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The Lyrics DoctorGreg Barnett
I WROTE MY FIRST SONG at age 50!
It had begun as a eulogy for a good friend who died your mouth around or can be mis-heard (e.g. a long
too young and reflected upon the fact that we men “wild” sounds like “while”), and so on. Phrasing and
rarely tell each other of our admiration and affection. word quantity also can make or break a song so
As I was writing it simple felt suited to song lyrics ‘poems’ require honing, sometimes substantially, to
and, within a year, it became the first track on the fit a musical framework.
first album of original music I ever recorded (“Not
All It Seems”). I’ve found some support for my amateur views in a
“Rolling Stone” article - “Bernie Taupin on 48 Years
Prior to this, throughout my life I had tried to write Writing With Elton John”
songs, but to no avail. It was the recognising and
the grabbing of a fleeting opportunity that made all Do you write longhand or by computer?
the difference in my own case. That breakthrough It’s almost like a circular motion. I write on a guitar
moment eased the path to a second co-written album because it gives me a rhythmic sense. It’s got nothing
(“Prescient”) with a different collaborator, and also to do with how it ultimately turns out with Elton, but
now in 2020 a 30-track debut solo release (“The Flat I do use a guitar. I play chords and just sort of sing
White Album”). the lines over to myself, so that I feel when he reads
them, he can read them in a rhythmic cadence. So
All three albums are available on Spotify, Apple, etc., what I’ll do is have a pad and a pen and a computer
but complete lyrics, chords and production stories and I will just sing to myself on the guitar. I’ll come
for all tracks can be found at up with something, write it longhand and after I’ve
http://www.clancys.com.au/music written maybe a verse or something, I put it onto the
word processor because I wanna make sure I can
A lot of what I have read on the pages of remember it, because I’m scrawling on a pad. So it
“Writeaway” are, in my opinion, lyrical poems, really goes from guitar to the pad to the computer
many of which I personally can’t project being set to and back to the guitar again. Again, a circular
music. The greats like Joni Mitchell, Dylan, Cohen, motion.
etc. can magically weave words in and around the
music, and vice versa, but most of us mere mortals Also, Martin Isaac is an Elton John fan since 1990
have a much narrower palette. and has written the following in his blog:
“What is the difference between poetry and lyrics” Elton John primarily writes the music having been
is a question I’ve posed before to Jane Shields, the given the lyrics by ... Bernie Taupin. However, Elton
Editor or this magazine. She’s a prolific writer but does alter the words a little to fit his rhythmic flow -
(by her admission) is not a musician. I think our cuts out words here, repeats a line there, or asks his
answers reflect our creative perspectives. songwriting partner to add another section or
couplet etc.
Because pop songs have short verses with some
repeats, and a shorter chorus with many repeats, Conclusion
the discussion needs to consider the more elaborate My hypothesis for discussion is that “lyrics” are the
word-centric folk genre. END product of words being satisfactorily set to
music and sung. Prior to that, they remain lyrical
In my experience, written words that work great on poems.
paper can often fail when being put to music because
perhaps syllabic rhythms don’t work, key words can
be missed on the beat, some sounds are hard to get
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