Song writing?

[-Nirvana-]

Hey,
im just wondering,i know usually the drummer does not write songs but im wondering if any of you have or tryed because me and my freind (guitarist in our soon to be band) have a song but no lyrics and im wondering if anyone has tips on how to write a song. Thanks.
P.S. our band if going to be hard rock/metal (iron maiden and metallica influenced)

[Big_Philly]

I've wrote some lyrics but they're not very good; it takes some practise I guess. What you need to do is come up with a theme. The easiest is to think of something you've been pondering about for a while. Example: fighting your own bad habits and/or weaknesses. That is something that has occupied my mind for a while, so I wrote my thoughts out in a song.

The core message you're getting across should be heard in the chorus and bridge. Keep in mind that a song doesn't necessarily have to rhyme all the way, but it might be a plus, depending on the music around it.

[Muffled Tom]

I write songs.

It's really not all that tough, if you have a flare for writing like I happen to have. A tip is to write about something you understand or at least think a lot about, or that has happened to you, or you've experienced. That's when writing is at its best. Just yesterday I wrote a nice song after I stared at the stars on a starry night (oddly enough the song is called Starry Night).

Another tip is to not make all your rhymes too obvious. A rhyme like "make" and "fate" can sound better than one like "make" and "cake", if you get my point.

[milkbetweenorangejuice]

I think a significant part of writing good lyrics (which is, of course, diferent than song writing) is knowing how to sing them. That gives you a lot of freedom and you are not constrained to a certain amount of syllables or a certain rhyme scheme.

Another thing to remember is that lyrics don't always have to make sense, if done right. Look at any good lyricist, and you'll find that the lyrics are often very cryptic. This also gives you a loy more freedom with what to write. For example (Ballad of a Thin Man - Bob Dylan):

Well, the sword swallower, he comes up to you
And then he kneels
He crosses himself
And then he clicks his high heels
And without further notice
He asks you how it feels
And he says, here is your throat back
Thanks for the loan

I don't know what to think with this set of lyrics, particularly the last two lines, but they work great just the same.

[jonescrusher]

I write songs.

It's really not all that tough, if you have a flare for writing like I happen to have.

Well, we'd better hear some of these numbers!

I'd recommend a book called Tunesmith by Jimmy Webb, which covers all the important aspects of song writing, including arragement, melody, harmony, lyrics etc.

[SLEEPY BRiGHT EYEZ]

Don't feel like you shouldn't try to write songs because you are a drummer. Anyone can write songs. I can't tell you how to write them. That's unique to every song writer.

[TBL]

Hey,
im just wondering,i know usually the drummer does not write songs but im wondering if any of you have or tryed because me and my freind (guitarist in our soon to be band) have a song but no lyrics and im wondering if anyone has tips on how to write a song. Thanks.
P.S. our band if going to be hard rock/metal (iron maiden and metallica influenced)

Neil Peart writes all of the lyrics for Rush- Just thought I'd chip in, doesn't matter what instrument you play, if you write a good song, you've written a good song.

Other than that I really have no clue I can't write a song to save my life :( lol

[Muffled Tom]

Well, we'd better hear some of these numbers!

I'd recommend a book called Tunesmith by Jimmy Webb, which covers all the important aspects of song writing, including arragement, melody, harmony, lyrics etc.

Is this a challenge? Ò_ó

Haha well one thing that sucks is when you write something when you're not fully "in your right mind" (and I don't mean high or drunk; just when its really late and you decide to write something), and you think its amazing, but then later on you realize its terrible; hah

But yeah I'll post some of my songs later on if you really wanna read em

[burnthehero]

Write from the heart. And try to avoid as many cliches as possible.

[-Nirvana-]

Thanks to all of you. Me and my freind have written some songs (not saying they are that amazing but lol) They are going to get better.