Easy Guide To Knowing What To Say

First off, I wrote this lesson at age 14.5, so I haven't been in college or a big poetry club, but I listen to a lot of DragonForce (even before Guitar Hero, since 2006), which happens to have great deep lyrics.

Now, onto the lesson:

To start, I'll go with the one type of lyrics most of you are probably looking for: Metaphors and Expressions. Surely you may take metaphors that already exist, but it gives you an extra score if you ignite the inner Shakespeare within you. For example, I'll take DF's Fury Of The Storm. Here's a small yet packed bit of the lyrics:

"Here we are the chosen ones we can not fail now"
"Spilling all the blood on the fires below"
"Smashing through the boundaries with the fire and fury"
"Killing all the mortals down the winding road"

To most people this is considered utter nonsense, but allow me to decipher:

"We're the greatest soldiers and if we lose this battle, we're in trouble"
"Sending evil down to Hell"
"We'll keep walking through dangers and hazards no matter what"
"Killing all those who try to stop us from achieving our goal"

Note: DF is very fantasy-like to those who don't know who they are, but they sure kick donkey! (real word censored for the sake of sensitive people)

Back to the subject. I'll take an example for a song you'd write; one about the world belonging to Satan, no one can help it, something very Led Zepplin-Stairway to Heaven oriented. We can say the following:

"Tendrills of darkness crushing bones of my body"
"This wolrd ain't big enough for two arch-enemies"
"To save this world, let's pray to God oh please"
"For that damn evil to freakin' leave us be"

What I just improvised is the following:

"I can't take any more evil"
"Evil and good cannot be together"
"Let's just hope"
"That Satan will retire"

Try using Microsoft word to look for synonyms really quickly. Use different words than the one you want that doesn't rhyme or equalize in time to the previous verse. Moving on to the section that most of you calm-musicians prefer.

Calm music played on acoustic or classical guitar mixed with lyrics is, in my opinion, the best way to start off. That's how I did it. My reasons:

No need of a metronome (unless you're hopeless), easier to sing because song is not too fast, good start if you're willing to go into electric guitarism, lyrics tend to be more artistic. Here's the first stanza from Stairway to Heaven:

"There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold"
"And she's buying a stairway to heaven"
"When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed"
"With a word she can get what she came for"
"Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven"

Very artistic. Jimmy did a good job on this one (Satanist? ). Sure, if Tommy Riviera is reading this he may shut his internet browser off safely because he knows all about playing acoustic guitar. For those guys trying to get a mate, write love songs for them (sorry, can't help you there).

Final section: Approval.

I wrote in my sketchbook a few months ago a song named "I'm Superman" with lyrics like the following:

"Travellin' at the speed of sound"
"I am a Super Man 'cause I foil evil plans"
"I can save the whole world from the Armageddon War"
"And by the end of the day I expected more"
"You may ask how it's like to have fame"
"So take yourself a seat and I will explain"
"When I save the day everyone is safe and they all yell:"
"YOHAY!"
[... ]
(Refrain)"Superman, I'm Superman, I'm Superman, I'm Superman" x3

My friend read the whole lyrics of the song I might not complete due to the fact I want my music DF-styled and he thought it was "powerful" (yet I didn't ask him to look, he just asked if he could). If on the first shot your lyrics are considered bad, look for another judge and if results are the same, edit the "bad" parts. Well, I said pretty much the most I could. This was Joel C. (Wolfinator) from Maelstrom.

Comments

[Mr.Tea]

Dragonforce...awesome.... you're on crack!!

[Mr.Tea]

forgot to sy that lyrics are for personal interpretation. they can mean whatever you want them to mean.

[Echoplex]

Lol, but this is better than the guide to death metal

[Blas3]

After the first paragraph I laughed out so loud my neighboors woke up XD

[Kuestionmark]

Awesome

[simonzwaan]

Dude, Dragonforce may have some awesome guitar skills but its just mindless soloing, wheres the phrasing ?
and their lyrics are not even comparable to Led Zeppelins. All it does is make me wanna break every World of Warcraft game in the world.

Good Effort tho.

