How do you write your songs?

JohnnyQuid · 18-07-2009 9:45pm #1

Okay as the title sugests let's find out what way you go about writing your songs?

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

So,when/where/how do you write your songs?

brendansmith · 20-07-2009 7:31am

I set my alarm for 5 or 6 in the morning, get out of bed and pour a glass of wine.
I then meditate for about 20 to 30 minute until I can feel myself entering the zone, once im in the zone I retrieve my didgeridoo and cross strung harp from their resting place and let the songs ooze out of me.

Its so rewarding but also draining, sometimes after creating 2 or 3 masterpieces I will find myself waking up after 30 hours sleep.

Jessieannas · 01-08-2009 2:43am

JohnnyQuid wrote: »

Okay as the title sugests let's find out what way you go about writing your songs?

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

So,when/where/how do you write your songs?

Im the exact same as you! I usually just have ideas late at night before I fall asleep. Its 11 pm during school but now its summer Im up at 2 or 3am writing too. I just let everything flow from my mind onto my blog [would link but I've made it so only I can view it!]. I like to do the chords on my guitar during the day though, so I dont wake anyone up! Im at home all day on my own, so the guitar during the day is easy, but writing is still difficult.

JohnnyQuid · 01-08-2009 3:41pm

brendansmith wrote: »

I set my alarm for 5 or 6 in the morning, get out of bed and pour a glass of wine.
I then meditate for about 20 to 30 minute until I can feel myself entering the zone, once im in the zone I retrieve my didgeridoo and cross strung harp from their resting place and let the songs ooze out of me.

Its so rewarding but also draining, sometimes after creating 2 or 3 masterpieces I will find myself waking up after 30 hours sleep.

Wow thats very early for me,or late since thats the time I make it to bed some nights.Thanks for sharing.:D

Jessieannas wrote: »

Im the exact same as you! I usually just have ideas late at night before I fall asleep. Its 11 pm during school but now its summer Im up at 2 or 3am writing too. I just let everything flow from my mind onto my blog [would link but I've made it so only I can view it!]. I like to do the chords on my guitar during the day though, so I dont wake anyone up! Im at home all day on my own, so the guitar during the day is easy, but writing is still difficult.

Epic sweetness!I still haven't put any chords to my songs,but playing the guitar at night does get me in the mood to write.I find if I use my electric guitar and don't plug it in that I don't wake anybody up.Writing is very difficult as it's very hard to be original.Thanks for sharing.:D

Just while it's on my mind,does anyone find if they're listening to a certtain band when they're writing a song that it comes out sounding like something that band would write?

aido179 · 06-08-2009 10:18am

writting for me isn't much different.
my method (which isn't anything rock solid) goes something like this:
Play every song i know (or about 10 - 15 until i get into the groove)
Then mess about for a while, nothing very structured, anything goes.
eventually I find some nice chord progressions or picking patterns that are catchy.
next for me is simply humming along or singing complete rubbish* to get a melody.
then i flesh out lyrics as i go along with a pen and paper

*this can have hilarious results...especially when you sing random names of object about the room

Drodan · 10-08-2009 6:19am

I've started writing again now after about 4 years of not doing anything. I put a load of words, sentences and phrases down on paper that express what I'm looking to convey being totally honest with every word. Then start to play around with words to see how things could fit, get as much written as possible then re-write the crap out of it for days if not weeks. Just finished a first draft of a new one about an hour ago, can't be arsed to post it though yet, needs more work.

brendansmith · 10-08-2009 6:31am

Drodan wrote: »

I've started writing again now after about 4 years of not doing anything. I put a load of words, sentences and phrases down on paper that express what I'm looking to convey being totally honest with every word. Then start to play around with words to see how things could fit, get as much written as possible then re-write the crap out of it for days if not weeks. Just finished a first draft of a new one about an hour ago, can't be arsed to post it though yet, needs more work.

Lookin forward to it man.

