Write Better Lyrics TODAY: 3 Simple Ways

[@recordingrevolution]

►► Discover the 10 steps to making and releasing an EP as an independent artist and join the waitlist for the EP Blueprint at → recordingrevolution.com/ep

[@theAshesofDecember1]

Here’s a fourth tip for getting started: start with someone else’s lyrics. Seriously, half of the riffs I’ve ever written came from playing a cover version and messing up. Seeing where one song COULD’VE gone in a different world is a good way to get started. So take what someone has done and then change it. Maybe do something in the same tempo but different key so you’re forced to change the melody. In other words, if you’re really stuck, use a template

[@davidr2421]

Lennon: "Tell the truth and make it rhyme" Also Lennon: "I am the walrus, goo-goo ga joob"

[@byronwade1204]

He was the walrus.

[@ForeverJade.D]

Acid is a hell of a drug 🌈 👁 👁

[@jackcrook4435]

You realise he meant "tell your truth", "not tell the truth". Telling the truth is boring, especially in songwriting. Lou Reed constantly made fabricated characters for shock value. John's truth was he loved cosmic word play and the juxtaposition of simple words to create strange, unique emotional responses to their bizarre arrangements. Thats what its about, discovering what reaction you like to illicit in your music, or music in general, and start there and follow it. Someone else's truth might be that they hate that and they like straight down the line lyrics that tell real stories, they should follow that.

[@uagboragabus835]

My goodness graham are you back? Please tell me you are back, I missed hearing from you and I am sure others did... 🙂

[@jaymagic8760]

Yes I was worried.was hearing and seeing a lot of new faces

[@FreimannMusic]

Graham's not gonna be back for the whole 2021 as he said in the video at the beginning of this year. He's concentrated on his second business (search Graham Cochrane on KZbin) and publishing his book How to Get Paid for What You Know

[@atashbeats8055]

2 books I highly recommend: The Craft of Lyric Writing, Sheila Davis, and Writing Better Lyrics, Pat Pattinson.

[@luminousbulb]

Another great one is How to Write Lyrics, Bob Boberino.

[@MeeanWest]

Thank you 🤲🏿

[@paulovv1689]

But remember that Pat, instead of the exposed in this vídeo, has the approach of lyrics first, melody after

[@davidhawley1132]

Pat Pattison is excellent.

[@paulovv1689]

@@davidhawley1132 I totally agree with you

[@ZionKishimoto]

I base my lyrics on my experiences and how God helped me overcome those situations. They are based on like a prayer but also wanting humility. Im currently recording a song too as well. Thanks for the vid! 🙏✝️

[@markopejoski6042]

As someone who finds flow and ease in lyricism, I was never aware of the rareness that it has within the music business.

[@alexanderhammer688]

Graham, in all honesty, I like the lyrics of your song. Not a cheesy love song, but real emotions of true love. Great!

[@joshgatesmusic78]

Great tips Graham! I love learning your songwriting process and really enjoyed the new EP! Myth of You is an awesome track!

[@KaitavSapreMusic]

Excellent tips, and they are so practical. I am also a music first person and follow the exact same strategy. Thanks, Graham!

[@meatymatmart]

4:45 the part about gibberish lyrics reminded me of RHCP. If you listen to the unmastered version of Around the World, each chorus has that "ding dang deng deng" gibberish instead of lyrics. Apparently one of their kids liked the gibberish version and when the song was done they asked where the gibberish went haha so they kept it in the last chorus.

[@GaryMeadowsMusic]

I usually write lyrics first, then put that to music. I've written melody 1st too.I've also written both at the same time. Most of my better songs were lyrics 1st with a definite meaning about something in my life or someone or a situation. Check out "Summertime" by me on Spotify about my grandpa.

[@momentumflux8863]

I feel that...my lyrics are always better when I am honest

[@RobOndras]

Great seeing you again! Thank you for your helpful insight into crafting great lyric to a strong chord progression and melody. Wonderful advice. The only thing I might add is trying to point each line back to the title. That part is difficult but worth the effort. Thanks again! You’re awesome at what you do and it is appreciated!

