As The World Tunes

Learning Lovely Lyrics

by Steve Bussey
GeoSynchronous Records

I recently completed a song lyric writing workshop offered by the International Songwriters Guild. It consisted of seven study sessions, using as a guide an excellent book by Sheila Davis, Successful Lyric Writing: A Step-By-Step Course & Workbook (Writer s Digest Books). Davis is a gold record songwriter and has also written other books on songwriting. One of the nice things about the book is liberal use of good examples from hit songs as well as failed lyrics from some of her students, and even a few bad lyrics from songs that became hits anyway (but as she points out, would have been better songs if the lyrics were re-written just a bit). Exercises and quizzes are included too.

Davis identifies and elaborates the five elements that make a well written lyric: genuine idea, memorable title, a strong start, payoff, and the appropriate song form.

A good explanation of the various song forms is included. Most of us are familiar with 12 bar blues and verse/chorus forms, but do you know about AAA, AABA, ABAB, ABAC, and the through composed or ABCD form? Read the book and find out. She explains the purpose and use of a bridge, and also the difference between a chorus and a refrain.

One of the most stressed points by Davis is to watch your VVTS, which is the Viewpoint, Voice, Time frame, and Setting. The viewpoint is first, second, or third person. Are you singing I , you , or he or she ? The voice can be either thinking the lyrics, or actually speaking aloud to someone in the song. The time frame sets the time; is it right now, or is the singer looking back at last night? The setting is the place, and it is defined simultaneously with the time frame.

Davis then explains the Top Ten principles to avoid the pitfalls. These are simplicity, clarity, compression, emphasis, consistency, coherence, specificity, repetition, unity, and genuine feeling. A detailed explanation of each is provided in the book. For example, alliteration is repetition of accented consonant sounds in successive words, as I tried to do with the L in this column s title.

The use of figurative language as opposed to literal is explained, and Davis points out that not all people have the gift of identifying and using metaphors, irony, metonymy, or synecdoche. Detailed explanations and examples are offered in the book, along with ten guidelines to their successful use.

No lyric book would be complete without a detailed discussion of rhythm and rhyme, and Davis does not disappoint us. She explains about meters and feet (not those used in rulers!). Meter is measured rhythm, and a foot is a unit of syllables in a set pattern. A detailed discussion of feet and meter names such as iambic pentameter (five feet of two syllable iambs, with accent on the second syllable) follows. She goes on to illustrate ways to achieving rhythmic variation in your lyrics. I was amazed at the different types of rhymes she identifies. Major accent rhymes such as masculine, feminine, and triple rhyme, minor accent rhymes such as broken, trailing, apocopated, linked and more are all thoroughly defined and illustrated. She also offers guidelines to keep your lyrics from sounding too sing-song and predictable.

Davis finishes the book with a chapter on how to put it all together, and use the whole brain: left (analytical) and right (intuitive) hemispheres. She also provides ten lyric writing assignments to crank up your creativity.

All in all, an excellent reference for any one serious about writing their own lyrics.

About the author: Steve Bussey is a singer/songwriter/guitarist and is currently the owner and general manager of GeoSynchronous Records (http://www.pan.com/geosync, Listening Line 800 235 9193, ask for a free catalog), an indie label handling artists such as Les Dudek, Mike Pachelli, Bong Water Taffy, and Big Red & The Bus. Prior to this, Steve earned Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Electrical Engineering and Acoustics from Georgia Tech, designed sound equipment and guitar amps for Fender, and supervised design of communication systems for the Space Shuttle at Kennedy Space Center.