Drodan · 10-08-2009 5:47pm

About two drafts in, it's on my myspace (i know I'me that cool) atm, just look for "orontias" and' you'll find it, it's the first one called "With This".

superdoor · 11-08-2009 12:01am

I once got talking to the great Josh Ritter and we started discussing song writing. His basic thing was not to think about it, but always make time to write....like whenever it comes to you stop what your doing and write it down, he had a great story about writing a song in an airport hiding under a stairs.
Ive always found its the best way to go about it? And sometimes it gets to the stage where you just cant help writing something.

brendansmith · 12-08-2009 12:48am

superdoor wrote: »

I once got talking to the great Josh Ritter and we started discussing song writing. His basic thing was not to think about it, but always make time to write....like whenever it comes to you stop what your doing and write it down, he had a great story about writing a song in an airport hiding under a stairs.
Ive always found its the best way to go about it? And sometimes it gets to the stage where you just cant help writing something.

So jealous man, he sounds awesome.

Anberlinfan · 13-08-2009 1:04pm

Whenever I get a song idea/ interesting lyric idea I generally just write it down or draft it in my phone and come back to it when I have time and my guitar.
I have at least 7 or eight ideas currently in my drafts folder.

Either that, or I just mess around on the guitar till I have an interesting chord progression and pick a theme and work from there.

ninwilky · 15-08-2009 12:19am

I dunno if this helps. ive tried writing stuff myself straight for songs and it always turns out as muck. recently i tried writing stuff [things im thinking about or whatever] into a paragraph or small story.

to be honest i hevent written anything yet cause i want to get help from an experienced song writer but looking over the paragraph i think i can get a fairly decent song out of it. cause now instead of trying to think about what to write ive now written everything so all i have to do is pluck out the sentences and jig them a little to fit in

Sútalún · 17-08-2009 11:06pm

Anberlinfan wrote: »

Whenever I get a song idea/ interesting lyric idea I generally just write it down or draft it in my phone and come back to it when I have time and my guitar.
I have at least 7 or eight ideas currently in my drafts folder.

Exactly like me! Just lost my phone though..

Had over 100 drafts in it! Most of the good ones were written down thanfully.

Thefirestarter · 28-08-2009 11:13pm

I do the exact same myself, if sometime comes into my head its straight into the phone:D although, at the moment, i don't think any of my stuff would be up to scratch:p

stone roses · 29-08-2009 5:29pm

i could be on the jacks when a song hits me has happen befour but they were **** songs lol :-)

but all jokes aside i could be anywere when my mind goes into overdrive and a beat or a tune just floats into my nut and i thinks that sounds deadly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i have a good few songs and am doing a demo soon
i lets yous all here it songs for the soul!! :-0

Black Thorn · 18-09-2009 12:01pm

JohnnyQuid wrote: »

Okay as the title sugests let's find out what way you go about writing your songs?

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

So,when/where/how do you write your songs?

I used to be the same but these days life gets in the way of such things. I now write down every little idea I have during the day or record them if the area suits and then try and put them together later. I have difficulty writing interesting music however as I'm a limited instrumentalist but do try. I have also found most of my lyrics now are about adult situations...I think I know what is on my mind as the day goes along....

Mickarooney · 20-10-2009 9:34am

I find that there isnt a set method of writing a song.
I have found though that faster songs tend to come from jamming with a full band.
Slow songs tend to come easier when your with your acoustic or piano.
I find that using software like EZ drummer or any sw that you can just get a drum beat going on and then jam along to really helps.
I think its not really about sitting down and starting to write but more about generating the spark.
Those are some of the ways I generate the spark.... hope that doesnt sound too naff.

sponsoredwalk · 21-10-2009 2:53pm

Writing songs, hmm...
Well, for me it's a very *uc*ed-up process in that I'll make up a riff on guitar, something I love and can't forget and then I'll leave it to germinate in my head for 6 months and will never find a chorus or a vocal melody. I never seem to find a way to complement something that I've already loved, like nothing that's good enough to stand against some magical riff.

I have 17 songs after 8 years, and some still aren't finished. Still trying to find those little notes of completion. It's very true when people say that a song just happens, it comes to you in a moment of inspiration. I find that you can't control when it happens and that your really at the mercy of the cosmic-orchestra/synapse-regulation lol.

