Writing A Great Song!

MessiahMan

Im a songwriter and im in a band.Ive written about 30 originals and play dem wit my band at gigs!Alot ppl say dey rely like them....I was wondering with the rest of ye....Do u know when u have written a great song....Did page know when he wrote stairway to heaven that..."Oh this is going to make millions" or did he just think of it as another song!Share your thoughts

John

I don't know, sometimes you hear people say "I always knew it'd be a hit" and other times bands talk about how they weren't going to include a song on their album but the response they got from gigs was incredible. I don't think anything I write will make millions but I hope someday it'll make some people happy and want to make music of their own.

Doctor J

I once had Mundy sing "Chocolate Is My Friend" to me in the jacks of the Mean Fiddler

I think sometimes it's hard to know when you've written a good song. One song I wrote years ago is universally lauded by my friends but I think it's just meh. Some songs I absolutely adore are loathed by my friends. Either way, get them recorded and pimp them, just follow the link below.


Anyway, this is more of a bands/musicians topic so heeeeeeeyup (sound of movement to another forum)

LundiMardi

Yeah there is stuff that i wrote that i don't really like to be honest, but when other people here em they think that it's cool!!

so i dunno, that's one of the reasons why i feel sorry for people like plant, page and co, because they never get to experience their own music like we do.

Chardee MacDennis

well i have heard a few bands go on about these things. take U2 they had their album done about 2/3 years ago but the "werent feeling it" and then the rewrote the whole thing and they talk about songs like sometimes you cant make it on your own they said it just felt right. Even when they tlak about one they said they heard edge play the riff while jamming at everyones jaw just dropped.

most bands say they felt something special when theyve written a good song but you never know!!! i know anything i write just feels like crap, so i would guess more often than not it is!!!

Fusion251

MessiahMan wrote:

Im a songwriter and im in a band.Ive written about 30 originals and play dem wit my band at gigs!Alot ppl say dey rely like them....I was wondering with the rest of ye....Do u know when u have written a great song....Did page know when he wrote stairway to heaven that..."Oh this is going to make millions" or did he just think of it as another song!Share your thoughts

I don't reckon that anyone knows instantly if they've written a "hit" I think that the way a song is performed can be a big factor in this as well. What I mean is, if you write a song and it's "meh" to quote Dr. J but then really get into the song and find a way to help you perform the "meh" song with some sort of purpose and gusto then I can turn out to be quite good.

Sure check out Oasis, on their new album, dunno what the song is but the start sounds like Golden Brown to me. They just take stuff that's already good and that has already been recognised as being good and steal it mess around with it a bit, add the attitude of "It's my f*#kin song and that's it" and there we go and album of instant hits just add water.

Yeah so eh that was a bit of a ramble..but I think I have a valid point in there omewhere.

Fusion
:cool:

spooydermot

theres occassionally the moment when you know you've got something worthwhile, you usually know by the first verse.

In my experience your best songs usually come when the music and lyrics are done together, i find it very hard to piece lyrics with music later on....

ven0m

I've written over 200 original tracks over the past 7 years & while I'd consider each one an achievement - I find myself every so often writing what I consider my best track only to find myself at some stage surpassing that hugely down the line. I find writing an evolutionary process..... also when you're your own worst enemy when it comes to giving yourself harsh criticism, you find you always want to write something better & you keep going writing more & more until you think you've done that, until you then write something else better..... vicious circle....


::: ven0mous :::

BossArky

Personaly I find that spending ages working on a song and lyrics drains the energy ... so that when you finally finish it you are so sick of hearing it that you don't want to play it anymore. Best to grab the inspiration and finish the song off as quickly as possible. I usually find that if I start off with decent lyrics I have more motivation for coming up with riffs... don't like starting music and fitting lyrics over it.

Fusion, yes I thought the same thing about that Oasis song, hilarious. I read somewhere that Noel Gallagher reckons he wrote the lot of Champagne Supernova in 15 to 20 minutes..lyrics and the 5 or 6 chords. There is an example of efficiency! On the other end... James Hethfield was so sick of hearing the Black Album for months that he just wanted to release it and get it out of the studio.

Writing a hit probably works along the lines of having a decent musical riff / melody for the intro and verse.... keep the music simple on the chorus and let the vocals carry with a good melody / lyric. Add optional bridge and shift up a key at the end i.e. Living on a Prayers. Bingo!

edit: and something like 120 bpm for radio play is a speed limit?

tolosenc

I remember hearing Slash say he hated Sweet Child O' Mine and it turned out to Guns n' Roses biggest hit