"The Little Shop of Lyrics"

            Welcome to the Little Shop of Lyrics.  This is the place to come when you are blocked or just want to throw around an idea and see if Wiggymusic can make it any better.  The Little Shop of Lyrics is not for everyone, just as Wiggymusic itself is not for everyone.  Let this be a warning:  there is a moral obligation for those who choose to utilize this workshop. You are not required to pay for any assistance you receive with your lyrics or recognize Wiggymusic for helping you bring your project to a successful completion.  Your only obligation is to try to write the best lyrics that you can - hopefully pleasing to any audience for whom you might have the good fortune to play. 

            If you feel that you have been treated well here at The Little Shop of Lyrics, I would be more than pleased if you would return the favor by helping someone else with his or her lyrics or directing him or her to this book..   Wiggymusic's Little Shop of Lyrics is available to anyone who is interested in writing good lyrics with a positive attitude in the interest of evoking an emotional response, either happy or sad, from your intended audience.    

Thank you very much, Wig Nelson

Introduction:

            Why write song lyrics anyway?  Who cares about the lyrics?  Most people don’t even listen to the lyrics, they just dance or groove along to the music, right?  Well, maybe, but certainly not in a slow, thought provoking ballad.  And some lyrics are intended to give us a good laugh, which is always just what the doctor ordered. 

            Lyrics deliver clichés that are familiar to us and give us the feeling that we are not alone in the world.  When I can relate to the emotions or intellect in a song, it validates me as a person.  It’s comforting to me to hear that other people have the same beliefs, likes and dislikes that I do. 

            Beyond the language in which lyrics are actually written, there is a bridge formed between otherwise distant and very different cultures.  Many songs are written and performed in English throughout the world.  I’m not sure what the reason is; perhaps it is the easiest language in which to write rhymes.  English is considered by some to be a rather clumsy language, not quite as guttural as German, but not as flowing and beautiful as French or Italian.  So why do so many cultures write lyrics in English?  Maybe it is as simple as it being the largest common denominator.  After all, it’s all about getting our message heard by the most people, right? 

            Who are we singing to?  Certainly not to ourselves; why would we bother to do that?  No, we are trying to communicate to others and hopefully connect our feelings.  Songs lyrics can convey some feelings much better than any other medium.  They take us a giant step further than prose or poetry because we have much more than the spoken word to use to express ourselves.  We have a voice.  We can augment the written word with the emotionality of sound.  We can implore someone to hear a desperate plea or describe our observations in life while simultaneously demonstrating how we feel about them just by the emotion or melody that accompanies the message. 

            Song lyrics are in large part a record of our actual history.  They even send them out into space; perhaps as one of the ways we define our species here on Earth.  Long before there was the written word there was the lyric to pass stories down through subsequent generations.  The actual word lyric comes from the reference to words or melodies sung to a lyre, which is a stringed instrument from the middle ages. 

            Whether or not a song lyric will have legs, or be popular for many years into the future are anybody’s guess.  But the concept of communication through song lyrics will certainly never go out of style.  Styles will change and lyricists and composers will come and go, but the song is here to stay.  Song melodies will forever remain right before our ears for all time just waiting, begging for you to flesh them out with your lyrics.  What are you waiting for?  Your song awaits you as does your audience.

Chapter 1:      Five Basics
1. A good song should have movement. 

Movement is best understood as a change in attitude from the beginning of a song to the ending. 

            If you write "the sky is blue" well, that's very observant of you, but so what?  What else is blue?  How do you feel about blue?  Was it always blue? Do most people like blue?  Is blue your favorite color for a sky?  Is blue your favorite color for anything else?  Are you feeling blue?        (Do you see a pattern emerging here?)
Questions?
            A helpful trick I use constantly is asking questions.  I pretend I'm the listener and I am the nosiest guy on Earth.  I want to know everything.  If it's a girl, what does she look like?  Is she nice?  Is she pretty?  Does she like you?  Has she always liked you?  Do people like her?  Can she cook?  Can she sing?  . . . You get the idea.  Now, I know that the lyricist is not going to answer all those questions I have, but he better tell me something; anything of interest.  Just give me a reason why I should care that you're singing the song in the first place.  That's movement.

