Help writing songs?

[trainmananthon]

Hi all,
I'm in a band at my school and we've all agreed that I'd be the best at writing songs, but i need help finding topics to write about

Any help appreciated
Kind regards
Anthony

 

[swj99]

I need help finding topics to write about

As a source of inspiration you could ask yourself what's topical at the moment, what interests you, what annoys you, what you'd like to see changed, who you like and don't like (but be careful of defamation).

I suppose it depends on what type of songs you're aiming for. If you want mad, offbeat stuff, have you got the sense of humour or cynicism for it ? Do the songs have to rhyme or not ? Do you want to make striking political statements or does the song just have to sound nice ?

One way would be to start by making a list of key words on your chosen topic, then expand on them, and brainstorm the list until you get lines that resemble parts of a song, then fine tune it and see if it works.

There are a few websites which can supposedly write song lyrics for you, but the ones I tried were cack. I'm no poet but I easily did better than anything I found online.

 

[LE Greys]

As long as you sing it clearly, it will sound good (says someone with no ear for music, see this thread).

 

[D841 Roebuck]

What genre is/are your band?

The same subject matter can be treated completely differently by different styles or genres of music. E.G. A Flower:
Emo: The flower is dying like I am dying
Rap: The muthaflickinsonabitchinrootditchin vegetable...
Metal: whrang-ang-ang dubbadubbaFLOWER
Folk: There was a flower upon the lea, with a hey no hey no hey nonny no
Irish:
Low lie the Fields of Athenry
Where once a fine small flower there did grow
But it only grew one morn, then got nicked with Trevelyan's corn
Now bloomless are the Fields of Athenry...

 

[trainmananthon]

We are like a new wave/mod band

Edit: it's the kind of music like the bass covers I do, like the jam
http://www.youtube.com/user/trainmastergeneral?feature=guide

 

[Giugiaro]

A good thing would be a cheering up song for those who are having trouble right now, being it because of crisis or not.

 

[starrymarkb]

It's a rather personal thing. If you can't relate to your lyrics then they just sound forced

Reminds me of the hideous version of "Hurt" that some X factor person did. No emotion and parroting like a robot

 

[NSE]

Sit down with an acoustic guitar and just play around. I'm not much of a song writer, but that's how I'd go for it. Get a few lines down, put a few chords in. Make sure its something you want to hear. Try and have some fun.

 

[MattRobinson]

What genre is/are your band?

The same subject matter can be treated completely differently by different styles or genres of music. E.G. A Flower:
Emo: The flower is dying like I am dying
Rap: The muthaflickinsonabitchinrootditchin vegetable...
Metal: whrang-ang-ang dubbadubbaFLOWER
Folk: There was a flower upon the lea, with a hey no hey no hey nonny no
Irish:
Low lie the Fields of Athenry
Where once a fine small flower there did grow
But it only grew one morn, then got nicked with Trevelyan's corn
Now bloomless are the Fields of Athenry...

You're forgetting dubstep: Wob Wob Wob Wob flower; Wob Wob Wob Wob flower. Booooooooom flo-flo-flo-flo-flower! Wob Wob Wob Wob flower...

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Tracked]

http://www.song-lyrics-generator.org.uk/
http://writerbot.com/


that sort of thing?

alternatively just string a few cliches together, mention something modern like Twitter or Facebook, and get someone to do a rap about how great they are in the middle of it

 

[Clip]

Girls,girls,girls.



And no, not the Motley Crue song.

 

[trainmananthon]

Thanks for all the replies. The links which Tracked mentioned is like it, but with more options such as punk, new wave, mod, but otherwise the links will help us quite a lot to get us on the right tracks.

Thanks again
Anthony
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Thanks to the replies I've had, I now know how I'm gonna write songs, but just need help with something to write about, like things going on in everyday life.

I have also thought of one thing to write about. It's about a man who has just been layed off work, and whilst waiting for his train home, gets mugged by a drunk gang and has been stranded with no way home and no way to contact his wife.

It's been inspired a little bit by Bruce Foxton's Smithers-jones and Paul Wellers down in the tubestation at midnight.

Any opinions will be very helpful.

Thanks in advance

 

[NSE]

Tune your guitars down to Drop C#