Always good to write a lot of junk songs however, the millisecond that's good in each of them eventually ends up in the one good song you've written, consciously or unconsciously.

JohnnyIrvine666 · 21-10-2009 10:37pm

When I'm least thinking about it... I've come up with lines and riffs in the shower or listening to the beat of a car engine or just puking my guts out in a toilet (not so proud o that last 1 though tehe)

"Songs come from anywhere. You experience everything as you live.... If you have imagination, the songs just come."

-Jimi Hendrix

xprepairs · 23-10-2009 3:37am

I have played music professionally for many years. i have written some songs also. My ideas come at any time of the day or night. I just stop what I'm doing and write out the lyrics as well as the chords to the song as they both seem to appear at the same time. If I'm lucky enough to be near a recorder of any kind I immediately play and sing the idea on tape.

I have had times when I worked a day job, idea came up and I ran for the washroom and started writing on tissue paper or whatever I had handy with me at the time.
There's really no rhyme or reason, the ideas just come up real fast.
Music is my first love and I still perform weekly as a solo after all these years.

lil_lisa · 01-11-2009 6:39pm

Does anyone else ever feel like they're lyrics are pathetic when they write songs? I can get good tunes and good subjects for my songs but when it comes to the actual lyrics, I'm desperate!

Black Thorn · 01-11-2009 11:20pm

lil_lisa wrote: »

Does anyone else ever feel like they're lyrics are pathetic when they write songs? I can get good tunes and good subjects for my songs but when it comes to the actual lyrics, I'm desperate!

Yeah, I get that a lot which then leads to serious writers block. Have it at the mo actually. The problem is just overly judging yourself. You need to keep in mind the start is just that and the more the lyrics annoy you it will drive you to improve them. Well that is the theory anyway

Drodan · 02-11-2009 4:05am

Think I've actually got only two decent lyrics written in the past four months, which I'm open to people tearing apart btw.

What I did recently was to forget the whole working off personal experience stuff and pick a specific thing or story to right on and the possible alternative perspectives, which can result in total p*ss most of the time.

My main problem is finishing lyrics, I get distracted with new ones half way through so i've like 6/7 half songs about the place.

lil_lisa · 02-11-2009 6:45pm

You took the words from my mouth. Its like, sometimes you think of a perfect matter or experience to sing about, you get the tune right, but as you try to explain your thoughts in lyrics, they only go so far, you get mumbled up in your own stuff and your ideas trip over themselves until you have to give up and move onto something else!

Morzadec · 03-11-2009 2:14am

lil_lisa wrote: »

You took the words from my mouth. Its like, sometimes you think of a perfect matter or experience to sing about, you get the tune right, but as you try to explain your thoughts in lyrics, they only go so far, you get mumbled up in your own stuff and your ideas trip over themselves until you have to give up and move onto something else!

Really struggling with this at the moment. Maybe too self-critical as I feel I can come up with some good stuff.

Often though my lyrics will either be ridiculously vague to the point where they're not about much, or about stuff that seems too personal that it seems a bit cringy when reading back. It's hard to find the balance!

Also most of my songs/lyrics end up being quite depressing. I think I would find it very difficult to write a good song that wasn't in some melancholy. Anyone else have this problem?

lil_lisa · 03-11-2009 3:10pm

Yeah like you wanna sing about a bad breakup or relationship and you end up either giving the title as that person's name and PPS number or you can't even get the point across that you had a relationship!

I find that if I write songs in the morning they usually turn out quite cheerful but then later in the evening they become depressing or quite serious!

Morzadec · 04-11-2009 1:49pm

lil_lisa wrote: »

Yeah like you wanna sing about a bad breakup or relationship and you end up either giving the title as that person's name and PPS number or you can't even get the point across that you had a relationship!

I find that if I write songs in the morning they usually turn out quite cheerful but then later in the evening they become depressing or quite serious!

Lol.

