Have you ever had them days where you’re so upset, but don’t want to tell anyone about it? I certainly have, and fortunately I found a way to express myself comfortably; writing song lyrics. This may sound cliche, but writing lyrics has always been a big stress reliever for me when i’m feeling rather down. According to my mom, when I was 4, I would hum when I was upset and by age 6, I started writing song lyrics about how I was upset and why. I feel writing song lyrics has helped me come a long way, but all of this may lead many of you to wonder, ‘How do you write song lyrics?’
The idea of songwriting all ties back to one common interest, music. Song lyrics wouldn’t even exist if the idea of music wasn’t created. Some of the first lyrics all originated from thoughts about wars, the Great Depression, presidents, immigration, and much more. People would mostly express their emotions, much like they do today, on events that occurred and had outrageous impacts on people. The only difference between lyrics then and now is, back then lyrics were
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Lyrics in the music business have always been a popular ‘trend’ since music was first created. Music was generally discovered by a male, which could be a shock to many, but today, it’s more common for females to write songs. From a simple tune to paragraphs about a topic, song lyrics have come a long way. Song lyrics started with very few genre types and now there’s multiple! “ Though music evolved continually, the researchers identified three stylistic “revolutions” during which the change from one year to the next was unusually large: Around 1964 (the era of British bands), 1983 (the rock era) and 1991 (the era of mainstream hip hop).” (Huffington Post). Now, it seems as though lyrics have evolved from something small and rarely heard of to one of the most popular things in the
How do poetic devices affect a song? In the song "It's Beginning to Look a lot Like Christmas" there are many poetic devices that can be found throughout it. Poetic devices describe how in this case a song is formed. The three poetic devices that are included in this song are imagery, rhymes, and repetition. These three poetic devices are elements that make the song a stronger piece because of there definition.
A famous quote from Max De Pree states: "We cannot become what we want by remaining who we are." Whatever it be, people need to grow, make decisions, and persevere; going against the odds and obstacles that get in their way, in order to reach their potential, find their calling, and ultimately find themselves. The road is often difficult, but certainly worthwhile. Struggles, setbacks, failure and regret are often encountered. However, it is the drive for "more", or the "making of a name", whatever that may look like, that pushes people to reach for things they thought not possible. This theme is portrayed throughout Tennyson's famous "Ulysses" and Eminem's Oscar winning song, "Lose Yourself." When comparing the written work of Tennyson to the lyrics by Eminem, it becomes apparent that age, race, class, or profession mean nothing when it comes to "making a name." "Ulysses" and "Lose Yourself" exhibit characters looking for significant growth and change; something bigger and better than what their current life has offered them.
“When done correctly, there may not be another genre in all of music with more substance within its texture.” This line was said by Colin McGuire, a blogger who wrote a blog on his Top 10 Lyricists in the history of hip-hop. Lyricists? Isn’t hip-hop that music genre where rappers talk bout fast cars, women and money over energetic, bass-heavy beats? The average listener may ask this. Hip-hop lyrics are widely misunderstood because people aren’t educated on the genre, some people are prejudice and it’s just “black” music to them, and the radio only plays the energetic, bass-heavy party songs.
People rarely read poetry anymore; countless people listen to it. Our primary form of poetry today are songs. As a result of the innumerable poetic elements found in them, song lyrics are poetry. I See Fire by Ed Sheeran has poetic merit due to its imagery, figurative language, and theme.
The lyric can tell a story; it can convey an emotion. This doesn’t necessarily mean on a completely personal level. (EHH) It can be something set to music, something related specifically to the author who wrote it. It doesn’t always pertain to the listener. Lyric can refer to the words being sung but also the words in the poem. The lyric can portray what is going on in a writer’s head without necessarily portraying any sort of story. Keats, in his many sonnets, didn’t always tell stories: some were just letters to his friends or he even wrote one that had an elegy-tone to it for his grandmother after her death. In a way that the lyric doesn’t always tell a story is just like how it doesn’t always have to be set to music.