            Fiction writing is the same, as is poetry.  If you're just going to say, "This is how it is," then you're a journalist.  If you say, "This is how it is," and then you go on to say, "Now, I feel differently," or "This is still how it is and this is how I feel about it," or "How come I never saw the change happening?" that's movement. 

            Some of my songs lack movement, and what do you want to bet they could be a lot better?  Thank God for the rewrite.  Remember, you better have something going on in your song or you're going to anger the person who took the time to listen to it.  He won't be back.  

 Basically, movement can be defined as a stated situation, a change in that situation, and with any luck, how you feel about that change in the situation.

2.  Avoid overworked clichés like the plague. 

            In the course of this workshop, I'll identify a bunch of clichés that I might have used in the past, and if I have, I should be ashamed of myself.  If you say, "I love you," in a song, good for you.  That's an honest, heartfelt emotion that anyone can have a good feeling about. 

            If you say, "You're the only one for me," then the next thing I’m expecting to hear is, "If you could only see - We were always meant to be – Oh gosh, oh gee” - you get the idea; don't do this.  There are a hundred lines that I avoid like the plague and I intend to list them right here, eventually.  I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, but trust me, I'm hurting mine, too.  I'm just as guilty as you are and with any luck, and The Little Shop of Lyrics, we can all be a little better at what we're trying to accomplish here.  Please avoid these phrases at all costs: 

Ships passing in the night - ships pass for a good reason; so does gas         

Heartstrings of your soul - just what is a heartstring and is it covered by your health insurance?

You are the one - yeah, until the divorce and then you were the one

Cutting like a knife - use the cut, but lose the simile; we all know what a knife does.  How about a metaphor: "your love is a knife"

Soaring of my heart - this line will fowl your own nest

Heavenly embrace - it’s a felony to use these two words in the same sentence

My guiding light or guiding star  -  come back to Earth; that's where your listeners are

Don't break my heart * - unless you can say it in a unique way, don't bother.  Even Achy Breaky was better than "you broke my heart"

I can't live without you * - sure you can; you just don't "want" to live without her/him

            The lines with asterisks are examples where I break my own rules.  After all; rules are meant to be broken, especially where art is concerned, right?  Here's the reason I asterisked "Break My Heart."

            Well, I know this term is overused, but I tried it myself once in a song called, "Break My Heart Again."  It has a little twist to it in that it says, "Isn't it sorry to hear I want to break my heart again."  It's in the key of B that I never write in.  All the changes are on the upbeat, which I find really fun to play on the guitar.  I thought I could get away with it because I said it in a different way.  The point being that we sometimes break our own heart by wanting what we can't have.  I might not have pulled it off, but here are the link and the lyrics.    

“Break My Heart Again” By Wig Nelson
(Track #1)

Isn't it crazy - that you can break your heart on a friend
Isn't it easy - to want to go for what you can't win
Isn't it just like me - to want to sail without any wind
Isn't it - sorry to hear I want to break my heart again

(Chorus)
I didn't want to show you what you really mean to me
Something that you didn't want to see
I didn't want to trouble you with tales of love and fear
Something that you didn't want to hear

Isn't it - lov-e-ly - how we can love each other so well
Isn't it - heav-en-ly - whether it's really heaven or hell
Isn't it - sad to see that I will always be what I've been
Isn't it - sorry to hear I want to break my heart again
Isn't it - sorry to hear I want to break my heart again
(Chorus)

            There are a couple of techniques in these lyrics that might be worth noting.  First of all, note the internal rhymes as well as the end rhymes in each verse.  Secondly, it makes the point that we ultimately break our own hearts for a number of reasons, (I won't go into that) but hopefully that deals with a broken heart in a fresh new way.  No one wants to break their own heart, but it just happens sometimes.  The second line supports the first by giving one of those reasons.  The third line avoids clichés like "beating a dead horse" or "spinning my wheels" and, instead, describes a frustrating situation in a fresh way by giving a different example – “to want to sail without any wind.”
            The second verse talks about staying in a bad relationship because we can't help ourselves - thus we break our own heart.  The words “so well” were a really convenient rhyme for the words "or hell" and give the some strong movement.  The chorus uses the senses like show you what you didn't want to see and tell you what you didn't want to hear.  The more senses the better in my opinion. 

