How to Use Metaphor in Songwriting and Creative Writing

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In this free online writing tutorial, Berklee College of Music professor and Berklee Online instructor Caroline Harvey offers advice for using metaphor in your songwriting and creative writing.
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About Caroline Harvey
Caroline Harvey is an assistant professor in the Liberal Arts department at Berklee College of Music, in addition to being a writer, performer, and somatic therapist. She teaches and performs poetry nationwide, and is the creator of two original voice curricula, Free Your Voice™ and Embodied Poetics™. She was featured in two documentaries and appeared on Season 5 of HBO's Def Poetry. A past member and coach of multiple Poetry Slam Teams, Harvey has been a part of victories on both national and regional stages. Most recently, she helped the Berklee College of Music Slam Team win the "Spirit of Slam" award at the 2010 Collegiate National Poetry Slam. She has performed with Alicia Keys, Mos Def, John Legend, Reggie Gibson, Joshua Bennett, Donna De Lory, and others, and is honored to have been featured at schools and organizations such as YouthSpeaks, The Esalen Institute, Bristol Community College, Northeastern University, University of California at Berkeley, and University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA).
Harvey was awarded a BFA in Theater from Boston University where she graduated Summa Cum Laude and won the Dean's Award for Academic Excellence. Her stage directorial debut dealt with the work of poet Anne Sexton and was chosen for review by the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. She later earned a Master's degree in Dance from UCLA's Department of World Arts and Cultures. Harvey's writing, which explores ideas of the sacred and tracks her belief that even the fiercest traumas contain within them the capacity for profound healing and beauty, has been published in various literary journals and anthologies including the 2005 National Poetry Slam Anthology High Desert Voices and the Harvard publication The Charles River Review. She is currently working on a new collection of poems based on the women Salvador Dali painted and a book about her most recent travels in Asia and Central America.

[@ScarTrakk]

Great video, loved the way you explained the topic well, the meaphors by Pat are very creative.

[@PiusXulu]

WOW!!! Loved the examples. Made it look easy. Thank you so much.

[@VW.907]

I like it! Great idea, to get the lyrical juices flowing.

[@Nick-qj7ym]

Thank you! This helped.

[@producermind9030]

This video is absolutely amazing. Thanks for sharing!

[@nathanielgibbons6671]

Awesome thanks you

[@ApexFrontier]

Dude when he said let's do another metaphor I thought the ocean and a relationship and she used the ocean! Mind blown 💥

[@madbugger69]

What a beautiful coach and instructor ❤️❤️❤️

[@shannamarie9408]

This was great description.

[@sjinvestors250]

What’s the name of the pat book

[@swinenorth77]

"with an iron clad fist, i wake up, french kiss the morning" JBJ poped into my head as i watched

[@IMMASICKKKFUCK]

okkay

[@d-rex6846]

Don’t French kiss the mourning, pat them on the back and give them a hug 🤗 lol

[@tomquinn2773]

fish in the sun from the cyclone It came from the ocean and it found a home God must have given me a happy sole because She waits for me to smile and let the dankness go

[@omkarmarchande5333]

Amazing tip 😀

[@jamesking5075]

what book by Pat Patterson is she talking about ?

[@manualvarado2212]

Writing better lyrics for sure. There's a free course in coursera with the same name, given by Mr. Pat.

[@milkyfernandez5505]

Book is actually Songwriting Without Boundaries.

[@brianolson_music]

Great video, thank you for the amazing content. Very well articulated. She is a Great teacher, and speaker. I was captivated - that says a lot for me and my a.d.d . Lol. No joke really. I’d love to chat with her anytime 👍

[@Quintopia1]

phenomenal

[@kevinjoseph517]

whats the cost of an online class at berklee?

[@Berklee_Online]

Thanks for your question! The undergraduate courses cost $1,545 for 3-credit tuition or $1,290 for non-credit tuition, and the graduate courses cost $2,817 for 3-credit tuition or $2,615 for non-credit tuition.

