Page 6 - August InDesign

DO NOT SERIES
DO NOT BE ‘EGOCENTRIC’
hhh. The dream of making it to
Athe big time. Shower me with silk,
diamonds, stacks of hudred-dollar bills,
a mansion, and a dozen high end sports
cars. Give me a supermodel love affair
and post it on the front of the tabloids,
and a bank account that can finance a
small country.
We all see some of those people who have
made it into the Rockstar status, always
on the radio, and always on our TV,
reminding us of what they have and what
you don’t have.
Some songs that come out have lyrics
that remind you, literally bragging of
what they have. A lot of these songs are
put offs, meaning it pushes some of the
listeners away. It is never a good idea to
lose listeners, which may happen if they
find the content distasteful, blatant, and a
reoccurring content.
Basic egocentric lyrics can be easily
identified, however, being egocentric in
your lyric is not always obvious, though
they are comprised of ME, MYSELF, and I.
One of the hardest to identify is when
you have a lyric, containing another
person where the lyric intent is to talk
about them. When the lyric word for that Listen to my latest release “Certifiable”,
person is HER or HIM, you are by default currently #7 in the independent charts this
talking about yourself, and how they look
to YOU, feel to YOU, react to YOU, act
06
around YOU. It reads, and is heard as I, I,
and I.
So, how do we fix it?
Simply adding the other character into the
lyric is a simple fix. Let the other person
become a main character. Make it read
as if you are speaking directly to them by
using words such as YOU.
Example, I can’t live without her, verses, I
can’t live without you.
There are always exceptions to the rules,
and some songs can make these
statements without much for issues. It is
when too many of your songs are about
ME, MYSELF, and I, that you will likely
run into losing fans, and listeners.
When its always about “look at me”, you
will likely be seen as an egocentric writer.
Do not limit your readers, and listeners.
Do not be egocentric.
Written by Daryn Wright
www.darynwright.com
www.reverbnation.com/darynwright
month.
www.writeawaymag.co.uk