[@dreambeliever3652]

All the steps that you’ve mentioned here… Are the exact same ways I write my songs with their melodies. Just perfect man

[@R.Kryshtal]

That's exactly how I write music/lyrics. I hear a melody in my head, then I take my phone record into it, sing make up words/gibberish, save and do another take. Do several takes, and make up whole song like that. So I'll have 4-10 different angles of the song. Then I mix and match, add and scratch out the ones I don't like. It always turns out a phenomenal song. Number 1 is a melody. I always hear melodies in my head, like a flowing river. Then I quickly take my phone, cuz otherwise I'll forget. Sometimes same melody comes back, but not always.

[@TheHeartoftheMusic1]

Graham, thank you for the instruction. I don't know about others, but that you are dependent on the Holy Spirit to guide you, makes it easier to learn from you. Your approach is straightforward and easy to follow. I have been writing since the mid 60's and even though I don't write as much as I did for the first 40 years, God has blessed me with the gift of being able to write quickly. I have always been kind of amazed that the songs came, as if they were coming from somewhere else. Now, I know that all songs come from somewhere else, either the light or the darkness. Hopefully, I'll be able to take advantage of the new course of study (EP), that you will have available, soon. Again, thanks for the teaching.

[@athenah2]

Hadn't heard from you in a while Graham, hope you and your family are well. Thanks for the great videos!

[@FormulaOneLeclerc]

I use the "Gibberish" to melody thing all the time !

[@Swanlord05]

Amen Brother..... And most times.... The less words the better

[@AndrewThiriot]

This is great stuff Graham. Thank you for sharing and all your efforts. I typically write melodies first, so I can relate to how you describe your process, and this helps validate that method, and even show it's own advantages.

[@PhilKelley]

In jazz singing, using nonsense syllables is called "scat". It is a way for a vocalist to improvise a solo. Try it. It is a lot of fun and you may come up with your own great melody.

[@davidhawley1132]

There's also a jazz tradition of vocalese, that is adding lyrics (improvised if possible) to an instrumental.

[@26novemberconcertatst.matt58]

Awesome! Thanks!

[@christinagraf9724]

You guys are awesome... I just bought the basics to start

[@derekavalos8]

Great tips grahm, blessings for you and your family.

[@Nenko_Music]

I am french and I write english lyrics. And when i do so I indeed use the melody trick, that we call her "yogurth" and its easier for us to make up words that dont even exist in english but sounds english , but its all fake words mostly with a bunch of real pieces of english sentences in the mix. Its fast and effective. But then when you need to write the actual words, its often sounds like the "yogurt" attempt sounds like the perfect fit, in this case it can be tempting to switch to real english words that sound similar, which most of the time is a forced thing with the only purpose is the aestetics of the vocals, and here we loose the real writing intention and meaning. Not sure if i am clear haha... do you know what im trying to explain?

[@louislawrence4341]

Good one .. appreciated

[@autobotsNdecepticons]

3rd one is the important one. Though rhyming is optional...I've heard some very good lyrics that don't use rhyme.

[@Davidov]

Great tips. For the chorus I would have went with “OooOooOo Something Something Darkside”

[@nerdexproject]

Thanks mate! I needed these tips right now!

[@perljunggren1898]

best trick ever is to sing evrything...... sing the drums... the bass..... the synths.... and then sing the melody with the words on the fly to feel what words who works when singing. from timbaland....

[@rafaelmatosdasilva]

thank you! this is exactly how I write my all songs! it's a slow but honest process. i feel better know :D

[@GeoffWilde]

I'm falling for the thought of you

[@LuciensMusic]

The greatest lyrics all sound deceptively simple and I always find myself thinking,,how did they do it,,hahaha

[@bigkid757]

My process is coming up with a topic title, writing the lyrics and then the music. I let the music bring out the melody 🎵 Some words at the end of a line rhyme and some sound similar.

[@davidhawley1132]

Rhyming is a lot broader than exact rhymes. Another fun thing to try is using similar vowels (or consonants) in places other than the ends of lines, within lines etc. which gives interesting effects, including making a phrase seem more connected.

[@dafingaz]

Nice!

[@ChuckWhiteINANIAS]

Really really enjoyed this video. I'd have to say it's been my favorite video from you because you put some God in there. Would love to see you add that in more often.

[@FormulaOneLeclerc]

Thank You!

[@sempopo]

Thank you 😊

[@mlwsf]

Are you back finally?