[@bloomseason583]

How many can catch the depth of this on a spiritual level?

[@oilinmyface787]

Please explains it to me 😅

[@bloomseason583]

@@oilinmyface787 I shouldn’t have even commented lol 😂

[@oilinmyface787]

@@bloomseason583 oh come on, now I'm more than curious 😁 you could write me a secret email or message somewhere 😉

[@whatabouttheearth]

😂 her first metaphor for love was "gamble". What 12 year old writing a crush poem hasn't done that...since the invention of gambling? Kenny Rodgers gets a pass

[@jessepeters9775]

My flows a tidal wave like I angered the gods. Loves a gamble like a vegas trip. JXXL

[@bluesyace9564]

so basically, everything piece of lyrical wisdom actually comes from Pat Pattinson

[@ryanpendley1826]

Twilight rain Holy God Please stay Don't forsake me today As I'm stuck in this drain We're worlds apart Deciphering your art Mother nature in a drought In the beginning was your word Beating on your chest with clout While I sit here and pout What's in your plan Since the foundation of your nailed scarred hand Considering my sins? How? Am I Eve? Am I Adam? The Tree Or the talking serpent In between? Wise fool times 3 Sometimes I'm an atheist as you can see Yelling to the wind that's unseen How am I supposed to know your dimension You gave me theses set of eyes that can barely see Anyhow I just don't know what to say Lord I miss you I'm struggling Didn't you know me? Wasn't I on your mind Seems so much better when I was a kid Time grew to fast as I'm catching this rain in a cup But I messed up I fell from your grace you say Carrying that cross you say You did it for me you say But I don't understand the message today I'm to old for this Lord I need that child like faith Don't you remember me? I'm not a murderer like Cain Don't you hear our blood running through Our veins? what does it say? Here's that cup of rain I'm on the other side of this bow, Today It's my tears as I pray Writer Ryan K Pendley

[@deannecalifornia4676]

Pop quiz, "What does an angry God do?" :)

[@belle1199]

I was following well until she entered into topic of omniscience.. how is being all-knowing angry? haha

[@romeod7549]

If you were all-knowing and you saw what was happeining on this little planet in this corner of the galaxy you'd be angry too

[@bloomseason583]

@@romeod7549 yo that’s a great perspective

[@user-ue6yh2ji5i]

lol she did not talk about metaphors, it was similies.

[@chcknpie04]

Yeah, I was actually hoping she would elucidate on how we are taught that was wrong.

[@veryrandomperson5739]

u felt a bit of personification as well

[@whatabouttheearth]

😂 is that kindergarten shit really the first metaphor she chose? NO STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN UNLESS YOU'RE KENNY RODGERS! Cmon, this is Berklee.

[@nyacoustics8373]

so how many grammys has she won with all this deep song writing insight?

[@bluesyace9564]

idk but this insight has certainly helped someone win 7 grammys oh wait, but those songs that won weren't exactly lyrically best from the artist, it was actually pretty sub par compared the artitst's normal work, why is that? Because the grammy doesn't give a crap about good songwriting, it cares about hits, it cares about the charts, which necessarily isn't a bad thing but my point here is that grammy doesn't scale anyone's musical abilities, its scales their ability to know their audience and make the most easily digestible, sing along music, not songs with complexity, the ones that have deep meanings in lyrics, the lyrics should be easily processed by any average listener in a hit.

[@whatabouttheearth]

😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@tretheband1818]

I feel dumber

[@piotr803]

Disagree. Your definition of collision implies juxtaposition.

[@callumbrady88]

She isn't comparing/contrasting Las Vegas and love. She is using the stereotypical/concepts of Las Vegas to explain/characterise her love. If the theme was 'I found love in Las Vegas' and spent the song talking about how unbelievable it was to find love in a place like las vegas, then you'd call it juxtaposition.