Originally Posted by Mike Dunbar

You want to be a songwriter?
Don't worry about writing great songs.
Never mind about great songs not making it.
Don't spend any money on demos.
Don't worry about the "evil" music business that conspires to keep out good writers.
Put away your checkbooks,
take off your tinfoil hats,
stop spending your time daydreaming and

WRITE A GOOD SONG.

My basic rules for a good song are that it be
understandable,
interesting,
memorable and
convey feelings.

It has to have all four.
Being understandable does not mean you can't have nonsense lyrics or deep hidden lyrics. That is "undestandably" your intention. We all know that Don McLean's "American Pie" or many of Dylan's songs are deep and subject to interpretation, but if you're writing a basic story song, don't lose the listener. The rest of the rules should speak for themselves.

As for the mechanics?
Read John Braneny's book, "The Craft and Business of Songwriting," read other books, read online.
Learn about meter, learn about music theory, learn how to analyze songs, analyze songs you like and figure out why you like them.

Until then:
STOP.
Spend no money,
have no arguments,
don't try to analyze the music business.
Go no further until you are writing good songs.


AMEN! GREAT ADVICE!
Maybe these lyric writing tips might help.

Study the craft,

write a lot of songs,

keep improving,

get to the point where complete strangers, people in the biz and not, ones have no vested interest in making you feel good, will honestly say "I like that song!" "I love that song" or I'd buy that song.

There are zillions of stories about songwriters, especially beginners, making all kinds of mistakes. I've made plenty, I've spoken to writers before during and after theirs.

Beginning songwriters are way too eager.
Wanna be lyricists want to SET their words to music.
They are in a hurry.
They're high on the rush of being creative and are convinced their work is way better than it is.
They don't want to hear they have an UGLY BABY.

the book "Outliers" has a chapter that says anyone who became great at anything spend around 10,000 hours practicing and doing it. There aren't any short cuts.

Many writers just don't have a frame of reference.

Many dream of having a hit song so they can quit their day jobs and write full time.
(btw Many former hit writers wish they had a steady jobs with benefits. Things are tough out there.)

Read Craig Bickhardt:
Ninety Mile Wind Excerpts From A Songwriter's Journal

Writing a GOOD SONG is a GREAT challenge.

We know it when we hear it.

Good luck

Ande Rasmus sen
Ande R a s m u s s e n@aol.com
Ande R a s m u s s e n.com
SongRamp.com/ande
MySpace.com/anders

Texas Grammy Gov 06-08
grammy.com/Texas

Editor Of "Inspirations for Songwriters"
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