Hmm well I only ever try to write songs late at night as its the only time I'll be undisturbed, maybe this is the problem!

loc5 · 04-11-2009 6:15pm

a good idea is to read poetry i know it sounds boring and odd but most poems are really song lyics unless their off the wall altthogether.
also never and i mean never forget the importance of assenance and recuring complemtery vowels
if your stuck try the news papers soft focus interviews of tragidys for ballads
crime storys for crime story songs and interviews with writers for deep meaning stuff just cut and paste good sounding quotes and play around with the words

eg "i find i write better at night"
you found worse on flight
they sound best in fight

now mess around interchanging various words and add/take away words that work paying attention to how they sound for clues to an aire eg
try a base drum beat for the first 2 like "night/boom", "flight/boom" and then a cymbal for the fight- "fight/tiiisshhh"
hope some of this helps

class1comp · 07-11-2009 10:04pm

loc5 wrote: »

now mess around interchanging various words and add/take away words that work paying attention to how they sound for clues to an aire eg
try a base drum beat for the first 2 like "night/boom", "flight/boom" and then a cymbal for the fight- "fight/tiiisshhh"
hope some of this helps

I am starting to have doubts about even starting!

BLITZ_Molloy · 08-11-2009 8:17pm

I write phrases into my phone. They might be funny things I heard people say or stuff that just comes to me. When i'm bored waiting for buses I tend to think of good stuff. Then I sit down after I've got about 20 of them and stitch them all together.

lil_lisa · 09-11-2009 6:37pm

That's a good idea! I'm gonna try that!

Morzadec · 11-11-2009 1:23am

Just stumbled on a practical tip that potentially might help some.

Try walking around a room while playing/singing any new song you might be coming up with. You know like when people pace round a room when they're looking for ideas? Well like this, except with a guitar!

loc5 · 15-11-2009 7:49pm

class1comp wrote: »

I am starting to have doubts about even starting!

haha ok so not the most cleverest post of the month but hey you did ask:D

Prof.Badass · 13-12-2009 5:51pm

I just mess around on guitar/piano untill i come up with something i like. If it's good enough to consider building on I'll start improvising a vocal melody, playing the verse over and over again trying to improve the vocal melody. If I'm finding this especially hard i might stop and think about it coldly and clinically to work out something that should fit. It's not as fun, and i don't do it that often, but when it works and you manage to turn it into a good melody it's pretty amazing.

Then I'll record it on my phone and posisbly come back to it at a later date. Lyrics usually flesh themselves out over time. Actually sitting down and properly writing lyrics doesn't really appeal to me.

Fabo · 27-12-2009 6:14pm

it depends what kind of song you wanna write. 95% of modern music would be fairly easy to write, boring MOR stuff...anyone can write that. i spend my songwriting time trying to write something catchy, that grabs you by the goulies e.g. a gimme shelter, or a rain and of course that is original. I have 2 songs that seem to fit that category, the MOR stuff that comes out gets thrown in the bin and then ive about 5 songs that have something interesting going on and need a bit more work.

i find you have to be in a really relaxed mood to write good tunes. often times when you give up on trying to find one.

anotherson · 06-01-2010 9:14pm

Hey, enjoying this thread guys!
I think one of the most important things is trying to see through a song, like I've probably started 100's of songs, worked on a good few, really stuck it at with a dozen or so, and finished a handful. But the amount of songs that I started, got stuck on, and then never came back too....criminal! :mad:.

Now, I try to record (on my phone, laptop, on a notepad...) as many as a I can, I stash em in a basket in my room, and then i just put a yellow highlighter to the top of the page if I ve come back once and i'm making progress, which i'll add a greeen stroke to if i've had another good sesssion workin on and adding to it...weird structure and method I know, but you start to see progress and not just a pile of songs going nowhere. Hope this helps

Drodan · 07-01-2010 3:13am

I dunno if anyone else is doing this but I seem to try WAY to hard to make each line perfect and mesh into eachother. It's like I'm trying to right these amazing lyrics with little thought going into the music and it's becoming really frigging difficult to get anything good.

