Lyric Structure

[Lee Knight]

(Once again, I'm not pretending these are my ideas. These ideas are lifted from Pat Pattison)

 

Lyric structure. Like... rhyme scheme. abab

 

Bob's got a cool car (a)

It can haul some freakin' ass (b)

In this small town that makes him a star (a)

Making out with cheerleaders behind tinted glass (b)

 

I can't blame Pattison for that ^ though. Sorry. Anyway, rhyme scheme is abab. Right? OK! It could be axaa too...

 

Bob's got a cool car (a)

It can haul some freakin' ass (x)

In this small town that makes him a star (a)

Making out with sluts, you know who you are (a)

 

It could be anything. Couplets. It's where we begin. And sometimes we just sort of leave it there too. 1234. Back to that later. So we've got our rhyme scheme.

 

What about counting syllables? You can. A lot of great writers do. Or you can count stresses.

 

Bob's' got' a cool' car' (a) 4

It can haul' some freak'in' ass'(b) 3

In this'small town' that makes' him a star' (a) 4

Making out' with cheer'leaders behind'tinted glass'(b) 4

 

So we've got:

a 4

b 3

a 4

b 4

 

Easy to keep track of for next verse. Easy to see how boring our structure can be. Why not rearrange couplets into larger units? Check this out... Leonard Cohen's Closing Time. I'll note the rhyme scheme, it's complicated anough...

 

Well we're drinking and we're dancing (a)

And the band is really happening (a)

and the Johnny Walker Wisdom's running high (b)

And my very sweet companion (a)

She's the angel of compassion (a)

And she's rubbing half the world against her thigh (b)

 

That's so cool. aabaab. Two short lines, one long line. Repeat. Great lines, interesting structure. What a potent combo. But wait...

 

Every drinker every dancer ©

Lifts a happy face to thank her ©

And the fiddler fiddles something so sublime (b)

 

Now we're so ready. We know the structure. We get it. We're going to rhyme with sublime in 3 lines. Right?

 

All the women tear their blouses off (d)

And the men they dance on polka dots (d)

 

right? Sublime rhyme...

 

It's partner found and it's partner lost (d) ????

 

Oh, he's delaying it, cool now I'm ready...

 

And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops (d) holy crap. this is getting uncomfortable

 

It's closing time (b) Whew.

 

Well we're drinking and we're dancing (a)

And the band is really happening (a)

and the Johnny Walker Wisdom's running high (b)

And my very sweet companion (a)

She's the angel of compassion (a)

And she's rubbing half the world against her thigh (b)

Every drinker every dancer ©

Lifts a happy face to thank her ©

And the fiddler fiddles something so sublime (b)

All the women tear their blouses off (d)

And the men they dance on polka dots (d)

It's partner found and it's partner lost (d)

And it's hell to pay when the fiddler stops (d)

It's closing time (b)

 

 

 

The breaking from standard couplet to acclimate you to something new. A fresh pattern, only to bend it later to further a lyric.

 

Cohen's not very great, is he?

[blue2blue]

Some of those rhymes aren't near, half, or slant rhymes so much as impossible reach rhymes.

[LeonardScaper]

You know, Lee, I love where you take me with this stuff. Seriously.

 

All the songs I've come up with over the years.....I have never give a moments thought to structure.

 

So....yer schoolin' me, man. Where were you 35 years ago? if I had known this stuff back then, well, I coulda been a contender.

[Lee Knight]

You know, Lee, I love where you take me with this stuff. Seriously. All the songs I've come up with over the years.....I have never give a moments thought to structure. So....yer schoolin' me, man. Where were you 35 years ago? if I had known this stuff back then, well, I coulda been a contender .

 

I am schooling myself and sharing the experience.

[Ontological]

I'm glad somebody can explain it. That's probably why I don't give much advice 'round here. I can write an ok song but couldn't tell you why or how it worked. Not to the degree that some on this board can. Nice analysis. I do like to mix it up a bit as well. I remember there was a challenge on here to write a song with no rhyme at all. I should try that one day.

