Originally Posted by Kevin Emmrich
Originally Posted by Michael Zaneski
So it seems to me that there is a hidden assumption here. That being that "ALL lyricists are aspiring songwriters", and to this I can say that this assumption is entirely false.

I think you've over complicated my initial post, but that's OK -- you are free to interpret as you wish. I do have a question, though: If the assumption that ALL lyricists are aspiring songwriters is false, then what are they aspiring to? Do you mean that some lyric writers never want music to be added to their words? I'm so confuuuused.

Quote
"why aren't they "doin' it for themselves",

It was not really "let me do it myself and cut the composer out", but more "if I don't do it, then it probably won't happen". I've been here for 3 years and I think there is more collab'ing going on then ever before. But the sad fact is, that unless the lyricist pays someone, 99% of these lyrics will not hear a strum or piano plunk.

Kevin



Don't be confused Kevin. As I clearly state, many lyricists are simply trying to be the best lyricists that they can be. Of course they want their lyrics set to music. Did you miss the three paragraphs I wrote about the value of forming relationships with others? Your question "Do you mean that some lyric writers never want music to be added to their words?" seems to overlook that, with a little effort on the part of a lyricist, relationships can be formed with composers, and "viola": where you had JUST a lyricist and a composer before, NOW you have a songwriter...make that a "collab" or "songwriting partnership."

I would recommend to all lyricists that they form relationships with composers, even those lyricists who do choose to learn music, and I have never said that there is anything wrong with that. In fact, I have been simply addressing your false assumption that "ALL lyricists want to write music too" (ie are "aspiring songwriters", as you put it), which to me, borders on the absurd, and even if ALL lyricists DO want to write music, many know their own limitations, and so pursue other options to complete the songwriting process.

The "life experience" of forming relationships can be more rewarding, and the end-product can be better. I know this first hand. I have done both. I speak from experience. I have also seen many lyricists write songs with great lyrics and God-awful music, because they "learned music" just enough to write a bad song. I've also seen lyricists, sometimes the same ones, work with composers, and seen the work that these ersatz marriages produced far exceed the sum of their parts. Life is full of symbiotic relationships where the sum of the two parts can make for an exceedingly beautiful "whole."

Ultimately, Kevin, you did ask "why" aren't more lyricists learning music, right? My rebuttal to you does in a roundabout way answer your question. Let me say it again clearly: because many lyricists have decided, rightly or wrongly, that their time is better spent simply writing a better lyric, and pursuing and sometimes forming relationships with others who can help them complete the songwriting process.

Let us not be so presumptuous as to judge the merit of each individual lyricist who might not be pursuing the learning of music! Some of these lyricists might know exactly what they are doing, and may have a "plan" that includes other people in it.

Hope that clears up any confusion! smile

Marc Barnette summed it up in three words: "relationship, relationship, relationship."

Mike

Last edited by Michael Zaneski; 06/27/09 04:18 PM.
Fate doesn't hang on a wrong or right choice
Fortune depends on the tone of your voice

-The Divine Comedy (Neil Hannon)
from the song "Songs of Love"
from the album "Casanova" (1996)