[punk2k6]

"Travellin' at the speed of sound"
"I am a Super Man 'cause I foil evil plans"
"I can save the whole world from the Armageddon War"
"And by the end of the day I expected more"
"You may ask how it's like to have fame"
"So take yourself a seat and I will explain"
"When I save the day everyone is safe and they all yell:"
"YOHAY!"
[... ]
(Refrain)"Superman, I'm Superman, I'm Superman, I'm Superman" x3

haha quality!

[Wolfinator-x]

Blas3 wrote:

After the first paragraph I laughed out so loud my neighboors woke up XD

Is that good or not? Lolzors.

[dave742]

dragonforce? deep lyrics? dude...

[countrygal17]

i though your lyrics were really nice, i write music myself, thanx for the lesson.

[Wolfinator-x]

dave742 wrote:

dragonforce? deep lyrics? dude...

not deep, just awesome. I wrote this a long time ago.

[Wolfinator-x]

countrygal17 wrote:

i though your lyrics were really nice, i write music myself, thanx for the lesson.

Thanks for your opinion.

Another lesson should be out soon.

Checked

[NYGuitarGuy]

Do your thing man. Dont let these people bring ya down.

[Doc_ZuZu]

Wolfinator, **** all these people who dogged ya. that lesson was well written and helpful. amazing it was done at 14.5. one person did mention that music is interpretted differently. this is true. but i give my kudos \,,/

[Wolfinator-x]

Doc_ZuZu wrote:

Wolfinator, **** all these people who dogged ya. that lesson was well written and helpful. amazing it was done at 14.5. one person did mention that music is interpretted differently. this is true. but i give my kudos \,,/

Thank you.
You deserve a cookie.

[ALeMmjon]

...

[Punkrokkboi]

i want a cookie too. >

[WodS]

Lesson was short, but covered good basic facts about writing songs. You really don't have to follow poetry clubs or go to college like you wrote in your OP, but the fantasy-lyrics you quote, won't really bother most people above the age of 15 (unless they play WoW or are fanatic Gothics). Put in some real life lyrics, so more people can relate to this lesson.

Anyway, great effort and thumbs up for the lesson!

[cdb997]

hello

[Wolfinator-x]

Punkrokkboi wrote:

i want a cookie too. >

You can have one too

[Wolfinator-x]

WodS wrote:

Lesson was short, but covered good basic facts about writing songs. You really don't have to follow poetry clubs or go to college like you wrote in your OP, but the fantasy-lyrics you quote, won't really bother most people above the age of 15 (unless they play WoW or are fanatic Gothics). Put in some real life lyrics, so more people can relate to this lesson.

Anyway, great effort and thumbs up for the lesson!

Thanks alot!

[TravuhsWree]

Wow, that really sucked... none of this helps anyone, you kind of suck at this.

[gyrojones]

dude we dont wanna write gay metal lyrics about demons, fire, hell n evil that mean nothing. dragonforce are gay

[acousticspaz]

metal lyrics arent always about all of that

gyrojones wrote:

dude we dont wanna write gay metal lyrics about demons, fire, hell n evil that mean nothing. dragonforce are gay

[fingersofflame]

Mr.Tea wrote:

forgot to sy that lyrics are for personal interpretation. they can mean whatever you want them to mean.

You know, I really have to strongly disagree with that...I mean lyrics are definitely open to interpretation, but if your interpretation is completely unfounded then it's total bullshit. I mean take a look at Nirvana's lyrics. Take the song Come As You Are:
Come, as you are. As you were.
As I want you to be. As a friend.
As a friend. As an old enemy. Take your time.
Hurry up. The choice is yours. Don't be late.
Take a rest. As a friend. As a old memoria.[x4]
Come. Dowsed in mud. Soaked in bleach.
As I want you to be. As a trend. As a friend.
As an old memoria. [x4]

And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No I don't have a gun. x2

Memoria. [x4] (don't have a gun).

And I swear that I don't have a gun.
No I don't have a gun. x4
Memoria, memoria...

This song right here is essentially Cobain asking someone(COURTNEY LOVE) why she's treating him this way. He takes her as she is(come as you are, etc.), yet she continually distances herself from him, as though she's afraid(and I swear that I don't have a gun.)

