring to Blitz never being Adele. As for, no, you are right, I couldn't want to be. She did it right, said once and done. Everybody who has ever been lost in love knows that she gave us every inch of how we have felt, and sung it I that same unerring way.
And further for me, I had to listen to her so she could "lay my "ship" bare". I had to face my sins through her scorn. I accepted it, every ounce that she laid down. "Where love is lost, your ghost is found." Ouch. I bow my head to that dear lady
But the love side is there, too.
On another note: they say, "it ain't over until the fat lady sings". Well, brother, we need to watch out, because the fat lady is singing. No offense to Adele, of course. More of her to love
Calling it "fake" is a weird way to describe the songs of today. Sorry but generations would keep on changing, and also it's in nature of people to change as times goes on. Yes, the songs these day people might listen are gibberish with no actual meaning or whatsoever they can still enjoy it!
It's not necessary for a song to have detailed meanings or put all of their feelings into. As long as the majority of people of this era enjoying it then it's a success!
None can be Adele yes. None can copy a person as whole. But you also have to know that songs are pretty much... recycled here and there around. Specially in pop songs u might listen to a song and u would find another song with also the same BPM and both are sounding the same.
People gets inspired, it's very common. You can't find your talent properly if you're not taking inspiration first before! So hey buddy, don't feel mad on this generation people enjoying to gibberish music! Music would change ot get recycled that's how it is. They aren't fake music listeners, they're still music listeners if they enjoy them :)
I refuse to make sense when writing. Sense and meaning are subjective. And If I happen to make some kind of sense, then so be it.
I simply take words that I find visually and sonically attractive, strange and interesting, arrange and phrase them in a way that hopefully sounds like another language or something so incomprehensible that you are most often left to guess what I'm saying.
Thanks for the excellent videos 📹 🤍
Hi