            Now, the reason I asterisked "I can't live without you" is this:  I recently saw the band, Train, on Good Morning America.  They're a really good band.  Well, I'm listening to this guy singing, "I can't leave without you  . . . I can't leave without you," so naturally I think, "I can't leave without you, Baby, cause, Baby, you're my ride."  Now, I know he was actually singing, "I can't live without you," but I needed the joke.    I wouldn't have written the joke if it weren't for his inflection.
This brings us to INFLECTION 101. Or Affected speech.

3.  Don't use words with affected speech that can be misinterpreted.    (Unless you own it)
Example:
I can't live without a ewe?  "I'm sorry, Sir, but you aren't allowed to bring that animal into this hotel. . . Yes, I know who you are; I have all your records."

How about the rock star that was driving too fast.  "Yaw giving me a ticket?"
The officer says, "Okay, I'll try."  He bends to the left and bends to the right as he writes out the ticket for the rock star.

Before he became a rock star, he said "your" or "you're" like anybody else.  Then when singing the lyric it became "yaw."

            Here is this star syndrome extended to the point of the ridiculous:  This is mindless entertainment that is not intended to be part of the actual Little Shop of Lyrics, but I thought I'd share it anyway.  Please disregard the dialogue of the rock star's wife and parents and the baby crying. 

            I wrote it as a kind of story board for a skit.  The music is soft and melodious in the first part and then turns to the "star" singing at the top of his lungs.  The implication is that they can't turn it on and off once they become rock stars.  "Sir Mick" often dances up and down the isle of the supermarket and tears his shirt when he gets to the checkout counter kind of thing.  Sorry, Mick, I know you don't do this, but I needed an example.  Give my best to "Sir Charles," and "Sir, AHHHH I Fell Out Of A Palm Tree" I just knighted them, too.

The lyrics for the skit are written below, but you won’t find the music on the CD.  I haven’t recorded it yet and may not ever get around to it.  The idea just kind of tickled me, so I wrote it down.

“When Rock Stars Go Home”     By Wig Nelson
Singer:    “When rock stars go home, do they take their attitude along?
Are they just as cool, when you’re only trying to get through?
And do they believe they’re not the same sonny boy you knew?     
I wonder if it’s true, when rock stars go home.”
Rock Star:    “DON’T WANNA PASS YOU THE MASHED POTATOES!
DON’T WANNA CALL MY OLD GIRLFRIEND UP!   
THERE’S NO BEER IN THE REFRIDGERA…                   
BY THE WAY, YOU CAN TAKE YAW OWN GARBAGE OUT!
TAKE YAW OWN GARBAGE OUT!”

Mom (spoken):    “It’s okay, I can get it.
Dad   (spoken):    “No Dear, I’ll get it.  I’m on my way out, anyway.”
Mom (spoken):    “Where are you going…?”
Dad   (spoken):    “I have no idea.”

Singer:   “When rock stars go home, do they have to jump around the room?
And can they behave if ever the Pastor comes to call?       
I wish I was there to somehow be witness to it all.                                                     
A fly upon the wall when rock stars go home.”
Rock Star:   “I KNOCKED A HOLE IN THE CHINA CABINET!
 I PARKED MY CAR ON YOUR NEIGHBOR’S LAWN!
 I THINK I MIGHTTA’ RUN OVER THE CAT…
 BY THE WAY, YOU CAN TAKE YOUR OWN GARBAGE OUT
 TAKE YAW OWN GARBAGE OUT!”

