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Q. Your songs are filled with originality and even some subject matter risk taking. (i.e., Angie Baby). How do you keep your lyric writing from falling into cliches or well worn writing traps? Is this through rewrites, or simply good up front planning?
A. Thanks for your question & compliment! I am intrigued by the TWISTS in stories, & in life. Whether it's deep & spiritual, as in the parents who conquer hate with love by befriending the jailed killer of their child, or playful & snappy, like the left field punch line in a good joke (I'll spare you any examples), I love the freshness of the unexpected.
In critiquing my lyric drafts (and others'), I have developed a kind of warning light in my brain. It blinks when a lyric is stumbling toward a point that I've already guessed, or when I hear a wimpy "cop out" rhyme. It used to blink whenever I heard imperfect rhymes as well, but I've come to accept their legitimacy when they really nail the thought. It blinks when nothing has made me care about the characters. Mostly it blinks when I start to get BORED!
That's where REWRITING comes in! Like the trapeze artist who tries to make it look effortless, I sometimes spend hours juggling verses, lines, phrases, & individual words; attempting to maximize their impact without making them feel labored.
To put it another way, I like to either tell an unusual story; or if I'm telling a familiar story I strive to tell it in an unusual, stimulating manner.
I started writing "Angie Baby" after being inspired by the Beatles' "Lady Madonna." I wanted to create a normal young woman facing the trials & stresses of modern life & love. But despite several attempts in this direction, my heroine was boring. After a little time to recover from my frustration, I began making this normal character ABNORMAL. And the weirder she became, the more interested I became in the outcome of my own story!
At one point I had indicated by my lyric that she was retarded. I actually took my draft to a psychologist, who offered the insight that the complex interactions I was describing didn't ring true for someone "slow." It was at that point that I decided to skew her (pardon the expression) more toward either crazy or mystical. That was a breakthrough.
As I've said before, I spent about three months on the lyric of "Angie Baby," but when it hit number one, that didn't seem long at all!
I would love you all to think of me as a brilliant songwriter. But again, what often looks like the result of inspiration is largely the result of perspiration! For instance, I tend to write "cleverly." That's not always the best route. What comes harder for me is emotional writing. Sometimes I find it difficult to describe emotions in an emotional way.
So after I have been at a lyric for a while, I may step back & pretend I've never heard it. I'll read it, or play back a cassette & listen as a semi-interested bystander. Does the telling of the song "story" make me feel anything? Do I care? If the answer is "not much," then I look at places where I can tug at the heart, not just the intellect. Suggestion: A good friend can also offer helpful feedback, just make sure you don't explain the song before sharing it. Unless it's "special material" (theatrical, part of a larger body of work, accompaniment for a video or movie), the lyric should stand on it's own.
By the way, although this is about lyrics; keep in mind that tempo, feel, chord patterns, melody & arrangement are all factors in making the song more emotionally effective.
As to up front planning: I do more of that when the song is a project for hire; meaning someone is paying me/us to create special material that accomplishes certain things: ("We want a 1 1/2 minute up-tempo tune describing animals in the zoo. It will accompany these video clips of the following seven animals doing the following things, which we'll edit to your lyrics"). This may involve sketching out ahead of time how long the chorus can be (if there is to be one), discussing a working title, looking at the video so as to describe the actions better, & playing experimental pieces of music & lyric ideas for the producer as the writing progresses.
But with the songs I write "voluntarily," I leave parts unplanned. I may write out a sketch in prose (this is very helpful), but I try to allow room for accidents. I don't lock in the ending, just in case a wonderful twist comes along & changes everything. Often I'll spend time on one title idea, which leads me to a better title idea, with a couple of extra ideas flying out of my brain at the same time, which I scribble on a separate sheet of paper to come back to. The trick for me is riding this "wave of creative chaos" without stifling it. I can always clean things up later!
I'm sharing these thoughts because I know some of you will see yourselves in my descriptions, or define your strengths & methods as different than mine. Either scenario is fine. I think it's important to learn about your own internal mechanisms as a songwriter. And let's face it, is there anyone more fascinating than you?
©1999 Alan O'Day, All Rights Reserved