This is based off of 1) Cobain's life 2) using my ****ing brain. Most songs that actually have something of value to say really aren't open for 100% interpretation, in the sense that it can mean whatever the **** you want it to mean. That's an ignorant idea so that people can listen to shitty over produced plastic songs about vague pain and sit there rambling about how this song defines them...gimme a ****ing break.

[fingersofflame]

Oh, nice lesson btw Wolfinator, gave it 10, half because I liked it and half just to spite the people that bombed on you ^_^

[coolmanjack1995]

i just want to ask how is Jimmy Page a satanist?

[tteksarbttam]

Dragonforce is the worst!

[SamboSkull]

but I listen to a lot of DragonForce (even before Guitar Hero, since 2006), which happens to have great deep lyrics.

I almost stopped reading there, and that set the tone for pretty much the whole article.

[MeltingWaxFace]

:facepalm:

[muxthebest]

lol dragonforce

[Kill_em_all8]

surely the author is taking the piss? this is a joke. Dragonforce suck ass. Text book for writing lyrics, you have got to be kidding. its a sad sad day.

[Kill_em_all8]

by the way, i showed this to Lars and he said "this is some nutty shit".

[captcool]

Cool dude

[rosew/100thorns]

Isn't Jimmy Pagan? I coulda sworn he was Pagan.
btw Dragonforce has wicked guitar. There okay. U keep rockin, your on your way.

[Wolfinator-x]

rosew/100thorns wrote:

Isn't Jimmy Pagan? I coulda sworn he was Pagan.
btw Dragonforce has wicked guitar. There okay. U keep rockin, your on your way.

I'm not sure anymore, all I know is he wasn't Christian.

[scallaway12]

"im 14.5" hahahahh

dude this is an awful guide.

[masterofkittens]

Well...hey it helped me and dragon force is deep sometimes

[Donriguz]

Lyrics can mean whatever you want them to mean; unless, of course, you have decided for yourself that you will no longer be an individual, and will devour any shit that's handed to you. To be an artist you must be creative. Creativity is not something someone can give you; it is something that you make for yourself. The guide covered the basics, so you get a 7 from me. I think the lyrics are a little generic, though, but now that your older you should deepen them, so that they are not as empty as they sound. Just some critisism so you can get better. Thanks.

[Sjuninho]

Most songs that actually have something of value to say really aren't open for 100% interpretation, in the sense that it can mean whatever the **** you want it to mean. That's an ignorant idea so that people can listen to shitty over produced plastic songs about vague pain and sit there rambling about how this song defines them...gimme a ****ing break.

So are you saying that you can't interpret songs who have a meaning to the writer? I would say that THAT'S pretty ignorant. Of course you can interpret every song out there. If the writers didn't want people to interpret their songs, they wouldn't use metaphors and such as much as they do. But I agree that some, not most, songs shouldn't be stripped from the real message. But interpretation is a vital part of music.

[sfaune92]

okay lesson... but i'm still not learning

and btw.... the lyrics have to man something for the listener aswell as the writer. It only means the same if you are in same situation as the writer

[sfaune92]

*mean

[madin1991]

dragonforce!!!lol

[danny_page123]

dragonforces lyrics are like this :

"gonna kill some hell faires
flying through hell yeah!
fires and flames destroy the love
of dragonforce!"

i could pull better lyrics out my ass!

[masterofkittens]

dragonforces lyrics are like this :

"gonna kill some hell faires
flying through hell yeah!
fires and flames destroy the love
of dragonforce!"

i could pull better lyrics out my ass!

is that wha t they really say?
nevermind dragon force is never deep as oppsoe to my other statement

[BillR87]

Dragonforce are mean as but i admit do get repetative especially the drumming haha but yeah go herman li!!

[jean_genie]

Might I recommend using a band known for their singing for this lesson? This is like using John Lennon for a lesson on how to play piano. I mean technically he does play, but the playing is boring and repetitive. His piano playing, like the singing in Dragonforce, is there merely to help advance the song. And that it does, but that's about the end of it.