Dad (spoken):    “I’ll take it Honey.”
Rock Star: (sung at the top of his lungs):    “TAKE YOUR OWN GARBAGE OUT!”
Dad (spoken):    “Just as soon as he gets in the can.”
Rock Star:   (sung at the top of his lungs):    “TAKE YOUR OWN GARBAGE OUT!”
Rock Star’s wife (spoken softly):  “Would you sing the baby to sleep sweetie.”
Rock Star: (sung at the top of his lungs):    “ROCK’A’BYE B’BEEE…”
Baby (crying):    “WAAAAAAH!’
Rock Star (sung at the top of his lungs):    “ON A TREE TOP!”
Baby (crying):    “WAAAAAAH!”        

Note:  When the rock star went home he spoke like a rock star: "Take 'yaw' own garbage out."  Do you think that his parents taught him to speak that way?  Probably not.   If you can pull off some affected speech for the first time, go for it.  You'll own it.  That's the point, though.  I'm not going to sing, "I gottah you," because I'd be trying to copy someone else.  The Godfather of Soul, for one. 

If I don't own it, I won't use it.  The only time I'll sing, "I got a ewe," is if I follow it up and sing, "and a horsy and a ducky, too."

  4.  Here's another taboo: 

Try to avoid any "of your" metaphors that sound really familiar.                                              

            Mix and match any of the following nouns with the prepositional phrase "of your,"  "in your,"  "to your" or "of the" and the result is the same. You come up with some lyrics that I'm really glad I didn't write. They are overused clichés masquerading as insightful comparisons.  Sometimes you can't avoid them, but all I ask is that you try.

Magic                                       smile
Laughter                                  life
Twinkle                                    eyes
Garden           "in your"         night            
Rapture                                    hands
Splendor                                   touch
Wonder          "of the"             mind        
Mystery                                     style
Caress                                        lips
Fervor            "of your"           push     
Loving                                       nudge
Touching                                   soul     
Kissing            "to your"          love
Humping                                   dog
Licking . . .   let's just stop here, shall we?  You get the idea . . .
            The point I'm trying to make here is there are things that you can write that will actually make people throw up.  You might find a use for such lyrics in the poison control sector of your local hospital, but that's not what this book is about.  Just because a cliché is a useful tool, you can also water them down to the point where they are just vanilla.  
            Now would be a good time to say that the cliché is actually the backbone of all good lyric writing.  It's something we've heard time and again, and that familiarity makes us comfortable.  I'm all for using a cliché in lyrics when it is fresh in the medium.  Andy Warhol had some success painting a Campbell's soup can.  Let's see someone do that again.  Hmmm . . . something's wrong.  Why isn't it cool when you do it?  Because it already got it's fifteen minutes of fame.  If I ever get famous, I'm going to ask if we can maybe shorten it to five or six minutes.  Now why did I say that?  There's always a point, it's here somewhere . . . Oh, yes, instead of saying that fame is overrated (not that I'd know) or that there is a price to pay for fame, i.e. - lack of privacy, stalkers, etc.,  I said I'd like to be famous for five or six minutes.  It's not a particularly good example but it demonstrates saying something in a different way.

Back to lyrics and the cliché.  The lovely Bonnie Raitt wrote a very good song called, "Nick of Time."

            Where would we be without her wonderful music and such a terrific use of a cliché?  It was the title song of a wonderful CD of some of the best rhythm and blues music of all time.  But don't use that line again.  It belongs to her.  I'll never use the phrase "nick of time" because it will never carry the same weight or message as when she used it. 
            So, let’s review:  A cliché is a good thing and can provide a really solid anchor for a song lyric.  Probably 90% of all good lyrical hooks are clichés; however, an overused cliché can kill an otherwise good lyric faster than you can say, “the sands of time.”
But let's get back to lyrics.  How about point of view? (POV)

5. Don't limit your point of view. 

            I live a pretty ordinary life, but my songs are anything but ordinary.  Why?  Because I lie.  That's right, I lie.  Lyric writing or "fiction," which is all lyrics really are, is the only acceptable circumstance where a lie is appropriate.  Was Mick Jagger really born in a crossfire hurricane?  Probably not.   So we can lie.  If you don't like that term, let's just say that we can represent something other than ourselves. 