“[T]his nation was founded on respect for a wide range of viewpoints and faiths, a factor that has given the United States a special heritage and unique stability.” There have been many cases in which music lyrics have been changed as a result of offensive lyrics that citizens did not agree with, and unfortunately people hold the power so changes had to be made, but is it right? Record companies must not put regulations upon music lyrics, because it breaks an individual’s constitutional rights. (Patman)
When writing the lyrics to a song, it is important to consider the attention span of the listener, which is generally very short. Most songs nowadays last between two and four minutes and anything that exceeds this will most likely not see the light of day. That is why the structure of most songs is short and mostly uniform; verse, chorus, bridge, repeat. This cycle is a template that became the foundation of all popular songs. A verse is a group of sentences from which most of the expressing and sharing occurs. However, the key lies in the bridge and chorus to be what people call “catchy”, something they can keep up with and will stick with them. Additionally, even though it can be limiting, it is critical for the lyrics to follow a rhyming scheme, and to say things that your audience can relate to. For this reason, refraining from using words that were too formal to be found in a song, yet maintain some level of professionalism is a constraint in my process which can cause it
Music has always had an important role in society. It has been used for enjoyment, but also to get feelings and emotions across. Some might say there is a song for everything, and it would be fairly difficult to disagree with this, as songwriters feel the same emotions as their listeners do, write songs about these emotions, produce them, and then let their listeners listen to the song and share the emotion expressed through the lyrics.
The most popular new music to emerge from the ‘80’s was rap music. It first developed in the mid ‘70’s in New York City, and soon in other urban areas, primarily amongst African-American teen-agers. It became very popular with the urban public that it soon began to spread throughout the United States and much of the world. It replaced rock music as the creative force in music of the ‘80’s and ‘90’s. However, as popular as it was then and it is now, the lyrics of many rap songs have caused controversy. Many believe and have charged that these lyrics promote racism and violence and show contempt for women.
For many of us, one of the most accurate and effective ways to express the feelings that really matter to us is through music. We don’t only grow to attached to songs that are catchy, but also those with lyrics that we can relate to. It is not uncommon to feel like sometimes, artists can convey the way we feel better than we could ourselves. The storybook-like lines you read at the start of this page are a collection of lyrics
The Pop music is also one of the most famous genres among the young generation. Sexism in this field is subtler than Hip -Hop and expressed differently. The common theme of most Pop songs is about love. In these songs the mention of sex is less indirect as more euphemism are utilized. Many of the love songs sung by men use possessives nouns when referring to women. Furthermore, many songs use the allure of sex in women. They showcase women being the gatekeeper of sex, for which the men are seeking the key for. Do female song writers also indulge in this sexism? if so then how? Yet, many of the female song writers unknowingly abet sexism in this genre by showing their desperate yearning for men’s attention. They portray themselves helpless for the man’s love and victimize themselves to be dependent on the man with a certain
The lyrics of jazz songs keep people’s inner balance. Among the various characteristics of jazz lyrics, simplicity is one of the most important. Unlike other kinds of music with complicated lyrics, jazz songs have short lyrics. Usually they repeat similar patterns of sentences. For the blues (a category of jazz) lyrics, "each line of the lyrics has five (penta) accented syllables that alternate with unaccented syllables
I believe that songs can be considered a form of modern day poetry as they often effectively use poetic techniques such as repetition, imagery, contrasting themes, effective word choice and climaxes. The two songs that I have discussed clearly possess and demonstrate these qualities and how effective they are.
Common expectations seem to indicate gender roles on every individual. The males will play their part in being masculine while the females act an as object. There are several ways one can see how gender roles are played. A way is through hip-hop and rap music in the black community. Joan Morgan, an African American feminist and hip-hop and rap music fan, shows us how gender roles are being played in her community through music. Since Morgan is a feminist, she voices her opinion on the way black men treat black women in her article, “From Fly-Girls to Bitches and Hos.” Morgan states her argument that black men write lyrics ranting about black women to give a self-reflection. The males feel oppressed and express it through music. There are many reasons a male can feel oppressed, whereas one reason is becoming masculine. Michael Kimmel, a sociologist professor at Stony Brook University and the author of “‘Bros Before Hos’: The Guy Code” states that guys tries their best to show that they are manly. To clarify on how the men portray their oppression is to sing of misogyny and self-hatred in disguised hatred toward women. Men expressing their oppression through music tie the guy code of acting masculine and Morgan’s view of men feeling oppressed. Morgan describes black men express their oppression by objectifying black women sexually in music. Jean Kilbourne, the author of “‘Two Ways a Woman Can Get Hurt’: Advertising and Violence” and an activist on advertisement based on public health problems and violence against women agrees with Morgan on women being sexually identified. Kilbourne and Morgan connect to Kimmel by showing how males are seen to be masculine and females are soft and emotional. Morgan’s claims, in “From Fly-Girls to Bi...
In order for this problem to adjust over time, much work will be necessary. I believe that our country as a whole should focus not so much on the content of the lyrics, but who the musical artists themselves are. Just because lyrics are profound doesn’t mean that the artist believes in them, they could be relating to previous acts that have occurred in their lives, or speaking freely on the problems our society is faced with. It would be beneficial for our country if a sensor council or committee was founded to screen all songs and albums before they’re released, in order to identify them with a warning label or not