Song Analysis

[RMO]

Most of the people here are songwriting machines, they come with really great songs, but there are also some people (like me) who finds the writing process a bit harder, and then you find yourself listening to your favorite songs and you are like: "damn! how he wrote that song?" but there aren't many references of how popular songs have been written.

So I was thinking that it'd be cool if someone wants to make some song analysis in order to understand the songwriting of other people, i don't know.. like how Brian Wilson wrote "Don't Worry Baby" (from in which scale is, the chords, the melody, etc). This has been done by Rivers Cuomo of Weezer to develop his songwriting skills, he analyzed songs by Kurt Cobain, Green Day, etc, but there is no info available to the public from that research.

[henwrench]

......and then you find yourself listening to your favorite songs and you are like: "damn! how he wrote that song?" but there aren't many references of how popular songs have been written.

         Always a difficult one, this. I'm pretty sure if you asked (insert choice of writer here) how he/she wrote a particular song, they may think you are mad. I can't answer for (insert choice of writer here) but I haven't got the slightest idea how I wrote what I did, I just did. It happened. I'm very lazy and don't 'work' at writing songs. I don't think about what I'm doing (some may say thats bleedin' obvious), I just allow it to happen. And how I do that is anybodies guess. Now we're getting into zen-like territory.   

                                            henwrench

[Oldrottenhead]

i am in full concurrence with henny's conclusion here. except to say that in my own case my songwriting is limited by my lack of musical ability and imagination so i tend to keep things simple.

[Greeny]

It's a dark and murky art, lol. What I like about songwriting is that it's not a definable process driven by rules, rigid frameworks and logic. If it were, a computer could write perfect songs. The best songs (IMO) are those with humanity in them; songs that reflect the same flaws, accidents and fagility that make us human. I've always assumed that most songs are 'arrived at' by some strange route that is specific to the writer, and that there are thousands (if not millions) of different ways and possibilities to arrive at a finished song. No two songs are the same, and no two writers have the same writing method. I also feel that luck and fortune plays a HUGE part in songwriting. All my best lines and riffs and chord patterns always feel like a lucky gift that have been presented to me from some place that I don't understand. Some people would (and often do)attribute that to God, but I don't. It's just part of an organic process that nobody could ever understand. It's definitely possible to hone your craft though. the more songs you write, the more easily you will be able to slip into the 'zone' and know instinctively what chord, note or change should come next. I agree with Henny... if anyone asked Macca how he wrote 'Yesterday', he'd probably just say it was an accident that just 'happened' oneday. And as for listening to Brian Wilson and trying to break it down / follow his path, I've tried it many times with no success. He's one of those people like Bacarach and Lennon & MacCartney who just have some astounding gift beyond the reach of everyone else. I'm waffling now, lol. Enough.

[Gu Djin]

I think henwrench has it about right -"I just allow it to happen".  If you have an idea, follow it through without any hangups about rules, or how it "should be", and not worrying about other peoples expectations.  The biggest block to me is trying to write to a style, things like that kill an idea before they get started.

Leigh

[vierge99]

Check out this podcast/site:

http://songwriterstoolbox.blogspot.com/

I listened to the episode about Springsteen's Pink Cadillac. It has some insights that you might find useful.

There are tons of ways you can wite lyrics.

1. Write a story, break into pieces, make each it's own song, apply rhyming scheme to the lines.
2. Write about your experiences, thoughts on world events, reactions to things that have happened, etc.
3. Write about a particular object. In the example from that website above, Bruce is singing about a specific-colored car.

[RMO]

Thank you for your thoughts on this guys, yeah the world of songwriting is huge and the possibilities are just a lot, and i think you're right with let things flow, it just happens, so i think i will stick to write whatever crosses my mind, something good can come, thanks guys

vierge thanks for the link, i'll check it out

[Greeny]

By strange co-incidence, I'm just reading about how all the Beatles songs came about, and 'Yesterday' really was a bolt from the blue for Macca. It just came to him almost fully formed (apart from the lyric). He sat on it for a few weeks because he was SURE he'd stolen it from somewhere, and that it couldn't possibly be his song...

[RMO]

yeah that happens sometimes, and sometimes you are actually stealing the tunes without knowing, and also i wonder, i know this is different for every song you work in, but, more or less how much time do you spend writing a song?? it always take several days to me

[Greeny]

yeah that happens sometimes, and sometimes you are actually stealing the tunes without knowing, and also i wonder, i know this is different for every song you work in, but, more or less how much time do you spend writing a song?? it always take several days to me

Some arrive in a 10 minute flash of inspiration, and some I work on over several weeks just trying to find the right chord changes and words. Generally though, and more often than not, I'll write a completed song in around 40 mins to an hour. By that I mean that I'll have it ready to record: i.e. written and ready to sing and play all the way through.