            James Taylor once wrote a song that began, "I'm a lonely lighthouse . . ." I thought, Hmmmm, I thought you were a singer songwriter.  Then it dawned on me, “Wow, I can be someone else."  John Prine wrote, "I'm an old woman - named after my mother - my old man is another - child that's grown old."  Man I wish I wrote that.  Do I think that John Prine is really an old woman, like dressed in drag or something?  No, I feel that he is an artist presenting a part of life that is not his own.  Bingo!  That's what we all should aspire to.  Don't limit yourself.  Here's a POV that I used with some success:  

Click on  the song title.

The Ghost Ship’s Parade                                                              
By Wig Nelson c.1992
(Track #2)

I am an old clipper – best of the day                                                                           
Off on a holiday cruise up the bay                                                                            
Wind in the rigging – flags in the sky                                                                           
If I were a man there’d be tears in my eye                                                                             
Once I had a sister and faster was she                                                                                                   
A half day behind her was all I could be                                                                               
A great reef down under ripped through her keel                                                                
A night when a fool took his turn at the wheel                                                     

(Chorus)                                                                                                                                 

All of the blue sea – always been a friend to me                                                                          
All of the blue sea – always been a friend to me                                                                   

Once I knew a runner – guns for the war                                                                  
The British were dealing him fire from their bore                                                                        
It’s sad when I think of the difference we’ve made                                                                         
Here at the head of the ghost ship’s parade

Once I knew a captain – born on the sea                                                                             
Eyes for the pretty maid – soul to be free                                                                           
Here’s to the battles he fought at my side                                                                               
And one to his health as he’s off on the tide                                                             

(Chorus)                                                                                                                                    

Once I knew a slaver – and many men died                                                                                  
A black hearted tally man counted their cries                                                                        
The soul of the trader is lost to the waves                                                                                
The devil might sing to you those were the days

I’ve seen all the kingdoms rise up and fall                                                                         
There must be a reason I’ve lived through it all                                                                     
Send me the children and raise up the sail                                                                               
And gather ‘round close as I whisper the tale   

(Chorus)                                                                                                                                                         

All of the blue . . .                                                                                                                                      
All of the blue . . .                                                                                                                           
All of the blue . . .                                                                                                                               
All of the blue . . .   

            Incidentally, those lyrics are a very good example of rhyming couplets or the rhyme scheme – AA, BB, CC, DD, etc.  The meter is very precise in that the lines have the same number of beats and similar accents.   The chorus is a rhyming couplet, also, although it deviates from the meter of the verses. 

Certain words I choose to call grace words are “and” and “there.”  They can be omitted and nothing about the song really changes.  It’s all a matter of personal taste to use them or not.

But back to POV:
            Do you think that I thought for a minute that I was an old ship telling a story?  Nope, didn't think so.  So, you see you can be whatever you want to be.  Be a crack whore who wants to get straight for the sake of her children.  Be a soldier in a war who wishes well of his enemy.  His weapon for peace is to wish his enemy a grandchild that he can bounce upon his knee.  The obvious implication is that you wish the safety of the innocents, if there are any innocents.  Be Mick Jagger born in a crossfire hurricane.  It's theater. 

            Let's face it, very few people really sing about what is closest to their heart.  Most people are more private than that.  Forgive me if I'm wrong, but I've written over a hundred songs, (thrown away over two hundred) and never wrote a song about my wife who I love more than anyone.  You know why?  My wife is real, and my art is theater.  Oh, gosh darn it, I've let the cat out of the bag and now I'm in for it.   I'm not saying that there aren't a lot of sincere, heart-felt love songs out there, but, trust me, the majority are fiction.   I've been married for over 20 years, so if I write a love song about a young girl, it better be fiction or my wife will shoot me.  Sometimes I write a song in a "chick voice" or female point of view.  I'm not going to limit myself to an overweight man in his fifties with thinning hair.  Not that there's anything wrong with that.  The point I'm trying to make is that for the most part, lyrics are fiction.  I'll probably never write a song about my wife.  If I do, I'll either be dying or it's because I need a really big favor.  But you probably won't ever hear it.