Black Thorn · 07-01-2010 2:02pm

I like that highlighter method. I have them on a note on my phone which I work on, I also have bits of ideas on it and then when I am on the computer I put them together as best I can (though I still find the best results come with a pen and scrap of paper, more natural maybe) though I did have a huge mound of songs till yesterday when I went through them, took out the unused and forgotten ideas and burned the rest, yes BURNED!!!!! well it was cold...

macgyver_ninja · 07-01-2010 10:21pm

I find that when I write a song it generally just all comes to me at once. I sit down and sometimes I'll write two or maybe three songs in a row. Though generally only one is any good. I generally have two problems though when I write:

Being a limited guitarist, I find I'm not very good at providing any interludes in the songs and then they always come out as too short when recorded
My songs when put to music sometimes sound like something else which sucks because that chord progression would be perfect for the song and I can never come up with anything else. I don't purposefully plagiarize, but they always come out sounding like that

h_tynan · 17-01-2010 11:31pm

Morzadec wrote: »

Just stumbled on a practical tip that potentially might help some.

Try walking around a room while playing/singing any new song you might be coming up with. You know like when people pace round a room when they're looking for ideas? Well like this, except with a guitar!

Cool, I also sometimes sit upside down on an armchair and strum the guitar and find it often helps me with breakthroughs

Fabo · 19-01-2010 2:42pm

I tend to find banging my head against the wall gives me inspiration.

Leftyflip · 29-01-2010 3:36am

For me songwriting is something that I have to feel, I can only write about what I know, doesn't matter what it is, pain, happiness, shock, etc. If I get stuck in an emotion I'll write about it. The last three songs I wrote are all about one feeling and how it's evolved. After I have the lyrics down, I listen to loads of songs over and over again looking for a sound that stands out, then when I find that sound, I turn it into something of my own and it usually has nothing similar to the original sound.

Octobrist · 03-02-2010 8:29pm

I find that when youre writing a song and you start to think its ****e cos youve heard it so many times, singing it in a nick cave style voice renews the confidence.
The man could sing absolute bollocks and still sound like a prophet!

lil_lisa · 03-02-2010 9:12pm

ha ha, must try that!

Jabel · 13-02-2010 1:37pm

Inspiration is an intangible thing unfortunately.
You don't know when it will visit you next, but
just hope and pray she does...

"A chance remark becomes a spark
and maybe luck has come again"
Neil Finn

lil_lisa · 18-02-2010 11:01pm

In my experience there are a lot of things I know to have inspired me. For example, having moved from wet Ireland to sunny California, if I sit out in the sun for 15 minutes (any longer will cause sunburn) my heart fills up with inspiration and joy and so I can write something, it may not be any good but if I'm not inspired the page stays blank. Other things like cleaning or listening to those songs which sometimes feel like they were written only for you, these things make it easier to come up with songs. This is how I've been inspired so far!

DubzSon · 02-03-2010 1:05am

JohnnyQuid wrote: »

I'll start,I only recently started songwriting so I'm not very good at it yet but what I like to do is write at night,like maybe 2 or 3am in the morning.I feel,for me,it's a lot easier to write songs at these times because I have trouble sleeping with all the thoughts running through my head,so I just put pen to paper.It's more easier than writing during the day aswell because there are less distractions.

I'm exactly the same! I write them in all hours of the morning, when you'd think that would be the last time a songwriter gets inspiration. But anyways, I just get a line or two and write them down, when they come to me and take it from there. It works for me, so I just do it that way.

Vevadox · 14-03-2010 3:09am

I have 212 Pink Floyd songs on my iPod... some of them live so I would probly have the some songs 2 times. I'd love to ask Gilmour how he wrote them...

cHaTbOx · 15-04-2010 3:31am

From my heart and thoughts and by listening to how others have wrote from their hearts and thoughts .

JohnnyQuid · 18-04-2010 6:15pm

I've noticed in the last while that i'm not writing them at night anymore.Anymore when a something comes to me i write it down,it's better this way as if i had waited til night time i would have forgotten it.

I've recently started messing round with my guitar and coming up with these melodies i'd never think I could have done.Also jamming with friends or with your band really helps as you just go with the flow.

How do you write your songs?

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