As far as the interpretation goes ... you don't need to have lyrics that mean something. They can be gibberish. Works for Aerosmith. Or maybe it just sounds like it means something. My most-requested 'love songs' aren't actually about anyone. And yet the two songs I wrote for somebody go unrequested.

But if you're going to talk about grand themes like your average metal/prog band, you need to back it up with some writing chops.

You like metal? Read Shakespeare's The Tempest. And some Poe. And some H.P. Lovecraft. And while you're at it, some William Blake and maybe even Geoffrey Chaucer.

The point is that if you want to be a great lyricist, you don't write lyrics. You tell stories. Or, like the Nirvana example, you speak to people directly. If you think of yourself only as 'adding in the words to a song,' you'll never be a good lyricist.

Period.

[Lotsagrapes]

Hey jean_genie

Cool story bro.

[notoriousnumber]

I think the major flaw with this lesson, is not that you choose DF for inspiration, but that you are trying to pack into a page and a bit, a realm of the english language that takes up people's whole lives to get to grips with.

Basically, you cant tell someone just to write successful lyrics by justifying what other people have done; while there are certainly more inspired choices than DF I have to say.

Furthermore, lyrics do not constitute nearly as much of a songs importance as the actual music does, so if in doubt, I wouldnt mind what shit you put down, concentrate on the music sounding nice. If its too much, write an instrumental.

[Wolfinator-x]

Not everyone likes instrumentals; I have done some by the way. Also, if you look at Nirvana, sure they were drug-addicts, but their lyrics mean nothing and they're considered one of the top ten most popular bands of all time.

[bigbunny]

Fourteen and a half. My first thought was, "how can a fourteen year old possibly write something meaningful?". and as i read your piece about superman i sighed with relief.

Point: the best songs come from personal experiences. It's why the Jonas Brothers will never be able to write a song on the same emotional level as B.B. King.

[Wolfinator-x]

bigbunny wrote:

Fourteen and a half. My first thought was, "how can a fourteen year old possibly write something meaningful?". and as i read your piece about superman i sighed with relief.

Point: the best songs come from personal experiences. It's why the Jonas Brothers will never be able to write a song on the same emotional level as B.B. King.

Haha! True! Thanks for the comment!

Also, this lesson was written a long time ago, and it's crap to me now. I have another lesson pending approval about playing guitar itself and it's badass in comparison to this one.

[vanhailin]

dragonfroce...uuuuuggggghhhhh they suck dude, just got popular from a video game and now people think they are the best guitar players to ever live. but tey arent JUST CAUSE YOU CAN SWEEP DOESNT MEAN YOU ARE A GOD

[vanhailin]

your lyrics are almost as "deep" as dragonfroce

[samibanez1994]

just a thought mmaybe you shouldnt write your lyrics on here someone could take em if they are that mean
pretty good lyrics though

[Wolfinator-x]

samibanez1994 wrote:

just a thought mmaybe you shouldnt write your lyrics on here someone could take em if they are that mean
pretty good lyrics though

I don't know whether I'll use them (that doesn't mean I won't!).

And can't I just sue whoever steals my lyrics?

[Chill.]

Lol, im 13 and i can write better lyrics. I lol'd at the first paragraph XD

[teh grey]

Not everyone likes instrumentals; I have done some by the way. Also, if you look at Nirvana, sure they were drug-addicts, but their lyrics mean nothing and they're considered one of the top ten most popular bands of all time.

nirvana's lyrics mean nothing?...and dragonforce's do? what the hell are you thinking... 0.o

[Wolfinator-x]

teh grey wrote:

Not everyone likes instrumentals; I have done some by the way. Also, if you look at Nirvana, sure they were drug-addicts, but their lyrics mean nothing and they're considered one of the top ten most popular bands of all time.
nirvana's lyrics mean nothing?...and dragonforce's do? what the hell are you thinking... 0.o

They make MORE sense.

Repeat: Old lesson is old. Go see my new one.

[RomySays]

Dude there isn't a person that sees the exact same thing as you do, so why would everybody make the same of what they read? That's called one's own interpretation