[@jondnz]

That lyric gibberish thing. Here in New Zealand there's an old classic pop/rock song where they literally never changed the gibberish to actual words and 50 some odd years later they still sing the chorus as dee dee dee dee dee do do do do. The song is called Nature by The Fourmyula and is considered to be a number one classic here. So don't knock the idea of gibberish, you may record a number one song out of it

[@davidhawley1132]

Fa la la la la, la la la lah. Lots of folk songs have bits of nonsense lyrics.

[@jondnz]

@@davidhawley1132 true but in my example they had intended to do what Graeme is suggesting which is just have them as a place holder until they replaced them with lyrics. They never wrote any. I think in the folk song example that's more deliberate in an attempt to help people join in to sing it. Like using it as a "hook"

[@davidhawley1132]

@@jondnz Indeed. Speaking of people joining in, I make a point of doing Elton John's Crocodile Rock when I go out for karaoke; a guaranteed crowd-pleaser cause everyone loves joining in the old Laa, la-la-la-la-laa, ...

[@hotjamsm07]

Scrambled eggs.......Yesterday....

[@lodgecove]

Oh man, thanks for this! But probably not why you think.. that quote “tell the truth and make it rhyme” was stuck in my head as a song idea for a long time. I thought maybe I had heard it from one of your earlier videos but didn’t know who said it and couldn’t find the video. Now I know! …. And apparently I used a John Lennon quote in a song… a song about trying to write a song. It’s called ‘About A Song’. Clever, huh? Besides all that, these are great tips. Thanks for all the great content. Now.., can you magically make me a great singer?

[@lodgecove]

….. and now I find out you also wrote a song called Thief… well mine came out way before this video so I didn’t steal that, ha ha

[@Jeronimo365]

Hey Graham, missed you. Great vid but your EP list won’t accept my email as valid. 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@mlwsf]

Gibberish that someone makes sense out of: Oh Bla Di Oh Bla Da (Beatles). De Do Do(The Police), Radio Gaga (Queen) And Jesus Built My Hotrod (Ministry )

[@lionsdenstudio6549]

so funny, my girlfriend just asked me why do i have so many tunes recorded of me playing the guitar and singing the same lyrics over and over again or just singing no real words at all just making them up as i go so I told her when im playing and a great melody comes into my head i run over and hit the record button because it will be gone come mornin!! i'm sure every musician or song writer can relate. My studio is always ready to record.

[@rifatahmed6214]

5:49 Something something something yeah = Da dum Da dum Da dum Da = 4 stressed syllables = Tetrameter

[@dheerajsharma2096]

👏🏻🔥

[@t.b.a.r.r.o.]

A friend of mine gained some notoriety as being "the Dylan of Cigar Box." His songs and style were unique in that they were obviously written to say something. As he put it, 'I didn't want to play other people's songs, so I just started telling stories to music." He passed a few years ago. But among those who liked his work he is very much a legend. For example... kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZe8Zn6khb-tkKM

[@andx4024]

1 thing - start

[@djstuntel6026]

And This Is What I trying to tell Everybody My songs I try to make a song from it's not Mine I know already because someone Else can give Them To Me and That's not good I want to make Honest good music

[@squidcaps4308]

So, the idea here is: write whatever sounds good, who gives two fucks if it actually means something to you. The thing is: you need to have something to say before you fucking open your mouth. If lyrics are hard to come by, maybe you don't have anything to say but still want to have a voice. This is more like interior design than art.

[@freeslave1968]

Gibberish defines pretty much all of my songs....lol

[@djstuntel6026]

I know Ready but my Music Sounds corrupt gemaakt door iemand anders en daardoor kan ik er geen muziek van maken Het lukt me niet daardoor

[@theraiden1018]

First

[@MalikAmer87]

your videos are great but always tooooooo long , and you can easily make them shorter.

[@WillayG]

Or if he put time stamps in I think it'd be nice.

[@redspecial4102]

We found a love in a hopeless place & Repeat For....EVER. 🙄

[@noelhughes7635]

This video simply cannot work fo me. I need the words and I am lucky to have a large repertoire of lyrical poetry than on first reading I can hear the perfect music that converts the poem into a song. The poems I am referring to are now in the public domain. I am focusing on John Milington Synge who died in 1909 from cancer. His last poem made a beautiful song which I expect to record soon and publish on KZbin. This special ability came to me late in life.