[Cliftonb]

I've never analyzed songs before. Lyrics or song structure. I wouldn't know were to begin since all the interweaving nuances that ultimately give great music it's "thing" are shifting and morphing so quickly and aren't readily definable. Breaking music down, prism-like, and observing a few static elements would make me feel like I'm missing the bigger picture. All the music I listen to runs the gamut of caressing my very soul, to tickling my brain-meats, to giving me a punch to the gut - and everything in between. I've taken all this stuff over the years and developed a sort of intuition on what sounds good.

 

I know there are an infinite number of ways to go about learning and developing as an artist and writer, and I'm well aware that the whole "visceral gut instinct" thing may prove to be my downfall in time.

[Monkey Uncle]

You know, Lee, I love where you take me with this stuff. Seriously. All the songs I've come up with over the years.....I have never give a moments thought to structure. So....yer schoolin' me, man. Where were you 35 years ago? if I had known this stuff back then, well, I coulda been a contender .

 

Maybe you're better off not paying attention. I often let inspiration guide me through an initial verse. Then I sit back and notice that the verse has a particular structure in terms of rhyme and syllable stresses. Oh {censored}, now I have to come up with two more verses that match that structure, plus a chorus and bridge that use different structures! Inspiration killed. Maybe that's part of why I stew over songs for months at a time.

[Lee Knight]

...I sit back and notice that the verse has a particular structure in terms of rhyme and syllable stresses. Oh {censored}, now I have to come up with two more verses that match that structure, plus a chorus and bridge that use different structures! Inspiration killed.

 

Everybody's different, for sure. There is no one way to think about it or to implement it. Intuition is based on experience. Sort of analysis though osmosis. So yeah, analyzing for some absolutely puts the brakes on. That's cool, you either keep analyzing to get comfortable with it or not and let the "muses" do their thing. I'm a card carrying member of both clubs.

 

But I will say... for me... structure sparks my imagination. I don't feel it binding in the least. I see opportunity in structure. It gets me coming up with 4 or 5 different ideas that fit the structure... and I try them all on and... bam... something sticks.

 

So, it's not for everybody and that's cool. I think it helps to realize that you don't go into creating something with a structure in mind. You can, but... that's kinda stodgy. But to just blast and spew and purge ideas without any concern of structure is... fanfreakingtastic! Let it happen. Then... later... you can go into analysis mode and pick out some structure peeking though. That's being suggested serendipitously. And play with it cause you see it and feel it's power. How does an abab feel different from a xxaa? How does a short line at the end of a 4 line verse feel? Compared to those 3 previous longer lines?

 

I saw her walking in the field across the street

Cut off denim shorts and bared feet

This is the girl that'll make my life complete

Isn't it

 

That 4th, shorter line begs to go forward. It says, there's more! And it pulls us either into the big chorus and another 4 bars of the same that maybe alter and morph in some interesting way to push the lyric. That last line doesn't rhyme either. Will it rhyme with the next sections last line? As a listener we're already wondering subconsciously. We detect patterns.

 

I certainly can't do that as I'm purging. But I love to do that after the blast of ideas make a Rorschach of my page. I get to go in a clean it up and really make it a grasshopper instead of some ink that resembles one. Sort of. Accidentally.

 

[blue2blue]

You know, Lee, I love where you take me with this stuff. Seriously. All the songs I've come up with over the years.....I have never give a moments thought to structure. So....yer schoolin' me, man. Where were you 35 years ago? if I had known this stuff back then, well, I coulda been a contender .

I don't want to embarrass LK, but he's truly an extraordinarily valuable asset to the forum community. And a heck of a nice guy.

[rsadasiv]

I don't want to embarrass LK, but he's truly an extraordinarily valuable asset to the forum community. And a heck of a nice guy.

 

+1

[Lee Knight]

Once upon a time You dressed so fine Threw the bums a dime In your prime Didn't you? +1

 

[rsadasiv]

 

Once upon a time You dressed so fine Threw the bums a dime In your prime Didn't you?

 

 

This kind of ties into the Song Structure - how do you align the lyrical line with the melodic line? There's a big chunk of space at the end of the lyrical line, which gives Robbie, Garth, Richard and Bob himself an opportunity to step out instrumentally without breaking the overall song structure.

 

[video=youtube;80qUn5_E3xc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=80qUn5_E3xc